'The King and I,' 'An American in Paris,' and 'Something Rotten!'

Every so often, these crystal-ball-types get it right, at least judging by this season. No fewer than nine new musical productions opened on Broadway over the past two weeks, rushing to meet the deadline for the Tony nominations. Whether that’s good news or not depends on your perspective.

If you’re a producer, you’re facing the frightening figure of roughly $100 million, which represents the total investment in these nine new shows. How will they all remain up and running? And what about the other musicals still running from earlier this season, like the slick On the Twentieth Century or the winsome On the Town? Even Sting couldn’t keep his own show afloat (The Last Ship closed in January, despite his joining the cast to keep it from sinking).

If you’re a selective theatergoer, however, you’re spoiled for choice this spring. If you want a wedding farce with a contemporary twist, try It Shoulda Been You. If you want a Russian Les Miz, go see Dr. Zhivago. If you want cookies and milk before bedtime, sample Finding Neverland. If you want a sanitized turn-of-the-century Paris romance, meet Gigi. If you want dark Dürrenmatt (plus Chita Rivera singing and dancing at age 82), visit The Visit.

But if you want to taste the cream that rises to the top, there are two superlative choices.

Spectacular start

Lincoln Center Theater is offering a regal revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s immortal King and I. You’ll be under the spell of Bartlett Sher’s glorious production from the opening moment, when a large vessel sails out from the wings and downstage across the huge thrust, its bow extending over the heads of several rows of astonished audience members. The radiant Kelli O’Hara appears on deck, and the captivating story of Anna and the King of Siam begins.

No doubt you’re familiar with this tale of an East-West, clash-of-cultures friendship that evolves between a British governess and her royal employer in the stately palace halls of Siam, set in 1861. Anna (O’Hara) has come to educate the monarch’s many children. But she finds her most challenging pupil in the King himself: trying to teach him that the world is round, that women are equal to men (he has dozens of wives), and that he needs to show the western world (led by Queen Victoria and Abraham Lincoln) that he is not a barbarian.

Sher and Michael Yeargan, his gifted set designer, use the entire depth and height of the vast Vivian Beaumont stage to create the grandeur of the King’s palace. A cast of more than 40 actors, singers, and dancers flow gracefully between towering columns, performing memorable numbers like “The March of the Siamese Children” and “Small House of Uncle Thomas” (beautifully choreographed by Christopher Gattelli). You’ll thrill to O’Hara’s mellifluous rendering of those immortal songs, including “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” and “Getting to Know You” (sung to a dozen charming child actors).

Yul Brynner’s portrayal of the King in the 1951 premiere is legendary, so Ken Watanabe has big shoes to fill. But he does, with a charismatic presence that conveys vulnerability as well as arrogance. “Shall We Dance?,” the final duet, is the climax to a wonderful production, the finest I’ve seen on the LCT stage in recent years.

Elsewhere in time and space

Similarly, Christopher Wheeldon does wonders with another classic, An American in Paris, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin familiar from the 1951 Gene Kelly film. It’s the romantic tale of a young American soldier and a lovely French girl in the aftermath of World War II, set in the world’s most beautiful city. As both director and choreographer, Wheeldon has transplanted the tale from film to stage with classical elegance (the book is by Craig Lucas). The result is an enthralling piece of musical theatre — more ballet than jazz — but equally enchanting, featuring brilliant performances by Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope, both classically trained ballet dancers. The design team (sets by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz, projections by 59 Productions) creates the magic of Paris with gracefully gliding set pieces and impressionistic projections on a huge backdrop. Fairchild channels Kelly in “I Got Rhythm,” and Cope’s rendering of “The Man I Love” is to die for. It’s an airborne production, and you’ll leave the theater floating.

Meanwhile, if you’re in the mood for utter nonsense, Something Rotten! will surpass your expectations. This silly parody of the American musical (and of Shakespeare) has the subtlety of a high school class-night show, with hyperactive actors tap-dancing away in Renaissance costumes and cracking lowbrow jokes that outdo The Book of Mormon in bad taste (Casey Nicholaw directed both). Christian Borle delivers an amusing Shakespeare-as-rock-star, but the energy level of this overeager piece is so high that you’ll want to call a time out, especially after the writers of the play within a play, Nick and Nigel Bottom, compose a new musical named “Omelette” (inspired by the soothsayer’s prediction of Shakespeare’s next play), whose big number features an ensemble of giant dancing eggs. By the show’s end, almost every recent American musical, from A Chorus Line to The Lion King, is referred to and ridiculed.

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful,” Mae West once said. I wonder what she would have thought of this season of musicals?

Above right: Watanabe and O'Hara in The King and I

Above left: Christian Borle in Something Rotten!