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
premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway‘s St. James Theatre. It
ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth longest-running
Broadway musical in history at the time, and has had many tours
and revivals.