Singers make ‘King and I’ worth trip to Welk Resort

The singing abilities of the five main characters at the Welk Resort Theatre’s “The King and I” is reason enough to make the trip to Escondido.

The acting and dancing by the leads and supporting cast members are just bonuses.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is playing at the Welk through April 5. It features Welk veterans Richard Bermudez as the King and Victoria Strong as Anna Leonowens, the English governess he hires to teach his favored children and wives how to speak English plus Western ways.

The Tony Award-winning musical that premiered on Broadway in 1951 is based on the 1944 novel “Anna and the King of Siam,” which was inspired by Anna’s memoirs. She was the governess for the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s.

The headstrong King and equally headstrong Anna form an admiration for each other and friendship-of-sorts, though neither can truly admit even to themselves its extent, as they clash from day one over the King’s broken contractual promise to Anna that he will give her a house adjacent to the palace in addition to her salary. When Anna, a widow, arrives with her young son, Louis (Matthew Mohler), she learns the king wants her to live in the palace instead.

While both are striving for the betterment and modernization of Siam, their methods and philosophies differ — especially over the fact that the King has dozens of wives and children. In real life, King Mongkut had 32 wives and 82 children.

In the musical, Anna’s opposition over his polygamy focuses on his most recent wife, Tuptim (Michaelia Leigh), a young woman in love with a young man at the palace, Lun Tha (Austin Oducayen). They risk their lives to have forbidden romantic rendezvous and a turning point in the musical is the very dramatic and emotional climax in Act II when Anna and the King have their final showdown as he prepares to whip Tuptim upon discovery of the young lovers’ plan to flee the palace.

All involved in that scene are wonderful in their parts, but special mention must be made of Jacob Hoff, who plays the prime minister, Kralahome. His distraught over the ramifications that unfold were very believable as the pain was evident on Hoff’s face and the emotion in his voice.

The 14 songs over the two-plus hour show are all enjoyable, ranging from romantic ballads to cheerful, toe-tapable tunes. Leigh’s beautiful, operatic soprano voice is showcased in songs like “My Lord and Master” and duets “We Kiss in a Shadow” and “I Have Dreamed” with Oducayen, who also has a lovely voice.

Strong and Bermudez are equally strong actors and singers, with rich vocal abilities evident in songs like “Hello Young Lovers” (one of Strong’s solos) and “A Puzzlement (a solo for Bermudez). Also deserving mention is Jalin Hsu as Lady Thiang — the king’s main wife and mother of Crown Prince Chulalongkorn (Jan Colby). Lady Thiang serves as a counterpoint to Anna’s personality as she explains her role and understanding of her husband during “Something Wonderful.”

The costumes are colorful, there are many humorous moments, especially those involving the children, and the set aptly portrays the various scenes, including the palace. Joshua Carr, who directed and produced the show, does a good job in leading the 22-member cast.

Also deserving kudos is Joanna Tsang, who had to combine elements of Western and Asian dance movements and choreograph the musical’s iconic and likely best-known scene, that of the King and Anna dancing together after the ball during “Shall We Dance?” that best showed the suppressed attraction between the pair.

“The King and I” can be seen at 1 p.m. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; plus 8 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays through April 5 at the Welk Resorts Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive in Escondido. Tickets are $48, with group discounts available. There is an optional pre-show buffet for $19 to $22. To purchase, go to www.WelkResorts.com or call 888-802-7469.