Gertrude Lawrence but when he proved to be unenthused by the suggestion, Lawrence sent the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers initially demurred because he felt Lawrence's vocal range was limited and she had a tendency to sing flat. But he realised the story had strong potential, and the two men agreed to write what ultimately became "The King and I". It opened on Broadway in March 1951, and ultimately, Lawrence won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Her triumph was short-lived; her health deteriorated rapidly, forcing her to miss numerous performances until
Pipe Dream (musical) farce "Charley's Aunt", they produced it as the musical comedy "Where's Charley?", with a score by Frank Loesser. Among the backers of "Where's Charley?" were Rodgers and Hammerstein, which helped secure additional investment. The show was a hit and helped establish Feuer and Martin on Broadway—they would go on to produce "Guys and Dolls". In the aftermath of "Guys and Dolls"'s success, Feuer and Martin were interested in adapting John Steinbeck's 1945 novel "Cannery Row" into a musical. They felt that some of the characters, such as marine biologist Doc, would work well in a musical, but that many of