Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe will soon be joining the rapidly-growing list of Hollywood actors featured on a marquee on the Great White Way. Next March, Watanabe will make his Broadway debut opposite five-time Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara in “The King and I.”

In the musical, which is based on Margaret Landon’s novel Anna and the King of Siam, audiences follow the romance that develops between the King of Siam (Watanabe) and the British schoolteacher (O’Hara) he’s hired to tutor his wives and children.

While the new Lincoln Center production will be his first Broadway show, Watanabe has appeared in several Japanese theater productions, including “Hamlet” and “The Lion in Winter.”

His role of the King of Siam has been most notably portrayed by Yul Brynner, who starred in the movie version of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and then reprised it three times in 1951, 1977 and 1985. Watanabe has big shoes to fill, as Brynner won a Tony for the role in the original Broadway production and an Oscar for the film version.

Brynner’s portrayal was bare-chested in the role on stage and film, but costume designer Catherine Zuber has said that Watanabe will not be.

“That was one direction. [Watanabe’s portrayal] will be sensual but more covered up.”

“The King and I” brings helmer Bartlett Sher and O’Hara back together; the two have collaborated in several stage projects including “The Light in the Piazza,” “South Pacific,” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”

The production’s design team is also filled with frequent collaborators of Sher’s – Michael Yeargan will work on sets, Catherine Zuber on costumes, Donald Holder on lights and Scott Lehrer on sound. The new revival will use the original choreography by Jerome Robbins and musical staging by Christopher Gattelli.

Previews for the revival begin on March 12, with a April 16 planned opening at LCT’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.