Capitol 740
Supervisor and conductor: Alfred Newman
Track listing: Overture / I Whistle a Happy Tune / My Lord and Master / Hello, Young Lovers / The March of Siamese Children / A Puzzlement / Getting to Know You / We Kiss in a Shadow / I have Dreamed ?Shall I Tell You What I Think of You? / Something Wonderful / Song of the King / Shall We Dance? / Something Wonderful (Finale)
October 6, 1956
1 week
Although the soundtrack to the film version of South Pacific wouldn’t be released until 1958, the play and original cast album had made composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II stars. In fact, its success proved to be somewhat of an obstacle when the duo began working on a new musical called The King and I. “The trouble is that people aren’t interested in whether it’s a good show or a bad show; they want to know whether it’s better than South Pacific,” said Rodgers in Stanley Green’s The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story.
The King and I proved to be a musical challenge for Rodgers and Hammerstein as well. It was the first production that the pair had penned with no American characters. In fact, the story, set in 19th-century Siam, featured mostly Siamese characters. The setting called for music with an Oriental flavor, but Rodgers had to walk a fine line in composing the material. It had to contain some Asian trademarks, yet be accessible enough for American audiences.
To achieve that balance, Rodgers used an approach that he compared to the work of American artist Grant Wood. Much like Wood’s paintings, Rodgers’s music would capture the authentic flavor of Siam, but through the lens of a decidedly American perspective. Rodgers and Hammerstein accomplished this in a number of the selections, including “The March of the Siamese Children.” The songs also served the essential purpose of giving the listener insight into the play’s characters, whether it is the king in “Puzzlement,” or Anna in “Hello, Young Lovers” and the appropriately titled “Getting to Know You.”
The King and I opened on March 29, 1951. More than 1,000 performances of the show were staged on Broadway, making it the third Rodgers and Hammerstein production to achieve such a feat.
Yul Brynner, who starred in the Broadway production, was also cast as the male lead in the big screen version of the musical. Others featured in the film and its accompanying soundtrack included Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, Terry Saunders and Carlos Rivas.
Perhaps more important than the Number One status of The King and I soundtrack was the fact that the musical proved that Rodgers and Hammerstein could successfully follow their own muse without pandering to the public. Just before the play opened on Broadway, Green reported that the duo wrote: “Writers who repeat themselves will eventually bore themselves. And this condition is a short and automatic step toward boring the public.” The success of The King and I soundtrack was proof that the public was anything but bored with the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of October 6, 1956
1. The King and I, Soundtrack
2. Calypso, Harry Belafonte
3. The Eddy Duchin Story, Soundtrack
4. My Fair Lady, Original Cast
5. High Society, Soundtrack