There will be plenty of whistling onstage and off when the Playmakers Civic Theatre presents its new production of “The King and I,” which takes place Feb. 28 and 29 and throughout March at the Port Clinton venue. “It’s a beautiful set and lots of grand costumes,” said Director Marty Williams. “Lots of music people know and can identify with and it’s a timeless story. The songs people know are like ‘Hello, Young Lovers,’ ‘I Whistle a Happy Tune’ and ‘Shall We Dance.’ These are songs people have heard for years and maybe don’t know where they come from.” Written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, “The King and I” details a widow from Wales who arrives in Bangkok in the 1860’s with her young son to teach English to the children of the royal household of Mongkut, the King of Siam. The combination of royalty and romance in an exotic land, along with its stunning costumes and memorable melodies, creates a spectacular production of sight and sound. This iconic musical opened on Broadway in 1951, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and ran for 1,246 performances. It was further brought to the mainstream with the popular 1956 film, which starred Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. “It’s a classic,” Williams said. “It’s one of those productions that people can never get enough of. It has a lot of kids, which is always a plus. Every year, Playmakers tries to have at least one big musical because musicals tend to be a big draw for their patron base and this is the one for the year.” “The King and I,” which is the second show in the Playmakers Civic Theater 2007-08 season, finds Williams back at the same theater where he last directed “Scrooge” two years ago. “This is my fifth play for Playmakers,” Williams said. “It’s one of the key cultural centers for the Port Clinton area. It’s a constant ongoing thing for 60 years now. And for live theater, unless you’re going to travel to Cleveland, it brings the people in.” “So this is one of the classics, and one of the big name musicals. And our production is what people will expect ‘The King and I’ to be. I think they’ll enjoy it. People identify with Yul Brenner, and our King is very Yul-like.” Does that mean actor Steven Fillmore is bald? “He shaved his head for the role,” Williams said. And what about Brenner’s famous pointed ears? “No,” Williams laughed, “but Steven does his best.”