"The King and I" Opens

(left: DMTC Co-Producer Steve Isaacson implores a new ensemble member to please enunciate and sing more loudly, especially in the confines of the acoustically-challenged Varsity Theater!)


Friday night, DMTC's "The King and I" opened at the Varsity Theater in Davis. I was there to help usher. Co-producer Steve Isaacson was in a suit: first time in a year I've seen him so dressed!

Minutes before opening, D. asked me to take some extension cords backstage. With large shows like "The King and I," the backstage area is usually a beehive of activity, but this time, the area was all but deserted: only M., the Stage Manager, was there (I suspect the traditional opening-night conclave in the dressing rooms was underway, explaining the missing cast). M. picked up some colorful cloth strips on the prop table: "Sashes!" she said, as her eyes rolled upwards. She proceeded to trudge upstairs to return the sashes to the children, who would surely miss them soon.

Opening night, I could sense the cast was being quite careful, to avoid making dreadful mistakes. There were a few mistakes - e.g., the Karalahome prophetically commented on Anna's new ring before the King apologetically presented it - but by and large, things went well: Bev, the Davis Enterprise reviewer was there, so by Wednesday we'll have an less-biased impression how things went. One unexpected thing that went wrong was in Anna's bedroom scene, when she had to put on a bathrobe: it was exasperatingly difficult to find the sleeves. In a similar vein, I thought maybe for entertainment's sake, every show should feature the lead characters having to solve Rubik's Cube puzzles, or answer riddles, or respond to knock-knock jokes, just to drive them crazy and test their on-stage amiability.

Juan Ramos is a very effective King, and Marguerite Morris did an excellent job with Anna. I especially liked the contrast between Anna's usual reserve, and her fiery demeanor when alone in the privacy of her room, she rebukes the King's selfishness. After the show, Marguerite commented that she hadn't fully-appreciated until now how difficult the role of Anna is: one of the few fully-developed and complex leading roles in Musical Theater. Ryan Adame is intimidating as the Kralahome, and Jennifer Bonomo (as Lady Thiang) switches from nuturing to intimidating at an instant's notice, depending on context.

According to Steve and Jan, this is the smallest cast for "The King and I" that DMTC has ever fielded. There aren't that many kids in the show, and John Hancock makes several quick changes trying to keep up with the demands on adult males. The opening night audience was 155, nearly twice "Annie's" opening audience, in March!