Following the critically-acclaimed Broadway hit run of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King & I and its record-breaking season at the London Palladium, Bartlett Sher’s production will head off on a major UK tour from spring 2019, starring Jose Llana and Annalene Beechey in the lead roles. Shall we dance along?
Reprising his critically acclaimed Broadway performance as The King will be Jose Llana and performing as Anna, fresh from her West End success, will be Annalene Beechey. The production will open in Manchester in April 2019, and then visit Dublin, Sunderland, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Bristol, Woking and Southampton.
Acclaimed Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher will once again direct the production and be reunited with the celebrated creative team that brought the show to life at the Palladium in 2018.
Also joining the cast will be Kok-Hwa Lie in the role of Kralahome and Aaron Teoh as Prince Chulalongkorn. Edward Baker-Duly will take on the dual roles of Orton and Ramsay and William M Lee will play Phra Alack. The female ensemble will include Yuki Abe, Miiya Alexandra, Aiko Kato, Misa Koide, Ela Lisondra and Ena Yamaguchi. The male ensemble will include Irvine Ray Abesamis, Cletus Chan, Steven Hardcastle, Eu Jin Hwang, Jesse Milligan, Prem Rai and Joaquin Pedro Valdes. The swings will be Rachel Jayne
Producer Howard Panter said:
“The response from London audiences to this multi award-winning production of The King & I was unprecedented. Critical plaudits, box office records and standing ovations at every show – we were overwhelmed with the rapturous response. Coupled with the reaction to the global cinema screenings of the film version. This really is musical theatre at its very best, so we are thrilled that we can now share this wonderous production with theatre lovers up and down the country next year.”
The news of the tour came hot on the heels of the cinema release of the live production of The King & I: From The London Palladium which became one of the biggest live events in cinemas of 2018.
