Full casting announced for The King & I 2023 UK Tour

By meganPublished 17 February 2023

Following a critically acclaimed Broadway smash-hit run, a sold-out season at The London Palladium (which resulted in the biggest global live event cinema release of 2018) and a previous record-breaking UK and International tour, the multi-Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King & I returns to venues all over the country next year.

Broadway star and film actor Darren Lee will play the title role of The King of Siam opposite Helen George, known to millions for the past decade as Trixie in the hit BBC One series Call The Midwife, who will star as Anna Leonowens. This gloriously lavish production will be brought to the stage by an internationally renowned creative team under Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher and will feature a world-class company of talented performers and a full-scale orchestra.

Joining Helen George and Darren Lee is Dean John-Wilson who will reprise his role as Lun Tha, Marienella Phillips who will play Tuptim alongside Cezarah Bonner who returns as Lady Thiang, the King’s head wife, Kok-Hwa Lie will play the role of Kralahome, Caleb Lagayan will play Prince Chulalongkorn, Sam Jenkins-Shaw takes the role of Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsay and Maria Coyne will be the Alternate Anna.

The ensemble includes Chi Chan, Jeffrey Chekai, Emily Grace-Ling, Cher Nicolette Ho, Rachel Wang-Hei Lau, Daniel Len, Candy Ma, Rachel MacDougall, Amelia Kinu Muus, Yuki Ozeki, Kitt Pakapom, Prem Rai, Ria Tanaka, Hiromi Toyooka, Jasmine Triadi, Jensen Tudtud, Qinwen Xue and Jason Yang-Westland. Harry Altoft, Dexter Barry, Max Ivemey and Charlie McGuire will play Louis, Anna’s son. Bethany Campbell, Coco Bridger, Cody Concha, Ethan Fung, Dulcie-Bella Hackley, Caitlin Lau, Khun Cho Lwin, Angelica Quynh An Nguyen, Tenzin Noryang, Sabri Leonel Puci, Niall Rina, Francis Benedict Sarte, Mia Snowdon, Yuen Zhai and Phoebe Zhao-Welsh will play the Royal children.

The King & I is a sumptuous, timeless romance from the golden age of musicals, adored by the public and critics alike – and boasting one of the finest scores ever written, including Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You, and Shall We Dance. Set in 1860s Bangkok, The King & I tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the modernist King, in an imperialistic world, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.

Book now at these Theatre Tokens venues:

New Wimbledon Theatre

14 – 18 February

Liverpool Empire Theatre

21 – 25 February

The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

28 Feb – 4 March

Wycombe Swan Theatre 

14 – 18 March

Bristol Hippodrome Theatre

28 March – 1 April

The Orchard Theatre, Dartford

4 – 8 April

Alhambra Theatre, Bradford 

11 – 15 April

Cliffs Pavilion, Southend

18 – 22 April

New Theatre, Cardiff 

25 – 29 April

Hull New Theatre

2 – 6 May

Opera House, Manchester 

9 – 13 May

Kings Theatre Glasgow 

16 – 20 May

Regent Theatre, Stoke-On-Trent 

30 May – 3 June