Photos: Helen George at the launch of The King and I

Call The Midwife star Helen George attended a press launch this week for forthcoming West End musical The King and I.

The big-budget Broadway show will play the Dominion Theatre in London from 20 January to 2 March 2024.

The launch took place at London’s Savoy Hotel, as Helen joined the cast of the show.

Further dates were also added recently to The King & I UK Tour, with Eastbourne and Salford getting the show ahead of the London run.

Alongside Helen George as Anna, the show also stars Broadway and film actor Darren Lee as The King, returning to the role he played on Broadway.

They are joined by Dean John-Wilson (The King and I) as Lun Tha, Marienella Phillips (Henry V) as Tuptim, and Cezarah Bonner as Lady Thiang, with cast including Kok-Hwa Lie (The King & I) as Kralahome, Caleb Lagayan (Les Misérables) as Prince Chulalongkorn, Sam Jenkins-Shaw (The Night Watch) as Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsay, and Maria Coyne (The Phantom of the Opera) as Alternate Anna.

The ensemble includes Chi Chan, Jeffrey Chekai, Emily Grace-Ling, Cher Nicolette Ho, Rachel Wang-Hei Lau, Daniel Len, Candy Ma, Rachel MacDougall, Amelia Kinu Muus, Yuki Ozeki, Kitt Pakapom, Prem Rai, Ria Tanaka, Hiromi Toyooka, Jasmine Triadi, Jensen Tudtud, Qinwen Xue and Jason Yang-Westland; and the child actors include Harry Altoft, Dexter Barry, Max Ivemey and Charlie McGuire play Anna’s son Louis; and Bethany Campbell, Coco Bridger, Cody Concha, Ethan Fung, Dulcie-Bella Hackley, Caitlin Lau, Khun Cho Lwin, Angelica Quynh An Nguyen, Tenzin Noryang, Sabri Leonel Puci, Niall Rina, Francis Benedict Sarte, Mia Snowdon, Yuen Zhai and Phoebe Zhao-Welsh play the Royal children.

Directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, My Fair Lady), who directed the Broadway smash-hit run of this production at the Lincoln Center Theater, the show has also played the London Palladium.

Bartlett Sher reunites the original creative team for this production, including costume designer Catherine Zuber, who won a Tony Award for this production for Best Costume, set designer Michael Yeargan, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designer Scott Lehrer and choreography by Christopher Gattelli based on the original choreography by Jerome Robbins.

Helen George spoke to The Sunday Times last weekend about the role of Anna in The King and I, saying that: “There’s a strength to her. She has to make this work. And it’s something that I have lived through. I am a single mother who has to be financially responsible for both of my children. There’s no man in my life currently, and there’s no man in Anna’s life. So I thought, this is a perfect match for me, especially now.”

The King and I is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s timeless musical romance, featuring songs including Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You, and Shall We Dance.

Book tickets to The King and I at the Dominion Theatre in London