II Oscar Hammerstein - Böcker

Winner! Three 1947 Donaldson Awards for Best Book Best Lyrics and Best ScoreNominee: Seven 2005 Helen Hayes AwardsWinner! Two 2005 Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Resident Musical and Outstanding DirectorThis ensemble musical chronicles nearly four decades in the life of an Everyman Joseph Taylor Jr. from cradle through a mid-life discovery of who he is and what his life is truly about. The first musical to be staged by a director who also served as choreographer (the legendary Agnes de Mille) Allegrofollowed a unique structural format traveling from Joe's birth through his childhood from college dorm to marriage altar and on to his career; from the tranquility of his small Midwestern hometown to the hectic din of big city life in a series of vignettes and musical sequences dazzling in their simplicity and stunning in their impact. Ahead of its time theatrically Allegroremains timeless in its appeal.

It is 1862 in Siam when an English widow Anna Leonowens and her young son arrive at the Royal Palace in Bangkok having been summoned by the King to serve as tutor to his many children and wives. The King is largely considered to be a "barbarian" by those in the West and he seeks Anna's assistance in changing his image if not his ways. With both keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values Anna and the King grow to understand and respect one another in a truly unique love story.