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 Hammerstein 1954, and scored a Best Actress Oscar nomination for leading lady Dorothy Dandridge. The original production of "Carousel" was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, running for 890 performances and closing on May 24, 1947. The cast included John Raitt, Jan Clayton, Jean Darling, Christine Johnson and Bambi Linn. From this show came the hit musical numbers "The Carousel Waltz" (an instrumental), "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", and "You'll Never Walk Alone". "Carousel" was also revolutionary for its time – adapted from Ferenc Molnár's play "Liliom", it