Anna Leon News

BWW Review: THE KING & I National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center

Lyric Opera of Chicago announced today that single tickets are on sale now for Celebrating 100 Years of Bernstein, a musical event honoring the legendary composer, conductor, and pianist Leonard Bernstein. Celebrating 100 Years of Bernstein is part of Lyric's 2017/18 season, but in anticipation of high demand for this special evening, single tickets are being made available early. 

When the King of Siam (Jose Llana) sends for a governess to mentor his royal children, you would expect her arrival to be in grand fashion. And it was. At the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, when the curtain parts, the striking opening scene for The King and I unveils a boat anchoring dockside amidst a colorful sunset in Bangkok. As Anna Leonowens (Laura Michelle Kelly), a Welsh widow and her handsome son Louis (Graham Montgomery), prepare to disembark, Louis expresses some trepidation about the new life they are about to start in an unfamiliar land. His mother answers him with, I Whisle a Happy Tune, setting the tone for this delightful musical and gifting the audience with the angelic vocal talents of Miss Kelly.

ASU Gammage is thrilled to announce season tickets for its 2017-2018 Desert Schools Broadway Across America - Arizona season will be available for purchase starting May 15 at 10 a.m.

Guys and Dolls is gangsters, gamblers, dames and more. 'This acclaimed musical, performed in-concert with a live orchestra is 'joy in its purest form!' Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, it received nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics and won a bevy of awards, including Tony Awards, Drama Desks and Olivier's during its run on Broadway and the West End,' says John DeGaetano, artistic director for NBSC.

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC announced that Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. The multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway hit will run at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County for a limited time starting May 9 through May 14, 2017.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), closes its 75th anniversary season with Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland on April 27, 2017 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019). The production will be conducted and directed by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling and will feature Kelli O'Hara (Contrary Mary), Bill Irwin (Master Toymaker), Christopher Fitzgerald (Alan), Lauren Worsham (Jane), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Tom Tom), Jonathan Freeman (Uncle Barnaby), Chris Sullivan (Gonzorgo), Jeffrey Schecter (Roderigo), Michael Kostroff (Chief Inspector Marmaduke), and Blair Brown (The Narrator), with the 130 singers of MasterVoices and Orchestra of St. Luke's. Musical Staging by Andrew Palermo, Costume Consulting by Tracy Christensen, and Concert Adaptation by Joe Keenan and Ted Sperling.

The National Tour of the Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE KING AND I brings its parade of adorable children, a pair of star-crossed lovers, an imperial ruler, and a strong-willed, warm-hearted educator to the Boston Opera House through April 23rd. One of the grande dames of the 1950s, THE KING AND I retains its exalted place in the R & H pantheon, thanks to the artistry of Director Bartlett Sher, a songbird by the name of Laura Michelle Kelly, and a flawed King of Siam for our times, Jose Llana.

Hershey Theatre is pleased to announce four critically acclaimed Broadway productions will grace the stage at the iconic venue as part of its 2017-2018 season presented by Capital BlueCross. 

Fun Home, Waitress and An American in Paris headline the 2017-18 HCA/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC Series, which leads off with the world premiere of a new musical in development - Part of the Plan, an original musical written by Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris and featuring songs from the catalog of famed singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg.

'Guys and Dolls is gangsters, gamblers, dames and more. This acclaimed musical is joy in its purest form,' says John DeGaetano, artistic director for LBC's resident theatre company.

Veteran Nashville actress Linda Speir will make her Larry Keeton Theatre debut as the matriarch in Del Shores' Daddy's Dyin'…Who's Got the Will, the next production on the stage of the Donelson theater, running April 20-May 6.

As previously announced, on Monday, May 1, 2017, The New York Pops will celebrate its 34th birthday with a grand gala evening honoring Karen van Bergen, the CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group, and Tony Award winners Kelli O'Hara and Bartlett Sher, whose collaborations over the last decade have won universal acclaim and whose individual careers represent pinnacles of achievement in the world of theatre.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that individual tickets for the Chicago premiere of The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I will go on sale Friday, March 31, 2017.

ASU Gammage has announced its historic 2017-2018 Desert Schools Federal Credit Union Broadway Across America - Arizona season. The season is anchored by HAMILTON and is packed with award-winning musicals, classics and the newest hits from Broadway.

Wiry and witty, this production can proudly stand among Rogers and Hammerstein's best.

The Fabulous Fox Theatre announces an incredible season of St. Louis premiers and classic musicals in the 2017-2018 U.S. Bank Broadway Series. The season will include the previously announced HAMILTON making its Fox Theatre debut April 3-22, 2018 for a limited three-week engagement.

On Monday, May 1, 2017, The New York Pops will celebrate its 34th birthday with a grand gala evening honoring Karen van Bergen, the CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group, and Tony Award winners Kelli O'Hara and Bartlett Sher, whose collaborations over the last decade have won universal acclaim and whose individual careers represent pinnacles of achievement in the world of theatre. The concert will celebrate the multiyear partnership between the actress and stage director and will bring together artists from the stage and screen.

The production will be conducted by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling and will feature previously announced stars Kelli O'Hara, Bill Irwin, Lauren Worsham, Christopher Fitzgerald - with Jonathan Freeman, Chris Sullivan, and Jeffrey Schecter just joining the lineup - alongside 130 singers of MasterVoices, with Orchestra of St. Luke's.

The latest iteration of the production on tour is crafted with care and performed with verve. It's an 'old-fashioned' Broadway staple, and it never wears out its welcome. It unabashedly tugs at the heartstrings, tickles the funny bone and jerks the tears, just as it did when it opened 66 years ago this month. Few musicals achieve this kind of longevity, and more than a few of those are from the pens of Rodgers and Hammerstein.