<P> According to Rodgers' biographer William Hyland, the score for The King and I is much more closely tied to the action than that of South Pacific, "which had its share of purely entertaining songs". For example, the opening song, "I Whistle a Happy Tune", establishes Anna's fear upon entering a strange land with her small son, but the merry melody also expresses her determination to keep a stiff upper lip . Hyland calls "Hello, Young Lovers" an archetypical Rodgers ballad: simple, with only two chords in the first eight bars, but moving in its directness . </P> <P> The original cast recording was released by Decca Records in 1951 . While John Kenrick admires it for the performances of the secondary couple, Larry Douglas and Doretta Morrow, and for the warmth of Lawrence's performance, he notes that "Shall We Dance" was abridged, and there are no children's voices--the chorus in "Getting to Know You" is made up of adults . In 2000, the recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame . Hischak comments that in the London cast album, Valerie Hobson's vocals were no stronger than Lawrence's and that the highlight is Muriel Smith's "Something Wonderful" in a disc with too many cuts . He calls Anna's songs "well served" by Marni Nixon's singing in the 1956 film soundtrack and judges the recording as vocally satisfying; Kenrick describes it as a "mixed bag": he is pleased that it includes several songs cut from the film, and he praises Nixon's vocals, but he dislikes the supporting cast and suggests watching the movie instead for its visual splendor . </P> <P> Kenrick prefers the 1964 Lincoln Center cast recording to the earlier ones, especially approving of the performances of Risë Stevens as Anna and Patricia Neway as Lady Thiang . The inclusion on that recording, for the first time, of "The Small House of Uncle Thomas", was notable because LP technology limited a single - disc album to about fifty minutes, and thus inclusion of the ballet required the exclusion of some of the other numbers . Kenrick finds the recording of the 1977 Broadway revival cast to be "(e) asily the most satisfying King & I on CD". He judges it to be Brynner's best performance, calling Towers "great" and Martin Vidnovic, June Angela and the rest of the supporting cast "fabulous", though lamenting the omission of the ballet . Hischak, in contrast, says that some might prefer Brynner in his earlier recordings, when he was "more vibrant". Kenrick enjoys the 1992 Angel studio recording mostly for the Anna of Julie Andrews, who he says is "pure magic" in a role she never performed on stage . Kenrick praises the performance of both stars on the 1996 Broadway revival recording, calling Lou Diamond Phillips "that rarity, a King who can stand free of Brynner's shadow". Hischak finds the soundtrack to the 1999 animated film with Christiane Noll as Anna and Martin Vidnovic as the King, as well as Barbra Streisand singing on one track, more enjoyable than the movie itself, but Kenrick writes that his sole use for that CD is as a coaster . </P> <P> Opening night reviews of the musical were strongly positive . Richard Watts in the New York Post termed it "(a) nother triumph for the masters". Critic John Mason Brown stated, "They have done it again ." The New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: "This time Messrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein are not breaking any fresh trails, but they are accomplished artists of song and words in the theater; and The King and I is a beautiful and lovable musical play ." Barely less enthusiastic was John Lardner in The New Yorker, who wrote, "Even those of us who find (the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals) a little too unremittingly wholesome are bound to take pleasure in the high spirits and technical skill that their authors, and producers, have put into them ." Otis Guernsey wrote for the New York Herald Tribune, "Musicals and leading men will never be the same after last night...Brynner set an example that will be hard to follow...Probably the best show of the decade . </P>

Who played anna in the king and i