Anna Leonowens (Rachel Woods) and the King of Siam (Caleb Pless) dance, as head wife Lady Thiang (Lindsey White) looks on, during rehearsal for the Star Bright Players' "The King and I."

Brentwood Home Page news reports
Brentwood resident Caleb Pless stars as the King of Siam in the Star Bright Players' production of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, which opens Thursday at Freedom Middle School.

A cast of nearly 80 students ages 7 to 18 will take part in the show produced by the award-winning children's theater program of the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department.

Other Brentwood residents involved in the King and I are Gabriel Pless (Captain Orton), Lucas Eytchison (the Interpreter), Aubrey Eytchison (Princess Ying Yaowlak), Lily Norton (one of the wives), and Molly Tatum (Uncle Thomas) and Madi Moody (company) in the dance "The Small House of Uncle Thomas."

The show runs nightly 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, through Saturday, April 16, with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 17, at the school in Franklin.

Admission is $5 for ages 4 and up. Tickets can be purchased at the Franklin Recreation Complex of the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Center or at the door one hour prior to the show, if available.

Seating is general admission and doors open 30 minutes before showtime. More information is available by calling 790-5719, x. 10, or at www.wcparksandrec.com. 

The musical is directed by Leslie Milstead, with musical direction by Connie Marley, and assistant direction and choreography by Erin Laming.

The King and I, based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, deals with the experiences of British schoolteacher and widow Anna Leonowens in this love story of East meets West. Anna, hired as part of the king's drive to modernize his country, becomes governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.