Christopher Renshaw's production radiates the richness of an oriental jewel, dazzling the eyes at the same time as it sends the politically correct mind spinning.
To luxuriate in its pleasures, you must accept the supremacy of western over eastern civilisation - a fact that may well stick in PC throats, but to favour the East means the equally disturbing stance of declaring yourself profoundly anti-feminist.
Elaine Paige has bequeathed her Victorian corsets and petticoats to Josie Lawrence, who takes on the role of governess Anna Leonowens with comic bite and a proper-as-teatime English accent that would make Julie Andrews proud.
An audience filled with her fans ensures that Lawrence gets a round of applause simply for walking on stage, but after a slightly stilted start, she demonstrates herself worthy of such impromptu enthusiasm.
For those who have not wept copious amounts of tears over the 1946 movie starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison, the 1956 movie boasting Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, or the recent less well-received film with Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat, The King and I paints a lavish portrait of the experiences of a British governess in 19th century Thailand. Anna's shock at her employer King Mongkut's dictatorial attitude and harem is balanced by his desire to embrace western attitudes, and the result is a love-story which Rodgers and Hammerstein have resisted weakening with a happy ending.
Appreciating this musical is like valuing a vintage Jaguar: it is sleek, well-made and beautiful - and while patently a thing of the past, it is still a pleasure to watch its progress. Songs such as I Whistle a Happy Tune may well make 21st century hackles rise, but the intelligent, nuanced writing and Lawrence's performance - which mildly sends up the script at the same time as mining its emotion - make for an enjoyable, if over-lengthy, evening.
Brian Thomson's richly elaborate set pays homage to the Siamese court, which lends itself perfectly to the glittering grandeur of the old-fashioned musical.
Ironically, neither Lawrence nor Keo Woolford - who plays the King of Siam - excel as singers, but a sumptuously varied cast ensures that you are more entertained and awed than bored.
The King And I
