The King and I Fifty years after its premiere, Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest summed up the musical: The King and I The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel, "Anna and the King of Siam" (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between
Dickey Kerr Dickey Kerr Richard Henry Kerr, otherwise known as Dickey Kerr, was born in St. Louis, Missouri July 3, 1893 to Richard J., and Anna Kerr. Previously, known as Anna Tieman prior to marrying Dickey’s father. Dickey’s father made his living as a firefighter before getting a job working on rafts along the Mississippi. His father had a large family to support. Dickey had eight siblings. Baseball was not Dickey’s first time in the athletic world. Prior to playing baseball, Dickey Kerr competed in amateur boxing. Kerr started playing baseball at the age of fourteen years old alongside amateur adult baseball