Patricia Morison her former Broadway co-star Alfred Drake. The play ran on Broadway from December 30, 1948 until July 28, 1951, for a total of 1,077 performances. Morison also played in the London production of "Kiss Me, Kate," which ran for 400 performances. In February 1954, Morison took over the role of Anna Leonowens in the Rodgers and Hammerstein production of "The King and I," which co-starred Yul Brynner in his star-making role as the King of Siam. The musical premiered in 1951, originally with Gertrude Lawrence as Leonowens. Lawrence was subsequently replaced by Celeste Holm, Constance Carpenter, Annamary Dickey, and finally
Rodgers and Hart scores intact. "Pal Joey" (1940), termed their "masterpiece", has a book by "The New Yorker" writer John O'Hara. O'Hara adapted his own short stories for the show, which featured a title character who is a heel. So unflinching was the portrait that critic Brooks Atkinson famously asked in his review "Although it is expertly done, how can you draw sweet water from a foul well?" When the show was revived in 1952, audiences had learned to accept darker material (thanks in large part to Rodgers' work with Oscar Hammerstein II). The new production had a considerably longer run than the