If you go
› What: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “The King and I”› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Dec. 18-20› Admission: $37, $52, $67 and $77 plus fees› For more information: 423-757-5580
Pedro Ka’awaloa plays the King of Siam. (Matthew Murphy Photo)More than 70 years after Margaret Landon’s novel “Anna and the King of Siam” was written, the story of understanding and respecting different cultures is just as relevant now as then.
That story of two cultures colliding will be presented in three performances at the Tivoli Theatre when Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “The King and I” national tour stops in Chattanooga. The musical is filled with beloved hits such as “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance?” and “Getting To Know You.”
This touring production is based on the 2015 Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center Theater musical. Set in 1860s Bangkok, it tells the story of the tempestuous relationship between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the king brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.
Pedro Ka’awaloa, a native of Hilo, Hawaii, is cast as the King of Siam. Although he began performing in eighth grade, he entered Harvard University as an astronomy and astrophysics major. When he later switched to a music major, it was in conducting, composition and music theory, not performance.