The Sheboygan Theatre Company will continue the Seventy-Fifth Season with the opening of “The King and I” on Friday, December 5. A classic Broadway musical perfect for the whole family, this is a wonderful holiday production for a year of shows sponsored by The Stefanie H. Weill Charitable Fund and Acuity for the Arts.

From the incomparable composing team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, whose canon of work includes “Oklahoma!” “The Sound of Music,” “South Pacific,” and “Carousel,” “The King and I” is the enormously fascinating tale of the English woman summoned to Bangkok to tutor the many wives and children of the King of Siam. Because he’s considered by the West to be a barbarian, the King also elicits the aid of Anna Leonowens to help him change his image. The richly textured and profoundly moving story dramatizes how Anna and the King, though from quite different cultures with very different values, gradually come to understand and respect each other enormously.

The original production garnered four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, while the major motion picture based on it captured six Academy Awards. The Broadway production of 1996 took home four Tonys, four Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critics Circle Awards and in each case was selected as Best Musical Revival.

Musical highlights from the score include “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Puzzlement,” “Getting to Know You,” “Shall we Dance?” “I Have Dreamed,” “We Kiss in a Shadow” and “Something Wonderful,”

Sponsored by Vollrath Company, “The King and I” will open Friday, December 5, and be performed each day through Saturday, December 13, with the exception of Monday. There are evening performances every night except Sunday, December 7, with matinees that day and on Saturday, December 13, in addition to the evening performance. The production will be presented at the Leslie W. Johnson Theatre, 2820 Union Avenue, Sheboygan, with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Admission is $20.00 for adults, $16.00 for seniors sixty and over and $10.00 for youngsters through high school and college students. Tickets are available at the Theatre Company office in the Community Recreation Department, 607 S. Water Street, or at the theatre box office 45 minutes before curtain of each performance. Season Tickets guaranteeing admission for all five shows are still available at $50.00 for adults and $25.00 for students. To learn more visit www.sheboygantheatercompany.com and then call 920/459-3779 to reserve tickets or for further information.