King And I, The

This 1994 British studio cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1951 musical The King and I is one of a series undertaken by conductor John Owen Edwards intended to create "complete" versions of classic shows based on the original books, music, and lyrics, and employing the original orchestrations. They are complete in the sense that they include all of a show's songs and instrumental passages, along with those spoken dialogue sections that have musical underscoring, as opposed to most cast albums, which include only the major songs. So, for example, this two-disc set, running close to two hours, is much longer than the original Broadway cast album, which ran only 38 minutes, as well as the 46-minute original soundtrack album. That extra time allows for plenty of incidental and dance music orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett and based on Richard Rodgers' melodies. There are also several minor songs and song fragments that do not usually turn up on albums of The King and I, such as "School Room Scene" (aka "The Royal Bangkok Academy") and "Western People Funny." Edwards has built up a virtual stock company of British stage performers for his studio cast recordings, and many veterans are making repeat appearances. Valerie Masterson, who plays the lead role of Anna Leonowens ("I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello Young Lovers," "Getting to Know You") previously appeared on Edwards' Kismet and Song of Norway recordings; Jason Howard, cast as Lun Tha ("We Kiss in a Shadow," "I Have Dreamed"), was heard on Song of Norway as well as Edwards' A Little Night Music and Show Boat; Sally Burgess, given the vocally challenging role of Lady Thiang ("Something Wonderful"), was also on the Show Boat album; and Tinuke Olafimihan, as Tuptim ("My Lord and Master," "The Small House of Uncle Thomas"), previously did a record of West Side Story with Edwards. All are strong singers, if somewhat emotionally restrained, perhaps because, without shared work as a theatrical company, they cannot fully realize their parts, perhaps simply because restraint is a major theme of The King and I. For the King, the album uses film star Christopher Lee, who was 72 when the recording was made but has enough authority to carry the part (it doesn't require much singing ability). The result is a good recording, but not one that challenges the original Broadway cast recording or soundtrack (nor the 1992 studio cast recording with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), but does provide the longest rendition yet brought to disc. ~ William Ruhlmann|