A chain of history and family links a central Ohio woman and the real-life Anna, whose story is dramatized in The King and I.

Linnea Wilcox of Westerville is the granddaughter of Margaret Landon, who wrote Anna and the King of Siam -- which Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II adapted into the 1952 Tony winner for best musical.

"I admired my grandmother," Wilcox said. "She was an awesome woman.

"When Anna Leonowens told her story in the 1860s, she was dealing with similar issues in Siam as we are dealing with in this country today -- cross-cultural education and the East's relationship to the West."

In 1862, Leonowens, a 28-year-old Englishwoman, was engaged by King Mongkut of Siam to serve as governess to his 67 children. She remained in Siam for about a decade -- and later wrote two books (The English Governess at the Siamese Court and The Romance of the Harem), whose popularity helped shape initial Western ideas about Siam (now known as Thailand).

Landon, the American wife of a missionary, became acquainted with the Leonowens story while living in Siam and working as principal of the Trang Girls School in Bangkok, in the 1930s.

After meeting Anna's nephew, Landon began writing a biographical novel.

Anna and the King of Siam, published in 1944, became an international best seller.

"The King and I is a wonderful musical," Wilcox said, "but I always recommend reading my grandmother's book, too, because its story isn't exactly the same."

In Columbus, Wilcox will see The King and I for the first time without Yul Brynner in his most famous role.

Attending the Saturday performance with her will be her husband, John, and their three children, who haven't seen the stage musical.

"We've watched the movie version so often," she said with a laugh, "they have it memorized."

By Michael Grossberg
Dispatch Theater Critic

Feb. 1, 1998

To most Americans, the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are known quantities.

To British director Christopher Renshaw, The King and I was a classic waiting to be rethought.

"I'd never seen it onstage," Renshaw said recently from New York. "So when I first did the show in Australia, I came to it pretty fresh."

Hayley Mills, who stars in the Broadway Series national tour, played Anna in his subtly revised Australian premiere in 1991.

Joan Marcus

Anna (Hayley Mills) teaches the King (Vee Talmadge) how to dance.

"I love Hayley," Renshaw said. "She was very important to me emotionally in creating this show. She is extremely truthful onstage. Hayley Mills, an English aristocrat herself, is the real Anna. Strangely enough, Hayley also has a massive interest in Eastern philosophy."

In 1996 his version reached Broadway, sweeping the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for best musical revival and winning three other Tonys.

"I never thought it would be seen by Americans, so I didn't feel any threat from the past. I just did what I wanted to do with it," said Renshaw, an opera director with extensive credits at Covent Garden in London and the Sydney (Australia) Opera House. "If I'd staged it in New York first, I would have been very conscious of tradition and people looking over my shoulder."

Christopher Renshaw

He visited Thailand as soon as he was offered The King and I by an Australian producer. He returned often, falling in love with the country, once known as Siam, that serves as the exotic setting of the true story about a British governess.

"Thailand is the only Eastern country that has never been invaded, so the people retain a very peaceful and loving identity," he said. "I learned that the East has so much to teach the West about spirituality and a connection to the Earth. Today, Eastern philosophies are very much influencing what we do in the West."

One reason for the good fortune in Thailand: "the incredible cleverness" of its kings -- "which is what The King and I is all about."

The Broadway revival -- still drawing crowds with Marie Osmond, who follows Tony winner Donna Murphy and Faith Prince -- has been praised most widely for its authentic design.

"The reds and golds were very much inspired by what we saw at the royal palace," Renshaw said. "You can see what Mrs. Anna actually saw."

While columns of elephants frame the stage, an impressive copy of the emerald Buddha, the original of which stands in the Bangkok palace, caps the first act.

"The elephant is regarded as a very holy creature. In Thailand, they believe the spirit of Buddha often resides in the form of the elephant."

To enhance the design and engender good luck, Renshaw urged the Australian team of Brian Thomson (sets), Roger Kirk (costumes) and Nigel Levings (lights) to weave hundreds of elephant figures into their work.

"They're embroidered on the costumes, concealed in the scenic ornaments and often hidden from the audience."

Renshaw especially wanted to update the way the Broadway musical and 1955 film view the East.

"Orientalism was used as an exoticism rather than a real understanding of the particular culture, but you can't blame Rodgers and Hammerstein," he said. "In the 1950s, anything east of the East River was felt as the Orient. Since then, there's been a gradual growth of understanding and respect."

Although the revised show includes exotic elements, The King and I "allows spectacle because procession and religiosity reflect the gaudy ornamentation of Thai architecture."

Renshaw cut a few lines and lyrics, and translated others into Thai to reinforce the atmosphere of a foreign land. He also encouraged Lar Lubovitch and original choreographer Jerome Robbins to create a "spiritual" ballet, before the King enters in Act 1, and a procession of the white elephant in Act 2.

"The revival really represents a shift in attitude," Renshaw said. "A lot of musicals from the 1950s were perhaps not performed in a completely truthful way. The performances were heightened. I prefer to approach a musical first of all as a play: The more reality you can bring to such musicals, the better."

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