Shall We Dance? (1951 song) Shall We Dance? (1951 song) "Shall We Dance?" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, "The King and I". It is sung by Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam, played by Gertrude Lawrence (in the original Broadway production) and Yul Brynner respectively. In addition, it was sung by Valerie Hobson in the original London West End production, and Marni Nixon (who only voiced-over songs while Deborah Kerr acted) in the 1956 film of "The King and I". The song is about Anna reminiscing over the idea of finding love at an English dance. The song
The King and I entire score to Lawrence, including Lawrence's own songs. Lawrence listened calmly, but when she met Rodgers and Hammerstein the following day, she treated Rodgers coldly, apparently seeing the composer's actions as flaunting her vocal deficiencies. Hammerstein and Rodgers' doubts about whether Lawrence could handle the part were assuaged by the sheer force of her acting. James Poling, a writer for "Collier's" who was allowed to attend the rehearsals, wrote of Lawrence preparing "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?": At his first meeting with Sharaff, Brynner, who had only a fringe of hair, asked what he was to