`THE KING AND I': NOTRE DAME MUSICAL OPENS TONIGHT

The cast of "The King and I" consists of 74 members, 15 of them children from local parochial schools.

As the curtains open tonight on Notre Dame High School's production of "The King and I," the audience will be transported to a stateroom of a British ship about to dock in Bangkok, the largest city of Siam.

In an age of political correctness, the story of a Victorian school teacher imposing her cherished Western values on a land and a people that Europeans consider barbaric seems, at the very least, hopelessly out-of-date and misguided.

Anna, the widowed British school marm, ought to respect the indigenous culture of Siamese people, some might say, rather than challenging their customs and ways of life.

Then again, the culture Anna challenges is a shameless patriarchy ruled by an autocratic king who believes that men should have many wives, that women are weak and that people can be given away as property.

No one in this show is, it would seem, politically correct.

But it is that conflict between cultures that is at the very heart of "The King and I," as is evidenced by one of the musical's more popular songs, "Getting to Know You." In the song, Anna tells her students that she is beginning to understand and like them and is hoping that they like her as well.

The bridge between cultures is crossed much more easily with the children than with the king, who, despite his desire to learn western customs and philosophy, wants to hold onto old ways.

The typical musical plot -- boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl -- is present, but with a twist. Anna and the King never fall in love, never marry, never kiss. The play is not a love story as such, but more about the growing love of Anna for the people of Siam and the love they begin to have for her.

Such love never comes easy.

In a delightful though generally unknown song, "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" Anna, alone in her bedroom, sings as if she were addressing the king, protesting not only his autocratic ways but certain customs she finds particularly appalling. (You've got to love a song that rhymes "polygamy" with both "bigamy" and "prig of me.")

Yet Anna, even when frustrated with the King and the customs, will do whatever she can to help them.

The production is a pure delight and a credit to director Cynthia King and vocal director Ellen Seyer. And the cast -- 74 strong plus musicians and technical crew -- is uniformly strong.

One of the most difficult things for an actor to do is to play a character who is prim and prudish without coming across as overly stiff and mechanical. Played too tight or prissy, the character becomes unsympathetic and the actor risks losing the audience. But played too loose and easy-going, an emotional depth is lost as the actor slips from character into caricature.

It isn't easy.

Jessica Hency easily avoids the stiffness and rigidity that could have sunk this part and with it the play itself. Her portrayal of the ever-so-proper English school teacher Anna Leonowens is nothing short of amazing for such a young performer.

From her first appearance on stage, gliding about gracefully in one of four petticoated hoop skirts she wears in the production, Hency is every inch the dignified English lady. Even her British accent is pure Kensington.

But beneath Anna's well-mannered facade lies a fiery spirit that Hency shows subtly in a tilt of her head or the twinkle in her eye.

Added to that is her strong singing voice showcased in some of the musical's most famous numbers, "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello, Young Lovers" and "Shall We Dance?"

Andrew Blattel, in his first leading role, carries himself with the strength and royalty befitting the King, his arms crossed defiantly, his eyebrow raised almost arrogantly. The musical itself does not really allow him to display his singing talents -- the best songs are given to the women -- but when he does sing, he does fine.

In fact, the entire cast does a remarkable job in performing music that is neither easy nor always light. In particular, Chad Heuschober, Tara Mosby and Nina Propst are strong in the songs they sing.

Heuschober and Mosby, as the two young lovers Lun Tha and Tuptim, are especially strong in "We Kiss in a Shadow," a song about their forbidden love, a love that ultimately leads to tragedy.

Propst, who plays Lady Thiang, one of the king's many wives, is powerful in her impassioned rendition of "Something Wonderful."

A ballet -- a retelling of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" from an oriental perspective called "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" -- is handled deftly.

Michael Ha and Jake Hency are delightful in their roles as Prince Chululongkorn and Louis Leonowens.

And most adorable are the 15 students from area parochial schools who play the king's children.

The show will run Thursday through Sunday night at 8 p.m. in the Notre Dame High School Gym. All seating is reserved. Tickets are $5 each.