The King and I

Winner of Four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival

Only North East dates – Sunderland Empire, 5 – 15 June 2019

Following the critically acclaimed Broadway smash hit run of the THE KING AND I and its box office sold out record breaking season at the world famous London Palladium, multi Tony Award winning production is embarking on a major UK tour with a date at Sunderland Empire 5-15 June 2019.

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.

Set in 1860s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the modernist King, in an imperialistic world, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.

With one of the finest scores ever written including: Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You and Shall We Dance, featuring a company of over 50 world-class performers, and full scale orchestra, THE KING AND I is a testament to the lavish heritage of gloriously romantic musical theatre – it is the greatest musical from the golden age of musicals.

 What audiences can expect from this glorious production – did you know:

  • The production features 300 hundred costumes using over 2500 metres of fabric.
  • The iconic Shall We Dance dress costs £15,000, weighs 40LB, has several hoops and a circumference of 14 feet.
  • There are 22,000 flowers on the Flower Hangers in the Garden each was made by hand.
  • The scenery builders have 500 books of Gold Leaf on the cloth, each book contains 25 sheets at 140mm x 140 mm so that is almost 250 square metres.
  • There are over one thousand metres of braid in this show.
  • The fans & singing bowls required in the show have had to travel 5870 miles as they are all sourced from Japan.

Acclaimed Tony Award-winning Bartlett Sher will once again direct the production and be reunited with the celebrated creative team that brought this majestic production of THE KING AND I  to life at the Palladium earlier this year.