Thomas and The King is a stage musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with music by John Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

, lyrics by James Harbert, and a book by Edward Anhalt

Edward Anhalt

Edward Anhalt was a noted screenwriter, producer, and documentary film-maker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, née Richards, during World War II to write pulp fiction...

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Based on the story of Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...

 and Henry II of England

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, and set in 12th century England.
It opened at Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

 London, October 16, 1975 to poor reviews and failed to make it to Broadway.

Set design by Tim Goodchild. Directed by Choreographed by Norman Maen

Norman Maen

-Personal life:Maen was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and began his career working as a dancer in an Irish dance group. He qualified as a teacher after successfully completing his studies at Ballymena Academy and Stranmillis College, Belfast.-Career:...

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The cast included James Smilie, Richard Johnson (actor)

Richard Johnson (actor)

Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...

, Caroline Villiers and Dilys Hamlett

Dilys Hamlett

Dilys Hamlett was a British actress.-Early life:Dilys Hamlett was born on 31 March 1928 in Tidworth, Hampshire and developed an early interest in literature and theatre...

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Act I

Thomas and the King begins with a (Pilgrimage Procession), led by Queen Eleanor on her way to Canterbury through a wooded area where King Henry II has been pursuing peasant wenches. Henry tries to encourage his friend Thomas Becket to join him (Look Around You). Thomas meets Jennie, a peasant girl who want to better herself even though it means giving up her maidenhood to Henry. Left alone, she expresses her insecurities (Am I Beautiful?). Thomas warns Henry that Jennie has brains, but this fails to discourage Henry. Thomas reprimands him for his ribaldry and reminds him that it is the King's responsibility to leave the world a better place. Henry prefers to be remembered as a (Man Of Love).

Theobold, Archbishop of Canterbury, challenges Thomas' inability to reform Henry's ways which leads to a discussion between Henry and Thomas as to the true nature of love (The Question).
In the palace, Queen Eleanor finds Jennie on her way to Henry's bedchamber and she tries to make Jennie unattractive to Henry by dressing her in a royal manner. Thomas suggests that Eleanor will have done Jennie a favour in keeping her from Henry's bed but Jennie is now unable to return to her village and her previous way of life (What Choice Have I?).

At a council meeting, in a challenge to the Archbishop, Henry makes Thomas the Lord Chancellor, bridging the gap between church and state. This is seen by Henry as a way to build a better England (We Shall Do It!).
A jealous Eleanor reminds herself that she can handle Henry as well as Thomas and Jennie who has, in a gesture of both lust and ambition, come to Henry's bed again and he finds that feeling of affection for the peasant wench is (Improbable As Spring). Eleanor is a woman of (Power) and masterminds a war against France. The Archbishop is killed and Henry is defeated. Eleanor is delighted. However, to gain popularity again wit the people of England Henry decides to make Thomas the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas pleads with Henry to reconsider realising that Henry will expect him to speak for the King rather than for the Church. But Henry says that he will go ahead with his plan but Thomas pledges that he will speak for God (The Question - Reprise).

Act II

The second act opens with the (Consecration) of Thomas as Archbishop of Canterbury but meanwhile, Eleanor is plotting to bring Thomas to trial for his past misdeeds. But while Eleanor has been otherwise engaged Henry has fallen in love with Jennie ('Tis Love). Henry will not allow Thomas to be tried by the Church Court but Thomas defies him by supporting the right of the Church in this matter and he goes to Rome to see the Pope.

In Rome the Cardinals are not kindly disposed towards Thomas and privately plot to have him excommunicated (Sincerety). The Pope is afraid that if he sends Thomas to England, Henry will invade Rome, so, exile is the only solution. Thomas ponders the challenge and the dichotomy with which he is now faced (The Test).

Back in England, Jennie suggests that Henry forgives Thomas (Replay The Game) and that they should try to build their dream for England (A New Way To Turn).

Thomas returns to England and he agrees to obey Henry in legal matters but not on Church matters. Unable to compromise, Henry realises that he will have to destroy Thomas in order to keep his kingdom (Will No One Rid Me?).
While kneeling in prayer, Thomas is murdered. Henry finds that it is in death that Thomas has achieved martyrdom and, from his grief, Henry vows to build their dream for England (So Many Worlds - Finale).

Musical numbers

• 1. Processional - Company
• 2. Look Around You - Henry, Becket and Village Girls
• 3. Am I Beautiful? - Jennie
• 4. Man Of Love - Henry
• 5. The Question - Becket and Henry
• 6. What Choice Have I? - Jennie and Becket
• 7. We Shall Do It! - Becket, Henry and Company
• 8. Improbable As Spring - Henry
• 9. Power - Eleanor and Foliot
• 10. Consecration of Becket - Company
• 11. 'Tis Love - Henry and Jennie
• 12. Sincerity - Two Cardinals
• 13. The Test - Becket
• 14. Replay the Game - Jennie
• 15. A New Way To Turn - Henry, Becket, Jennie and Company
• 16. Will No One Rid Me? - Henry, Eleanor, Jennie and Company
• 17. So Many Other Worlds - Finale

Cast Album

The musical (principal members) was recorded a few years after its West End production. Some of the original cast came back to the studios for the recording. Lewis Fiander

Lewis Fiander

- Biography :Fiander was born in Melbourne and educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew, the son of Mona Jane and Walter Lewis Fiander. Moving to the UK from his native Australia, initially to appear in the play "The One Day of the Year", he appeared in such films as Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Dr....

 performed the role of Thomas for this recording. Michael Sammes as Bishop Foliot, Richard Day-lewis as Cardinal Rossini and Tom Saffery as Cardinal Resphigi.

• http://www.jayrecords.com/recordings/thomandtheking/recording.htm

Recorded at PRT Studios, London 27/28 Aug 1981.
The orchestrator for the musical was John Williams' regular collaborator Herbert W. Spencer

Herbert W. Spencer

Herbert Winfield Spencer was a film and television composer and orchestrator.Spencer gained industry fame when he teamed up with fellow 20th Century Fox orchestrator Earle Hagen in 1953 to create the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra...

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