The King and I incongruity of a Victorian British governess in the midst of an exotic court: "The first-act finale of "The King and I" will feature Miss Lawrence, Mr. Brynner, and a pink satin ball gown." Mielziner's set plan was the simplest of the four Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals he had worked on, with one main set (the throne room), a number of front-stage drops (for the ship and Anna's room, for example) and the entire stage cleared for "The Small House of Uncle Thomas". The show was budgeted at $250,000 (US$ in dollars) making it the most expensive Rodgers and Hammerstein production
Gertrude Hoffmann (actress) Gertrude Hoffmann (actress) Gertrude W. Hoffmann (born Eliza Gertrude Wesselhoeft, May 17, 1871 – February 13, 1968) was a German-born American character actress who began her Hollywood career as she was entering her later years. Hoffmann was born on May 17, 1871, at Heidelberg (German Empire), the daughter of Walter and Mary Sara Silver (née Fraser) Wesselhoeft. Her father was a German-born doctor who at the time of her birth had left his medical practice in Halifax, Nova Scotia, behind to volunteer his services after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. He returned to North America in the early 1873