Community will enjoy `King’ despite length

If you plan on seeing “The King and I,” which is playing this weekend at Peakes Auditorium, have a good strong cup of coffee before you go, bring Lifesavers for the kids, and allow for at least three hours running time.

This a long, long show and not just because the clock is ticking.

There are 12 scene changes, 21 musical pieces, 11 royal wives, 12 royal children that have to be lugged on and off the stage periodically, 58 cast members and one Siamese cat (that makes one 10-second appearance).

Plus there’s a show within a show within the subplot.

All this for a musical that has based a happy career on a bald man and one memorable number. (In case you’ve forgotten, it’s the one when the King and Anna polka with reserved abandon.) Unfortunately, you have to wait two hours to see it.

Even if it did win five Tony Awards after opening in 1951, “The King and I” simply doesn’t have many fun moments for which Broadway musicals are known. But that’s sure to be OK for Bangor audiences because this is community theater — a collaboration of Penobscot Theatre, Bangor Community Theatre and the Bangor-Brewer YWCA — and you can overlook a lot in the name of an all-out good time among neighbors. After all, these are your friends and teachers and spouses and children up there singing and dancing and acting, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And they’re all having fun so you probably will, too.

The best news of all, however, is that University of Maine student Darren Stillman has miked Peakes Auditorium so that it is an acceptable theater in which to hear a show. That alone makes this production historical.

But there’s also Stephen V. Gormley, who is especially entertaining as the despotic King of Siam. He throws his large frame and deep voice into the role, and makes it all his own. Durell Buzzini, as Anna, is lucky to stay on her feet with all the negotiating of hoop skirts and lacy hats she has to go through. She is generally bright and well-voiced in the role though could drop more than half her gestures and actually add something to the dimension of this strong-willed character. Most importantly, the “Shall We Dance” scene between Gormley and Buzzini is quite charming in its simplicity and spontaneity.

The real charm of the show, however, is Darlene Mogul as head wife to the king. Her “Something Wonderful” is, indeed, something wonderful so lovely and natural is her voice. Although soprano Bridget Larson, as Tuptim, has the leading love song (“We Kiss in a Shadow”), no moment in the show is as vocally satisfying as when Mogul sings.

Young singers Zachary A. Field, as the King’s favorite son, and Scott Johnson, as Anna’s boy, give a commendable duet with the reprise of “A Puzzlement.” And dancer Jennifer Monahan is a wave of grace among the movers in this cast that has worked hard under the direction of Kelly Holyoke to keep the stage active.

Costumer Anne Geel has pieced together an amazing variety of colorful costumes that, along with Jean Vermette’s lighting, make a somewhat dull set look snazzy. Unfortunately, very few of the costumes do much to flatter the actors.

On preview night, Robert Bahr’s orchestra had been whittled down because of a snowstorm and was moving sluggishly through the score. You can only hope that the speed and sharpness of the sound increased by Friday’s opening night.

Otherwise, drink your coffee, sit back, and whistle a happy tune.

“The King and I” will be performed 2 and 8 p.m. March 5 and 2 p.m. March 6 in Peakes Auditorium in Bangor High School. For tickets, call 942-3333 or 941-2808.