The King and I arrived at the New Theatre in Cardiff on Tuesday night with a lavish production directed by Paul Kerryson and choreographed by David Needham. The play follows the story of an English widow who travels to the Far East to tutor the King of Siam¹s children and starred This Life¹s gorgeous Ramon Tikaram in the lead role of The King. Tikaram played the King with a vulnerability that displayed he was a stubborn man on the verge of changing his ways.

Starring opposite Tikaram was Josefina Gabrielle as Anna who¹s prim and proper school ma¹amish portrayal of Anna enabled the audience to really believe her performance as the English tutor.

The secret relationship between Tup-Tim and Lun Tha was the highlight of the show and was played with passion by Adrian Li Donni (Lun Tha) and Newport born and raised Claire-Marie Hall (Tup-Tim).

There was also strong support from Chi Ming Chan (perhaps better known as Harry Hill¹s Stunt Double on TV Burp) who featured as Kralahome and Gary Wood and Keir Barradell/Matthew Russell who portray Prince Chululongkorn (Wood), the King¹s son and Louis, Anna¹s son.

Finally a mention for the constantly moving set designed by Sara Perks with 2 huge Buddha¹s and incredible amount of gold.

The King and I features many well known songs like Shall We Dance, Whistle a Happy Tune and Getting to Know You, and continues at the New Theatre until Saturday 17 Mar 2012.