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
Pipe Dream (musical) disaster for Rodgers and Hammerstein. Broadway producers Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin held the rights to "Sweet Thursday" and wanted Frank Loesser to compose a musical based on it. When Loesser proved unavailable, Feuer and Martin succeeded in interesting Rodgers and Hammerstein in the project. As Hammerstein adapted "Sweet Thursday", he and Rodgers had concerns about featuring a prostitute as female lead and setting part of the musical in a bordello. They signed operatic diva Helen Traubel to play Fauna, the house madam. As the show progressed through tryouts, Hammerstein repeatedly revised it, obscuring Suzy's profession and the nature of