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 starring Gertrude Lawrence as Anna and the mostly unknown Yul Brynner as the king. This musical featured the hit songs "I Whistle a Happy Tune", "Hello, Young Lovers", "Getting to Know You", "We Kiss in a Shadow", "Something Wonderful", "I Have Dreamed", and "Shall We Dance?" It was adapted for film in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr (whose singing was largely dubbed by Marni Nixon). Brynner won an Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal, and Kerr was nominated as Best Actress. Brynner reprised the role twice on Broadway in 1977 and 1985 and in a