memories of "The King"

A Facebook friend posted that she and her husband had watched The King and I this weekend (the London production, streaming) and it made me think of my own history with this play.
  December 1, 1951, a Saturday, at 11:00 in the morning, I am down in the small yard outside the cellar of our apartment house in the Bronx, playing Running Bases. As I run, I think to myself: Is it possible that at 2:30 you will be far away from here, watching The King  and I at the Saint James theater? So I play for a about a half hour more, then go up to the apartment to get dressed and leave with my father for the Saint James. We arrive (by subway) in plenty of time; our tickets are in the first row of the second balcony. At that time, the entrance to the second balcony was separate from the theater's main entrance---it was just a small, unassuming door a little to the right of it. We climb the stairs in the dark---a long trek, and finally arrive at a little lobby that leads to the seats. As we enter the lobby a sign greets us: Gertrude Lawrence is ill, today, at this performance the role of Anna Leonowens will be played by Constance Carpenter. Wow! An understudy for the lead! I had heard so much about Gertrude Lawrence, would her understudy be up to the task?  I had seen a lot of theater before, but this was the first time I would be watching an understudy in what was the musical's central role. Miss Carpenter did not disappoint--she gave it her all, and the young actor playing the King---Yul Brynner --truly worked closely with her and complemented her. His was a terrific performance, but one that never called attention to itself---I always felt watching the musical then that I was watching Anna's story. For an eight year old theater lover, a great afternoon.
   The next time I encountered the musical was not at a professional production, but one at JHS 98 in the Bronx, about two years later. Why was I there? Because my dad was  close friend of the two drama teachers at 98, one of whom,  Paula Reibel, had directed this production. And what made being there more important was that my father, in his third year as drama counselor at Camp Merrimont, would be directing his version of the musical as a Counselor-Camper show, and that I would be playing the Crown Prince. So I watched carefully.
    Two things that I noticed that evening that I still remember. Act I's final scene is a dialogue between Anna and the King, and she instructs him on how to plan for the British ambassador
and his party. Who took the lead? I had always assumed Anna, but the young man playing the
king, was far better then this Anna---he basically made the scene about him. This was a
revelation to me: it showed me that if a scene was cast differently, the color and tone of
the scene could change. I still remember sitting there in astonishment.
  Point 2; Naturally I was watching closely the student playing the Crown Prince. He was a stocky
kid, looked very "neighborhoody" and when his monologue came at the play's end, I watched
carefully. He truly "banged it out" that is, he gave it his all--I remember thinking that he was
not very specific but was very intense---he really wanted to show that he would be a strong King,
and a strong actor.  Now here is the amazing thing about that moment. In 1977, the New York
Times, Magazine has Al Pacino on its cover. He is currently performing on Broadway in
The Basic Training of Pablo Hummel. In the article is a picture of him from a junior high
school production of The King and I. Yep! That young intense actor whom I was watching
turned out to be Al Pacino.  (I think---when i met up later in life with Paula Reibel,she
remembered him play Louis---must find that out)
   Oh yes, and how did my performance at Camp Merrimont compare to the "young intense
actor" from JHS 98?  Is that question really worth asking?
  One last note: 98 at the time, was mostly Jewish, as the kids in the neighborhood came from
working class Jewish families. It was about to undergo a major transition to a mostly hispanic
neighborhood---five years later it would be very different.
   that is all for now---will report soon.