The usually stodgy Welk has really been pushing the envelope lately. The recent "All Night Strut" featured lyrics describing illicit drug use (in "Minnie the Moocher"), and the upcoming "Altar Boyz," with its flamboyant gay boy band member, should have the resort's customary audiences either rocking along or scratching their heads longing for good old-fashioned tunes.

Jeff Griggs & Victoria Strong

Copyright©2008 Marc Northover

Sandwiched between these two shows is one of those reliable standbys filled with hummable melodies, the Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece "The King and I," now enjoying a long run at the Escondido resort. But aside from Victoria Strong's vividly etched portrait of governess Anna Leonowens and a magnificent red-hued set by Andrew G. Hammer, the most notable aspect of director and choreographer Jon Engstrom's production is actor Jeff Griggs, who appears to be making his San Diego area debut playing the King.

As far as Kings go, Mr. Griggs' performance is competent if not exactly revelatory, but isn't nearly as interesting as his résumé.

While famed predecessor Yul Brynner posed nude for photographer George Platt Lynes early in his career, Mr. Griggs' catalogue of work -- which includes starring work in several adult films with colorful titles like "Pay to Play" and "Castro Motel" -- takes "performance" to a whole other level.

To be fair, I count myself among the many who couldn't care less about such a thing, but it's a surprising decision indeed for the somewhat conservative Welk Resort.

Granted, Mr. Griggs has by far the best physique of any King I've ever seen, but I'd hoped the days of Caucasian actors starring as Asian characters had ended with Jonathan Pryce and "Miss Saigon," especially here on the Pacific Rim.

Although both leads have played these roles before, the results here are markedly different. For most of the evening, Mr. Griggs seems to merely float on the surface of his complex character, a 19th-century Siamese king on the difficult threshhold of Western modernity, but Ms. Strong steadfastly inhabits hers with the zeal of an accomplished pro. It's too bad the powers that be have cut her first-act tour-de-force, "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You" (which she performed with such conviction in a Northern California production I saw just a few months ago), especially since it's still in the program's Song List. Luckily, she has plenty of opportunities to shine brightly elsewhere, as in her wistful "Hello, Young Lovers."

Janelle Velasquez

Copyright©2008 Marc Northover

The supporting cast is fine, though aside from a few vocal standouts in Janelle Velasquez' Tuptim and Yoly Tolentino's Lady Thiang, largely unmemorable. Even the multitude of cute kids are not used to maximum advantage in Engstrom's staging; the "March of the Siamese Children" is strangely devoid of personality, each child robotically going through the same motions as the others without any of the idiosyncrasies that can make the instrumental number a real charmer. Jerome Robbins' choreographic showcase, Act Two's "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet, is similarly performed by rote.

Playing those numbers is musical director Justin Gray's three-piece ensemble -- a piano, drum set, and lone keyboard -- eking out as much sound as it can muster to bring Robert Russell Bennett's lushly written orchestrations to life.

If only the rest of the production matched Ms. Strong's wondrous Anna, the Welk's "The King and I" might fully come to life as well.

VIEW PROGRAM HERE (PDF)