OPERA REVIEW OF CAPITOL OPERA'S PRODUCTION OF
THE KING AND I.
Patricia Beach-Smith, the Sacramento Bee Arts Critic
"Worthy 'King' in Carmichael."
The etceteras were excellent when "The King and I" opened Friday as the first production of the season at Capitol Opera Sacramento, a season that will feature more musicals than ever before.
As the Victorian-era king of Siam, Dennis Yep tossed off his well-formed "etceteras" like perfect grains of rice. But his weren't the only "so ons and so forths" that made this version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical worth watching.
The dance interludes, the march of the Siamese children (and almost everything else they did), the costuming and the play within the play - "The Small House of Uncle Thomas"- propelled the ambitious undertaking into a successful endeavor for the 10-year-old Carmichael company.
Yep may be one of the best kings this reviewer has seen in the part, probably because he brings more than a caricature of an Asian man to this forceful, yet sensitive interpetation. Yep is Chinese American, obviously an experienced actor and also Artistic Director of Sacramento's InterACT.
Kathleen Torchia-Sizemore, as Anna Leon-Owens, the British tutor the king hires to teach his children, was a pleasant foil to Yep's gruffiness, singing beautifully and acting well.
Salina Donek and David Silva directed the theatrics, and Silva distinguished himself further by his performance in the role of Lun Tha, the young lover opposite a stunning Erin Apgar as his Princess Tuptin.
