Anna Leon News

Ocean State Theatre Company closes the inaugural season at its new Warwick location on a high note with a winning production of 'The King and I.'

Ocean State Theatre Company (OSTC), the not-for-profit which brought new life to the historic Theatre By The Sea for the past five years, concludes their Inaugural Season with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical masterpiece, The King and I, which opens in previews on Wednesday, April 24.

Today in 1951, The King and I opened at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 1246 performances. The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The story deals with the experiences of the British schoolteacher, who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the play, as well as by a love that neither is able to express.

Happy Birthday, Donna Murphy! Murphy has won two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for her roles in Passion as Fosca and in The King and I as Anna Leonowens. She received three more Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical for her performances in Wonderful Town as Ruth Sherwood, LoveMusik as Lotte Lenya and The People in the Picture as Raisel/Bubbie. She is known, most recently, for her role as Mother Gothel in the animated Disney film Tangled (2010), Anij, Captain Jean-Luc Picard's love interest, in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and her numerous stage roles in musical theatre.

Resorts World Manila's (RWM) Newport Performing Arts Theater recently raised its curtains for the new cast members of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I," Nonie Buencamino as King Mongkut and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Anna Leonowens.

Today in 1985, the second Broadway revival of THe King and I opened at the Broadway THeatre, where it ran for 191 performances. The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The story deals with the experiences of the British schoolteacher, who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the play, as well as by a love that neither is able to express. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951 at Broadway's St. James Theatre.

Nonie Buencamino ("Stageshow") and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo ("God of Carnage"), who first worked together in New Voice Company's production of "Into the Woods" five years ago, are paired up as the new King Mongkut of Siam and Anna Leonowens respectively in Resorts World Manila's extended run of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I," announced at a recent press conference held at Newport Performing Arts Theater.

The Actors Fund presents a very special Musical Monday, an evening with five grand ladies of musical theatre in LADIES OF AN INDETERMINATE AGE tonight, December 10, 2012. Anne Jeffreys, Jane Kean, Pat Marshall, Patricia Morison and Charlotte Rae - join together on the same stage to sing songs from their careers, talk about their co-stars, directors and composers and stray into their wicked (or not-so-wicked) adventures in the great tradition of "No Business Like Show Business."

Theater stalwarts Nonie Buencamino and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo will replace Leo Valdez, who currently plays King Mongkut, and Monique Wilson, who currently plays Anna Leonowens, respectively when Valdez and Wilson leave Resorts World Manila's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I" on Sunday, December 30.

Repertory Philippines bids goodbye to its associate artistic director for three seasons, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.

I have to admit, it's hard for me to get exited about stage adaptations of the Cinderella story. Growing up, I had Rogers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA starring Julie Andrews crammed down my throat. The 1997 version starring Brandy promised to be a fresh and relevant take on the material, but I was not impressed. Now, the New York Theatre Scene is about to welcome Rogers and Hammerstein's version on Broadway. But, maybe they need to reexamine things because at Houston's Ensemble Theatre the African-American Shakespeare Company and Carlton Leake version of CINDERELLA is captivating, powerful, and beautiful! This well-liked and exhilarating piece of theatre is back by popular demand and being presented for its third time at Ensemble Theatre.

The Actors Fund presents a very special Musical Monday, an evening with five grand ladies of musical theatre in LADIES OF AN INDETERMINATE AGE on December 10, 2012. Anne Jeffreys, Jane Kean, Pat Marshall, Patricia Morison and Charlotte Rae - join together on the same stage to sing songs from their careers, talk about their co-stars, directors and composers and stray into their wicked (or not-so-wicked) adventures in the great tradition of "No Business Like Show Business."

Resorts World Manila (RWM) launched its annual "Grand Fiesta" and hosted a media appreciation night at Genting Club, Maxims Hotel Wednesday night. This year's "Grand Fiesta" highlights Las Vegas-based singer Lani Misalucha's pre-Christmas concert on Wednesday, November 28; and Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved Broadway musical "The King and I's" extended run until May 2013 - Philippine Musical Theater's favorite leading lady Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo was announced as replacement for Monique Wilson in the role of Anna Leonowens.

Harbor Lights Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tamara Jenkins and Associate Artistic Director Jay Montgomery, completes the company's third season of professional Equity theater on Staten Island with Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, starring a cast of Broadway veterans and scores of local youth and children. Meet the cast in the photos below!

Celebrity marriages usually do not last very long. However, in the case of Resorts World Manila's THE KING AND I stars and real-life couple Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, who plays the British teacher Anna Leonowens in the classic Broadway musical, and Lorenz Martinez, who plays the Burmese emissary Lun Tha in the same production, it is almost the opposite: Shiela and Lorenz have been inseparable since they first met 11 years ago.

Harbor Lights Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tamara Jenkins and Associate Artistic Director Jay Montgomery, completes the company's third season of professional Equity theater on Staten Island with Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, starring a cast of Broadway veterans and scores of local youth and children. Meet the cast in the photos below!

Muny staff member Barb Echele shares her favorite memory from the 2012 summer season, the moving 'Shall We Dance' scene from the classic THE KING AND I. Watch the clip below!

Harbor Lights Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tamara Jenkins and Associate Artistic Director Jay Montgomery, completes the company's third season of professional Equity theater on Staten Island with Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, starring a cast of Broadway veterans and scores of local youth and children.

ANNIE, the new production of the Tony Award-winning musical, went into rehearsal today in New York City with its full company. The production begins previews October 3, 2012 and opens November 8, 2012 at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street). Meet the full cast below!

MISS SAIGON alumni Leo Valdez and Monique Wilson were first seen as the King of Siam and British governess Anna Leonowens, respectively, at the press conference for Resorts World Manila's (RWM) grand production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's THE KING AND I held Saturday, July 28 at Newport Performing Arts Theater.