Jose Llana News

On Monday, February 13th, Theater People podcast welcomes Tony-winner LaChanze. For the episode, LaChanze talks about how growing up in Connecticut afforded her the opportunity to make frequent trips into New York City where she saw such shows as the original CHICAGO and EVITA with Patti LuPone.

Following a sold-out engagement in 2015, Tony and Olivier Award-winning star and recording artist Lea Salonga returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko. Salonga smartly weaves together a set list of her favorite standards, go-to pop tunes, and Broadway ballads. This trio of piano, guitar, and voice ensures an intimate experience with a true Broadway icon.

I've never been a huge fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. It's kind of dated, the songs, while many are classics, don't really move the story along, and plot points often come out of nowhere, plus it's one of those staples from the Golden Age of musicals that's just been done to death. But as much as it's not one of my favorites, this current production was so filled with heart, talent and incredible staging that even I have developed a new appreciation for it.

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC announce that Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I that will play Seattle's Paramount Theatre from January 24 through February 3, 2017.

THE KING AND I and Feminism and Racism and Rodgers and Hammerstein walk into a bar…

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced that the annual WTF Gala will be held this year at Tao Downtown in New York City (92 Ninth Avenue) on Monday, March 13, 2017 at 6:30 PM.

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC announce that Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I that will play Seattle's Paramount Theatre from January 24 through February 3, 2017.

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

A friend referred to The King and I as a war horse, an old chestnut, for it has surely surpassed time as an enduring musical classic, but upon seeing it again, one realizes just how potent, vibrant and topical a piece it truly is. Musicals of such depth and perspective with a keen eye to the future seem to be a thing of the past. Yes, it's a love story at the core, an unlikely one, but with many, many more levels. It entails issues of race, slavery, the urgency for a king of a tiny uncivilized kingdom to change his primitive, barbaric ways, and for his children to receive a truthful education as he embarks on assimilating 19th century Siam to western culture and civilization...and to repeat, it's a bigger-than-life love story that has become eternally revered not only for its music but for its intolerance of bigotry of any type. In this 2015 Broadway revival, currently onstage at the Hollywood Pantages Theater, nothing is lost; every gorgeous detail is present, and the story of Anna and The King is radiantly performed through January 21, 2017. In short, this production is a stunner.

The National Tour of The King and I, which won a Tony Award for Best Revival in 2015, is opened at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles last night, and will play through January 21st, 2017. Stars of the stage and screen, including original cast members of one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beloved classics, came out in droves to celebrate the opening, and we've got all of the lovely red carpet photos below!

Dress Circle Publishing will celebrate their new book THE UNTOLD STORIES OF BROADWAY, VOLUME 3 - the latest in a series by acclaimed historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper - with a special event at The Drama Book Shop (250 West 4oth Street in Manhattan) today, December 1 at 5:30 PM.

BroadwayWorld San Francisco spoke with King and I cast members Anthony Chan (Prince Chulalongkorn) and Stephanie Lo (Ensemble) about growing up in the Bay Area, working with Jose Llana and Laura Michelle Kelly, and the very relevant themes in this beautiful production.

Broadway In Boston, Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC announced today that the national tour of The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE KING AND I, will play a limited two week engagement at the Boston Opera House April 11-23, 2017 as part of the 2016-2017 Lexus Broadway In Boston Season. THE KING AND I, directed by Tony Award® Winner Bartlett Sher won four 2015 Tony Awards® including Best Revival of a Musical.

Dress Circle Publishing will celebrate their new book THE UNTOLD STORIES OF BROADWAY, VOLUME 3 - the latest in a series by acclaimed historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper - with a special event at The Drama Book Shop (250 West 4oth Street in Manhattan) on Thursday, December 1 at 5:30 PM.

When Jose Llana was 19, 'Something Wonderful' happened: The Filipino-American actor made his Broadway bow as Lun Tha, the mellow young lover, in Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's 'The King and I.' Lou Diamond Phillips played the titanic and titular ruler of Siam in that 1996 Tony-winning revival. Now, two decades later, Llana has followed in Phillips' footsteps as the new King of Broadway, with his glorious voice and regal bearing. What's more, he is taking the 2015 Tony-winning revival across America.

On Monday, November 14, the Theater People podcast welcome's Tony nominee Brandon Uranowitz. He made his Broadway debut in 2011's BABY IT'S YOU. He earned a Tony nomination for his turn as Adam Hochberg in last year's AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, and he can currently be seen in the role of Mendel in William Finn and James Lapine's critically acclaimed revival of FALSETTOS. For the episode, Uranowitz discusses the six months of auditions he went through to win the role of Mendel, how James Lapine was lovingly hard on him during the show's rehearsal process, and shares a memory of accompanying Katie Holmes on a shopping spree during his pre-Broadway days when he worked as a sales associate.

The much-acclaimed Lincoln Center staging of THE KING AND I celebrates a triumphant start to its national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center. This jewel of a production is so utterly exceptional in every detail, words of praise scarcely seem to do it justice. Simply put, this is one of the finest shows to grace the PPAC stage in recent memory.

On Monday, Theater People podcast welcome's HAMILTON'S Mandy Gonzalez. She made her Broadway debut in 2000 in AIDA as the Amnneris standby. She eventually took the role over full-time. She went on to originate roles in DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES and LENNON before winning her breakout role as Nina in Lin-Manuel Miranda's IN THE HEIGHTS, a role she originated in the show's pre-Off Broadway days. She went on to take over the role of Elphaba in WICKED and can now be seen eight times a week in the hottest show on Broadway, HAMILTON.

'Submissions Only' creators Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead are the latest Broadway stars to throw their weight behind Broadway for Hillary with their new anti-Trump video, poking fun at all the absurd (and dangerous!) things that he has said throughout the course of his presidential campaign. Watch Broadway 'audition' for the role of the Donald below!

THE KING AND I is hitting the road! Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna Leonowens) and Jose Llana (King of Siam) will lead the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I. Joan Almedilla will play Lady Thiang with Brian Rivera as Kralahome, Manna Nichols as Tuptim, Kavin Panmeechao as Lun Tha, Anthony Chan as Prince Chulalongkorn, Graham Montgomery asLouis Leonowens and Baylen Thomas as Captain Orton/Sir Edward Ramsey.