The King and I 4.0****

I spent a couple of hours at the magnificent Durham Performing Arts Center Sunday night relishing  the terrific touring production of “The King and I’

Set in Bangkok in the 1860s, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna, a proper British schoolteacher, whom the proud impertinent King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children. One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, The King and I boasts a score that features such beloved classics as “Getting to Know You,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance,” “I Have Dreamed,” and “Something Wonderful .

Assembling an uncommonly strong cast for a touring production, Director Sher has kept his 2015 stage vision intact, right down to one of its kings, Jose Llana, who portrayed the title role for two stretches during the recent Broadway revival run. Llana's ties to the show run deep (and his love for this material shows).   .

In one of the greatest scores in Broadway history,  music so pure it doesn't need much more than a light operatic touch. It's refreshing just to sit back and enjoy a musical in which the performers aren't jockeying for notes as if they were contestants on American Idol.

Sorry to say that the production closed out at DPAC on Sunday night. But if you are elsewhere and have the chance, then go and glow in the mastery of a true Broadway classic.

Clark