This is a beautiful April 30th, 1951 playbill from the opening weeks of the Original Broadway production of the RICHARD RODGERS and OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II musical "THE KING AND I" at the St. James Theatre in New York City. (The production opened March 29th, 1951 and ran for 1246 performances.) ..... The Tony Award winning "Best Musical" starred GERTRUDE LAWRENCE (Tony Award winner) and featured YUL BRYNNER (Tony Award winner), DOROTHY SARNOFF, DORETTA MORROW, CHARLES FRANCIS, SANDY KENNEDY, LEONARD GRAVES, JOHN JULIANO, ED PRESTON, JOHNNY STEWART, BAAYORK LEE, LARRY DOUGLAS, ROBIN CRAVEN and STEPHANIE AUGUSTINE ..... Side Note: "Anna Leonowens" in "THE KING AND I" was the final stage role for the legendary GERTRUDE LAWRENCE, who on August 16th, 1952 fainted following a matinee and was admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital. She slipped into a coma and died on September 6th, 1952 at the age of 54 while the musical was still playing. One of her last requests was that Yul Brynner, her leading man in the show, be upgraded in the posters and playbills from below to above-the-title billing, sharing star billing with whomever would play Anna in later performances. She was buried in the pink satin hooped ballgown from this show in which she sang "Shall We Dance?" ..... CREDITS: Music by RICHARD RODGERS; Book and Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II (Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated on "Oklahoma!", "Carousel", "The King and I", "Me and Juliet", "South Pacific", "Flower Drum Song" and "The Sound of Music" among others) based on the novel "Anna and the King of Siam" by MARGARET LANDON; Sets designed by JO MIELZINER; Costumes designed by IRENE SHARAFF; Choreographed by JEROME ROBBINS; Musical Direction by FREDERICK DVONCH; Directed by JOHN VAN DRUTEN; Produced by RODGERS and HAMMERSTEIN ..... DETAILS: The 48 page playbill measures 6 1/2" X 9" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers and bios of each of the leading actors but with the exception of the front cover, no cast photos ..... CONDITION: With the exception of light edge wear, this playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.