Photo by Paul Kolnik
Romance, palace intrigue, a pretty Welsh schoolteacher, and the King of Siam, all beautifully gift-wrapped in a fabulous score by Rodgers and Hammerstein and glorious orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett. These are but a few of the elements that account for the success of director Bartlett Sher’s production of The King And I at Lincoln Center Theater, which won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Revival Of A Musical.
Sher worked with a quartet of Tony Award-winning designers—Donald Holder (lighting), Scott Lehrer (sound), Michael Yeargan (sets), and Catherine Zuber (costumes)—the same group that all won Tony Awards for their collaboration on Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of South Pacific in 2008. Now they have given The King And I the royal treatment, creating a jewel box setting filled with shades of gold, amber, amethyst, carnelian, ruby, and sapphire in both the lighting and costumes, the latter of which were awarded the 2015 Tony for Best Costume Design Of A Musical.
An Amber Ambiance
“Bart was pretty clear that we wanted a departure from The King And I that was quite elaborate and ornate, and set in a baroque Thai palace,” says lighting designer Donald Holder about the design intent communicated by Sher. “He wanted to concentrate more on the psychological and political aspects of the piece, rather than present a pretty naïve picture of that Asian culture at that time. The feeling was a spare, yet grand, aesthetic of an ancient Buddhist monastery that shouldn’t feel modern, or ‘Broadway,’ but more real and truthful and in relationship to the darker aspects of the story Bart wanted to tell.”
Photo by Paul Kolnik
Holder conjures images of “ruined temple light, or warm golden amber torchlight, candlelight, and beautiful tungsten light,” with the addition of rich colors motivated by Yeargan’s set and Zuber’s costumes. “Deep purples and indigos, dark reds, and ambers provide another layer of color on the show and were motivated by the tones of the costumes and set, resulting in a rich color palette, despite the conscious choice to keep it somewhat controlled,” he says.
Set in mid-19th century Thailand, then Siam, The King And I is the story of Anna, the Welsh schoolteacher (played by Kelli O’Hara, who won her first Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical), who moves to Siam to teach the royal children and ends up teaching the King a few things, too. “Bart was interested in showing how the King was trying to embrace the future while preserving the past. It was important for this leader to maintain his own culture to honor his country’s rich history and traditions, while learning how to embrace Western culture,” Holder explains. When the King tries to prove to the British that he is not a barbarian, the question arises as to who the real barbarian is in this production, “more the British than the king, who is struggling to find a way into the future,” says Holder. “And it is also about the empowerment of women. Bart found a way to make it relevant to issues today.”
A Burnished Glow
Photo by Paul Kolnik
In terms of the lighting rig, Holder found that, “because the space is so large, so open and vast, Bart wanted to open it up and expand the sightlines and reveal as much of the stage as possible. The design of the show has an operatic feel, continually reconfiguring with the shifting of several massive columns in the set, so there are large operatic beams of light coming from the upstage corners to carve out the space in a variety of ways.” The rig comprises more than 100 moving lights to cover the vast stage at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Victor Seastone programmed the show on an ETC Eos Ti console. Karen Spahn served as associate lighting designer.
Holder also uses a large complement of tungsten ETC Source Four ellipsoidals, as well as some LED sources for backlight, choosing the LED fixtures for two reasons: “the limitations in real estate and concern about fan noise,” he says. “We have to keep the rig as quiet as possible for this show. To get the intensity and colors needed with no noise, I’m using the Harman Martin MAC Quantum LED wash light for the first time as backlight, and the MAC Aura compact LED wash light for tight spaces,” the LD explains, noting that he also has Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 wash units for the big bold strokes of backlight.
Photo by Paul Kolnik
Holder has created a “show that looks old yet uses new technologies,” he notes. More LEDs, Chroma-Q Color Force units, light the cyc and background panels on the set. “Everything needed to look ancient and old, and never move out of the world of the ruined Buddhist temple, but I use a huge amount of LED technology,” Holder admits. “LED sources have advanced to the point where I could use new technologies and still create an old look. There is a burnished glow about the production and a spectacular range of color, yet it doesn’t feel or look modern.” Two Jem Glaciator X-Streams add low ground fog, another technology that Holder appreciates. “Normally you need massive CO2 tanks. This plugs in and creates great low fog,” he notes.
For Holder, the ballet in The King And I is one of the most breathtaking moments in the theatre. “I love that we kept the Jerome Robbins choreography for the ballet as well as new movement by Christopher Gatelli, in the style of Robbins for continuity. The ballet was re-choreographed months before we went into production.” Holder uses Philips Color Kinetics ColorBurst Powercore 23° fixtures for ‘reverse footlights’ during the ballet, recessing the fixtures under the floor and covering them with a hinged panel with a mirrored backing. As Holder explains, “The covers flip up on cue and light is reflected by the mirror so it appears that we’re looking at traditional footlights focused directly toward the audience. It gives the dark void upstage of the dance a bit of needed color and sparkle.”
“It was also a treat to listen to the score with that orchestra in that theatre,” says Holder. “You have to be in awe of the original creators and the issues they dealt with in 1951, carving it into the framework of a musical. I think it’s great that the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein is still being celebrated today.”
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