'The King and I' has royal pedigree

When the curtain rises Saturday on Ash Lawn Opera Festival’s production of “The King and I,” the commanding main character won’t be the only Broadway royalty in the house.

Baayork Lee, who played Princess Ying in the original Broadway production of the Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein II musical, is in the director’s chair, leading the second show of Ash Lawn Opera’s season.

The thrill of that first experience of Broadway magic turned a wide-eyed child into a focused student of theater — and a lifelong fan of the musical.

“This show changed my life,” Lee said. “I was 5 years old, and I made my mind up at 5 that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to dance. I wanted to be in the theater.

“I’ve come full circle — I’m directing ‘The King and I.’ It’s an honor to be here and to be giving it to a new generation.”

Layers of sentiment make the Ash Lawn experience meaningful for her. Lee is working once more with longtime friend and frequent collaborator Susan Kikuchi, who is choreographer and associate director.

Kikuchi was 7 when she first appeared in “The King and I,” and she and Lee formed a friendship while both appeared in “Flower Drum Song.” Both were spellbound by what they experienced, though Lee said that Kikuchi gravitated more toward modern dance, while Lee found her calling in musical theater.

“We have local dancers, and they are learning the original Jerome Robbins choreography” from Kikuchi, Lee said.

“Susie and I have lived ‘The King and I.’ Susan’s mother was the original lead dancer — and I watched her dance, and that was what I wanted to be. I think that because I was so focused as a child, I didn’t have any distractions, and here I am.

“I’m so lucky, because in my life in musical theater, I’ve been blessed, and I’ve just let it happen.”

Lee has been involved in many productions of the classic musical over the years, but she said one feature of Ash Lawn Opera’s version sets it apart.

“I have voices at Ash Lawn,” Lee said. “When you’re in musical theater, you don’t get voices like this.”

Lee describes the voice of Brandy Lynn Hawkins, who sings the role of Lady Thiang, as “superb” and that of Elizabeth Andrews Roberts, who sings the leading role of Anna the British governess, as “sublime.”

And of bass-baritone Seth Mease Carico, who plays the ruler of Siam, Lee said, “Keep an eye out for the King.

“The King,” Lee said with a laugh, “he’s the big surprise. He was a favorite here last season, and everyone will be surprised to see him.”

Fans who attended last year’s festival heard Carico as Leporello in “Don Giovanni” and Jeff in “Brigadoon.”

“I am excited. I’ve done so many shows, but to hear these voices — it blows me away,” Lee said. “Ash Lawn’s production is like no other.”

Carico and Roberts bring the many layers of the complicated relationship between Anna and the King to life, Lee said. A spark between the two actors is important, because the musical delves into complex issues of cultural differences in romantic relationships, gender roles and class distinctions.

Anna is a spirited Westerner, an independent woman who’s suddenly immersed in a world in which women have few rights and fewer undergarments. The King of Siam, who has multiple wives, is amazed to hear a woman speak to him as if she were an equal.

As Anna settles in to teach the King’s children and help bring more awareness of Western culture to the royal court, the schoolmarm and the monarch learn to respect each other’s points of view.

They’re immediately drawn to each other’s intellects, which, in another time and another place, might have become the bedrock of a remarkable friendship. And there’s no denying that the romantics in the audience still keep looking for a spark, a hint, a possibility that love might bloom, no matter how deeply ingrained the royal protocol and social mores that stand between them. Hello, young lovers, indeed.

“The chemistry between the two of them is important,” Lee said of Roberts and Carico. “They’ve found the man-woman relationship when it’s needed. They’ve found the king-schoolteacher relationship when it’s needed.”

So, while actors are following iconic portrayals by Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, “how do you make it your own? That’s the actor finding his inner strength,” Lee said.

Of course, there’s much more to Lee’s busy career than “The King and I.”

Fans of “A Chorus Line” may know that Lee created the role of Connie in the hit musical. They might not realize that “A Chorus Line” is what brought Lee to Charlottesville the first time.

The national tour came to the John Paul Jones Arena on Feb. 25, and Lee eventually said goodbye to the production to work on “The King and I” for Ash Lawn Opera.

And there’s yet another musical connection: Lee and conductor Jon Kalbfleisch worked together decades ago on a production of “Gypsy.”

But the magnetic pull of “The King and I” never is far away. Lee said the show has stood the test of time because “Rodgers and Hammerstein were so far ahead of their time” in terms of taking a more mature and modern look at race relations and cultural differences than had been seen in other musicals of the era. Cultural contacts during World War II had made the world a much smaller place, and Rodgers and Hammerstein reminded a popular culture that had treasured its homogeneity that other cultures had valid viewpoints of their own.

“They were so far ahead of their time with ‘South Pacific,’ ’’ Lee said. “There’s the musical genius — they don’t make songs like that anymore. It’s like an operetta.

“And it has a very important story to tell. Everybody who comes to see it gets wrapped up in that relationship.”