Word: hammerstein
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...songs and sketches have a slight English music-hall tang, but only occasionally do they seem a little wheezy. There are two excellent parodies in "It's About Time." "I and the King" aims some expert barbs at the more ludicrous elements in the current Rodgers and Hammerstein musical play. Miss Gingold, wearing a red wig, burlesques Gertrude Lawrence as Anna in two songs. Two lines from these songs might be quoted: "It's a beautiful morning in Bangkok--B-A-N-G-K--O K!" and "People will say we are us!" The other parody is a conglomeration...
Producer Souvaine sees a great future in tributes to other talented artists, is currently planning TV testimonials to Oscar Hammerstein II and Cole Porter. In a day of rising costs, personal tributes have the compelling attraction of bargain rates: "On this show we've got about $60,000 worth of talent, but, naturally, we're not paying anything like that-the stars are getting practically nothing." Souvaine adds: "Richard Rodgers is very much touched...
...addition to all these performers, there are also 15 children of various ages and sizes. Perhaps they are cute. But their presence on the stage indicates that Hammerstein is resorting to the depths of sentimental attraction. It does not take much talent, nor is it particularly clever, to get a response from an audience by using large numbers of cute kids. It seems as if the two children who sang "Dites-Moi" in "south Pacific" were fruitful, and multiplied...
...resemblances to "South Pacific" should not be overlooked. There is a musical-play within a musical-play, in this instance a Siamese ballet version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Jerome Robbins. The ballet is clever and colorful, but it also shows that the court of Siam and the Hammerstein concept of grass-roots America can be juxtaposed only so far without becoming ludicrous. The ill-fated, sub-plot love affair of "South Pacific" is repeated in "The King and I," and again the man involved dies. This time it's not very effective...
...costumes are lavish and imaginative; the sets are lavish. Mr. Mielziner's forte is not musical comedy, or even "musical play." "The King and I" is a large production, John Van Druten's direction is smooth, and the performances are all good. The trouble is that Rodgers and Hammerstein seem a little too reluctant to entertain their public. That is a fundamental mistake in show business. Perhaps the future will bring a change...