The King and I

• By ROBIN MILLER
• Arts writer
• Published: Jul 5, 2009

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Take away the elaborate costumes and familiar music, and the story is a simple matter of basics.

When Anna wants to buck the system, she manipulates The King into thinking it’s his idea.

She plays him. Simple as that.

Hey, it’s not a bad thing. That’s just part of the battle of the sexes, even in the 1800s, when Anna becomes governess to the king of Siam’s children. (Siam is now called Thailand).

“There are 21 in all,” Chris Adams said.

He’s co-directing Baton Rouge Little Theater’s summer musical The King and I with Keith Dixon, who also is the theater’s artistic director. The play opens Friday, July 10, on the theater’s Main Stage.

And yes, Adams isn’t exaggerating. There are 21 children in Baton Rouge Little Theater’s production, all in Anna’s charge.

“The King finds himself in a dilemma,” Jennifer Ellis said.

She plays Anna Leonowens, the real-life woman who happens to have a popular musical based on her life.

“She really lived this,” Ellis said. “I read her biography to prepare for the play, and I’ve learned that she was much different from the Anna on stage. But it still gave me perspective.”

But the king of Siam was in the same real-life situation as he is in fiction. The world was changing, western women, though not liberated, were embracing modern times and ideas.

“The King knew he had to change, too, but he didn’t want to give in to Anna,” Ellis said.

Anna is a woman, after all, and her job is to serve men. That is, according to The King.