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Everett Herald
'The King and I": Colorful collision of cultures
By Theresa Goffredo, Herald Writer
Lyric Light Opera presents an absolutely sumptuous version of “The King and I” as exotic as a trip to Thailand.
The production includes colorful costumes and a cast festooned with glittering jewelry and striking headgear — along with a dash or two of parading dragon head — that added to that feeling of being in a foreign land.
Though the costumes were provided by Costume World Theatrical, kudos must be awarded to costume manager Charlene Niemeyer and to artistic director Brenda Mueller for ensuring that everything meshed beautifully and made sense.
It didn’t hurt that this exotic trip was made inside the cushy splendor of McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon and that the wonderful wardrobe was backed up in equal portion by a captivating cast of singers.
When Beth Wallace, who stars as schoolteacher Anna, first let out the strains of “I Whistle a Happy Tune” — also sung by the talented young Jack Rogers as her son, Louis — we knew we were in good hands.
Starring next to Wallace was Ben Gonio playing King Mongkut of Siam (now Thailand), who held a masterful command of the stage and the role.
A Carnegie Mellon graduate, Gonio has acted for many regional theaters but is versatile enough to direct, produce and work as an acting coach, as well as having recently completed a national M&M’s commercial.
But as king, Gonio didn’t get to show off his sweet side so much as his struggle with his changing role as king in the face of a modernizing world.
That world was brought right to his feet by the feisty and headstrong Anna, who came to the king’s palace to school his many children — played by an exquisitely adorable cast of young actors — but winds up teaching the king a thing or two.
The mental and romantic tension between Anna and the king slowly bubbles throughout the show until it reaches that boiling point when we’re not quite sure whether or not the king will whip that poor Tuptim, played by the classically trained Katin Jacobs-Lake.
That scene will have you on the edge of your seat. And as you might expect, neither the king nor Anna can return to who they were.
“The King and I” offers this compelling story of colliding cultures, along with a Rogers and Hammerstein score that includes “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance?” and “Getting to Know You” and a ballet based on “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” though here it’s called “The Small House of Uncle Thomas.”
All this against a backdrop of brilliant colors, etcetera, etcetera, and so on and so forth.
Theresa Goffredo:
425-339-3424
goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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