The King and I (original cast recording)

The original cast recording of The King and I was issued in 1951 on Decca Records, with Gertrude Lawrence, Yul Brynner, Dorothy Sarnoff and Doretta Morrow.[1] The Broadway cast recording was directed by John Van Druten, with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and musical director Frederick Dvonch.[2] The recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.[3]

The original cast recording album sleeve

A studio recording of selections sung by Patrice Munsel, Robert Merrill and Dinah Shore followed, later in 1951, and the London cast recording album followed two years later.[4]

Track listing

1. Overture
2. "I Whistle A Happy Tune"; Gertrude Lawrence
3. "My Lord And Master"; Doretta Morrow
4. "Hello Young Lovers"; Gertrude Lawrence
5. "March Of The Siamese Children"; orchestra
6. "A Puzzlement"; Yul Brynner
7. "Getting to Know You"; Gertrude Lawrence with chorus
8. "We Kiss In A Shadow"; Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas
9. "Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You?"; Gertrude Lawrence
10. "Something Wonderful"; Dorothy Sarnoff
11. "I Have Dreamed"; Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas
12. "Shall We Dance?"; Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner

References

1. Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical (1988) ISBN 0195363752. Mordden writes: "Rise Stevens, on Columbia, is sluggish and prim; she sounds as if she's preparing to play a dull Anna in The King and I, which she duly did, at Lincoln Center. The Victor Lady in the Dark dates from a 1954 TV version with Ann Sothern, very right for the part. But even Sothern lacks Lawrence's urgency, her quizzical aplomb. Lawrence lived long enough to make an original cast album: The King and I. A classic performance."
2. Suskin, Steven. The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations (2011) ISBN 0199831076. Suskin writes: "Frederick Dvonch. Born: July 18, 1912, Chicago, Illinois. Died: November 18, 1976, New York, New York. Musical Director, Vocal Arranger Frederick Dvonch grew up in the same poor Chicago neighborhood as his classmate Irv Kostal. A violinist, he won several awards and scholarships (including the Paganini scholarship at Chicago Musical College, the Ditson Award, and a MacDowell Young Artist prize). He began his professional career as a symphonic conductor."
3. Grammy Hall of Fame Archived January 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, The Recording Academy. Retrieved January 2, 2012
4. Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia (2007) p. 152 ISBN 0313341400 "The earliest studio recording came out soon after the musical opened and featured Patrice Munsel, Robert Merrill, Dinah Shore, and Tony Martin. They would be followed over the years by such performers as Barbara Cook, Theodore Bikel, Jessie Matthews, Christopher Lee, Julie Andrews, and Ben Kingsley. The 1953 London cast recording is less complete than the Broadway one and Valerie Hobson's Anna is no stronger a singer than Lawrence. Herbert Lom talk-sings as Brynner".