The Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I will close Feb. 22, 1998 after 26 previews and 781 regular performances at the Neil Simon Theatre.
Broadway audiences have spent nearly two years getting to know all about The King & I, first through Lou Diamond Phillips and the Tony winning Donna Murphy, then via Kevin Gray and Faith Prince. Marie Osmond joined the cast, Dec. 16, 1997, but she will be the last Anna for this production.
Gray will be moonlighting for one night only, Feb. 2, when he'll appear as Whizzer in a benefit concert reading of William Finn's Falsettoland for the National Asian American Theatre Company. The performance takes place at St. Peter's Church on Lexington Ave. For tickets call (212) 505-3003.
Osmond made her Broadway debut in this The King and I but is in fact no stranger to the world of Rodgers & Hammerstein: She starred as Maria in the U.S. and Canadian national tour of The Sound of Music in 1994 and 1995, and reprised the role earlier this year in a tour across Southeast Asia.
Directed by Christopher Renshaw, this production won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Revival. The show is produced by Dodger Endemol Theatricals, the Kennedy Center, James M. Nederlander, and Perseus Productions (with John Frost and the Adelaide Festival Centre in association with The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization). Hayley Mills stars as Anna in the current national tour. For tickets and information on The King And I call Ticketmaster, (212) 307-4100.