'The King and I' slated for Broadway in March starring Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe

6/30/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ken Watanabe.
Ken Watanabe.

NEW YORK — Broadway is about to get another king — a revival of the musical “The King and I” starring Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe will join “The Lion King” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”

Lincoln Center Theater said Monday that the classic romance by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II — with songs like “Getting To Know You” and “Shall We Dance” — will begin performances March 12 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

O’Hara, a five time Tony-nominated soprano whose show “The Bridges of Madison County” closed in May, will play the starchy English schoolmistress sent to Siam to educate the children of the king. Watanabe, whose films include “Inception” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” will make his U.S. stage debut as the king.

Bartlett Sher will direct. The show will feature the musical’s original Jerome Robbins choreography, with musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan and costumes by Catherine Zuber.

This will be the fourth revival of the 1951 musical. The last time was in 1996 starring Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips. Yul Brynner had previously played the king three times — 1951, 1977 and 1985.