You can count the hit songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I with three fingers: I Whistle A Happy Tune, Getting To Know You and Shall We Dance? One might wish there were more. So it’s crucial that any production of this musical should entrance the audience at all other times. This touring Leicester Curve presentation at the New Theatre tries very hard and has notable individual performances. But it struggles to justify its two-and-a-half hour running time — cuts would have been in order.

Of course Anna and her background must be established; of course the king, his foibles, his children and his country have to be introduced properly. But the first half was so much cleverness with curtains and shadow performances and pretty costumes that the — admittedly slim — plot seemed to take an age to develop. You know that plot: Anna arrives in Siam from Singapore on a contract to teach the king’s children; there is little initial meeting of minds between her and the King. Anna then, just before the interval, starts having stirrings.

Critical, therefore, is the chemistry between Anna and the King of Siam. Josefina Gabrielle has a crinolined Julie Andrews presence and a charming voice, but is short on feeling. She does, though, break free delightfully in her bedroom Shall I tell You What I think of You? solo. Ramon Tikaram as the king struggling to understand Western values never quite touches any emotional spots. As the two did the big finale dance, you really wanted to feel happy for them — and for them to feel happy with each other. You really did.

There is true wistfulness and poignancy in Claire-Marie Hall’s performance as Tup-Tim — the girl in the sub-plot who stands up to the king and tries to run away with her true love. She has a striking voice, as does Maya Sapone as Lady Thiang, the king’s main wife. Tup-Tim is also the narrator of the extraordinary show-within-a-show that is the Siamese version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin which occupies much of the second half: in a most atmospheric presentation of Eastern dancing and exotica, Aiko Kato stands out in the role of Eliza.

A huge thumbs-up also to the king’s children — all played by students of the Stagecoach Theatre Arts School in Oxford, Abingdon and Bicester.

To be perfectly honest, The King and I is not the strongest R & H musical and probably lives on for most of us more because of Brynner and Kerr in the film than any inherent qualities of plot and characterisation.

The King and I continues until Saturday. Box office: telephone 0844 871 3020 (www.atgtickets.com/oxford).