{"id":144605,"date":"2023-12-09T15:00:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?p=144605"},"modified":"2023-12-09T15:00:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T15:00:59","slug":"helen-georges-lead-in-the-the-king-and-i-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/celebrities\/helen-georges-lead-in-the-the-king-and-i-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen George’s lead in the ‘The King and I’ Musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
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But close your eyes and listen to that voice \u2013 cut-glass diction, clipped delivery \u2013 and you\u2019d recognise it almost immediately as Helen George.<\/p>\n
Which is lucky for me as Helen doesn\u2019t currently look like Trixie Franklin from her trademark role in Call The Midwife.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s on account of her tumbling brunette hair, which has replaced Trixie\u2019s trademark ash-blonde helmet.<\/p>\n
The brown barnet has been adopted for her role as Anna Leonowens in the resumption of the mini-tour of The King And I.<\/p>\n
A sold-out hit when it ran for five months earlier this year, the beloved musical will resume in Eastbourne and Salford ahead of a six-week season in the West End next month with Helen as its lead star.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been wanting to do a musical for a while,\u201d says Helen, 39, \u201cand I was waiting for the right one to come along. When this offer came up, I just couldn\u2019t say no. It\u2019s such a classical musical theatre role.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story takes inspiration from a real woman of the same name who became a teacher to the many wives and children of the King of Thailand in the region then known as Siam.<\/p>\n
The real Anna kept a diary of her time there in the 1860s. It was published in 1870 and remains a fascinating snapshot of a hidden world emerging into the light.<\/p>\n
Three-quarters of a century later, the novelist Margaret Landon fell on the journal as a rich source for a heavily fictionalised reimagination of her story entitled Anna and the King of Siam.<\/p>\n
That was instantly snapped up by Hollywood producer Darryl F. Zanuck and filmed with Rex Harrison as the King.<\/p>\n
Then in 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein made it into a musical.<\/p>\n
A story about Siamese royalty might have seemed unusual for a duo whose shows were all about Americans.<\/p>\n
But in South Pacific, then their most recent hit, they had tackled the issue of racism head on.<\/p>\n
The King And I was also about promoting harmony between cultures. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly strong story with a wonderful score,\u201d says Helen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncluding songs like I Whistle A Happy Tune, Shall We Dance? and Getting To Know You. It was written in the 1950s, yet it still seems so modern.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it requires, of course, her having to wear a corset and an enormous blue ball gown which, as Helen attests to despite its fairytale appearance, sweeps away anything in its path.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call it \u2018the beast\u2019,\u201d she smiles. \u201cIt weighs ten pounds and it\u2019s incredibly heavy; it needs about five people to help me into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even then, getting on the leaden gown is only the first part of the endurance battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost so much weight on tour earlier this year,\u201d says Helen.<\/p>\n