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
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