Forgive me if this is a strange question, but I cannot find the answer anywhere. I saw Yul Brynner in "The King and I" in Washington, D.C., and I am trying to figure out what year it was. I've found that he did a Broadway Revival of it in 1985, but there is no mention of the Revival also playing in Washington.
I went to the theater expecting a lack-luster performance -- he had performed the role so many times! -- but I was totally in love with the King by intermission. I've never forgotten it.
I believe it must have been in the 1980s because there were rumors of his illness. My friend pointed out that he did not sing "It's a Puzzlement," which makes me believe it may have been during the Revival period. Does anyone happen to know if the Revival also played in D.C.? Thank you.
I think what you saw must have been part of the national tour in 1978 or so following Broadway revival that opened in 1977 - don't know if it went to DC or not, but in 1985, he revived The King & I on Broadway for the first six months of 1985 and he was dead from cancer in October.
I saw Yul Brynner as the King in that 1977 revival on Broadway and, you're right, he was awesome - you could feel the power of his presence the minute he walked onto the stage. His age and his many performances hadn't dimished his performance at all!
Thank you very much. You are probably correct that it was on the national tour in the late 70s. I'm pleased you shared my feeling about his performance. He was exceptional.
Sadly I have never had the chance to see Yul Brynner live, but his performance in the film version is absolutely amazing. I would love nothing more than for The King and I to come back to Broadway. It is Rogers and Hammerstein at their very best.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Just an interesting side note, there are theatres around the country where you can still find one dressing room that is painted a certain shade of brown. He had a rider in his contract that his dressing room had to be a specific shade of brown.
I was at the very last performance that Yul gave as the King. It was a special Sunday benefit performance, and of course, everyone knew how sick he was. I could be wrong, but I think they put "It's a Puzzlement" in for that show, but again, I'm not certain about that. But what I remember as if it was yesterday is that during the curtain calls, the cast gathered all together and sang "Ault Lange Syne." There was not a dry eye in the theater.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
Brynner also toured in The King and I in the early 80s in a production that played one and two week stands, but had no intention of coming in to NY. You may have seen that tour. It was referred to as a 'barn tour' because they only played huge 3 and 4 thousand seat theatres.
A friend was an electrician on it and said the first pipe had 32 instruments and 20 were either soft pink or bastard amber. The second pipe had fewer instruments, but about the same ratio of flattering gels.
I also was told that Brynner was actually comparatively easy to get along with so long as you accepted one incontrovertable thing--he was the center of the universe and everything revolved around him.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
Well, Gertrude Lawrence WAS the center of the universe when "King and I" debuted. "Our Gertie" was beloved by audiences in every english-speaking country and the show was written for her, built around her, carefully pitched to hide her tin ear and probably even lit to make her a goddess onstage. When she died of cancer early into the run of the show, the spotlight switched, as if in a Presidential succession, to Yul. That was Broadway. He was a king when he was king and why should it be any other way (his theory, I suppose, not mine.)
The only time I saw him on stage was not in the King & I but at a preview of his one night flop "Home Sweet Homer"
I hopefully have his signature on the Playbill. He did not sign autographs as he was always whisked away in a limo. You put your name & address on the playbill & it was returned to you with what is supposed to be his autograph.I do not know if others signed for him. If it is really his, it may actually be worth something.
We saw him in his final tour of "The King and I" and decided to send him a photo as the King and asked for his autograph. (BTW, the show was indeed written for Gertrude Lawrence, as mentioned above, and her husband wrote in his loving biography of his dearly departed wife, that on her deathbed, she asked the producers to put Yul Brynner's name above the title.) Anyway, some time passed and we did not get the picture back from Mr. Brynner until we came home one day to the sad news that he had passed away. But guess what was waiting for us in the mail? A beautifully autographed photo of Yul Brynner in his most famous role, still prominently displayed in our living room.
I know that I'm replying to an old post... but, I had to comment. I saw Yul Brynner in 1981 in Washington DC. I just found a vintage copy of the program from the show at Julians Books.
THE KING AND I - SOUVENIER PROGRAM - 1981 / RODGERS, RICHARD (MUSIC BY) OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN 2nd (BOOK AND LYRICS BY)
WASHINGTON, D.C.. NF. 1981. Softcover. IN B/W - SOUVENIR PROGRAMME & PROGRAM INSERT & TICKET STUB FOR 1981. - YUL BRYNNER IN "THE KING AND I" - WITH PATRICIA MARAND, HYE-YOUNG CHOI, RICHARD WHITE, PATRICIA WELCH, MORTON BANKS, ERNEST GRAVES, AND OTHERS... ; B&W Photographs; 4to .
WOSQ said: "Brynner also toured in The King and I in the early 80s in a production that played one and two week stands, but had no intention of coming in to NY. You may have seen that tour. It was referred to as a 'barn tour' because they only played huge 3 and 4 thousand seat theatres.
A friend was an electrician on it and said the first pipe had 32 instruments and 20 were either soft pink or bastard amber. The second pipe had fewer instruments, but about the same ratio of flattering gels.
I also was told that Brynner was actually comparatively easy to get along with so long as you accepted one incontrovertable thing--he was the center of the universe and everything revolved around him."
WOSQ : I am not sure.. but I believe that particular tour did end up back in New York after all at the Broadway theater.