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Jose Llana and Hoon Lee to play King of Siam in Tony Award-winning THE KING AND I

Jose Llana at the Lincoln Center American Songbook afterparty at Tavern on the Green in New York on March 12, 2015. Photo by Lia Chang
Jose Llana at the Lincoln Center American Songbook afterparty at Tavern on the Green in New York on March 12, 2015. Photo by Lia Chang
Hoon Lee
Hoon Lee

By Lia Chang

Jose Llana and Hoon Lee are set to play the King of Siam in Lincoln Center Theater’s Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I, directed by Bartlett Sher, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). The King and I is the winner of four 2015 Tony Awards — Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Kelli O’Hara), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Ruthie Ann Miles), and Best Costume Design of a Musical (Catherine Zuber).

On Tuesday, July 14, Jose Llana, who most recently starred as President Marcos in the long-running hit musical Here Lies Love at the Public Theater, will join Tony winners Kelli O’Hara and Ruthie Ann Miles (his Imelda from Here Lies Love) to perform the role of The King of Siam for a strictly limited 11-week engagement through Sunday, September 27. On Tuesday, September 29, immediately upon completion of filming his starring role on the fourth season of the Cinemax series Banshee, Hoon Lee will assume the role of The King, which was originated for this production by Tony Award nominee Ken Watanabe, who will play his final performance on Sunday, July 12.

Jose Llana and Ruthie Ann Miles in Here Lies Love. Photo by Joan Marcus
Jose Llana and Ruthie Ann Miles in Here Lies Love. Photo by Joan Marcus

JOSE LLANA starred as President Marcos in the musical Here Lies Love at the Public Theater, for which he received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination. His Broadway credits include Wonderland, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drama Desk Award), Flower Drum Song, Rent, Streetcorner Symphony, and the 1996 production of The King and I, in which he made his Broadway debut in the role of Lun Tha. His other off-Broadway credits include Saturn Returns (Public Theater), On The Town (Shakespeare in the Park), and Falling For Eve (York Theatre). He appeared in the national tour of the musical Martin Guerre and in regional theater in The Ballad of Little Joe at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre (Jefferson Award nomination), Myths and Hymns and Candide (Ethel Barrymore Award nomination) at Philadelphia’s Prince Music Theater, and as Bill Sykes in Oliver! at the Papermill Playhouse. His film and television credits include Hitch and Sex and the City. Earlier this year, Llana made his Lincoln Center American Songbook Debut. On July 6th, Llana will reunite with his original castmates from THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE including Derrick Baskin, Deborah S. Craig, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Dan Fogler, Lisa Howard, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jay Reiss, and Sarah Saltzberg, for a 10th Anniversary Concert to benefit The Actors Fund.

Francis Jue as HYH and Hoon Lee as DHH in David Henry Hwang's YELLOW FACE at the Public Theater in New York. (Photo by Joan Marcus)
Francis Jue as HYH and Hoon Lee as DHH in David Henry Hwang’s YELLOW FACE at the Public Theater in New York. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

HOON LEE appeared on Broadway in Pacific Overtures (Roundabout Theatre Company), Flower Drum Song, and Urinetown. His off-Broadway credits include the Public Theater productions of Yellow Face (Theatre World Award, Drama League Award nomination) and Love’s Labor’s Lost; The School for Lies (Classic Stage Company); and Hamlet (Shakespeare in the Park). Currently a star of the Cinemax TV series Banshee, his other TV credits include the voice for Master Splinter on the Nickelodeon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and guest star roles on Bosch, The Blacklist, Archer, NYC-22, Blue Bloods, White Collar, Royal Pains, Law & Order, and Sex and the City. He has been seen in the films Premium Rush, Exposed, The Oranges, We Own The Night, and Saving Face.

The King and I also features Ashley Park (as Tuptim), Conrad Ricamora (as Lun Tha), Edward Baker-Duly (as Sir Edward Ramsey), Jon Viktor Corpuz (as Prince Chulalongkorn), Murphy Guyer (as Captain Orton), Jake Lucas (as Louis), Paul Nakauchi (as Kralahome), and Marc Oka (as Phra Alack), and Aaron J. Albano, Adriana Braganza, Amaya Braganza, Billy Bustamante, LaMae Caparas, Hsin-Ping Chang, Andrew Cheng, Lynn Masako Cheng, Olivia Chun, Ali Ewoldt, Ethan Halford Holder, Cole Horibe, MaryAnn Hu, James Ignacio, Misa Iwama, Christie Kim, Q GyuJin Lim, Kelvin Moon Loh, Sumie Maeda, Paul HeeSang Miller, Betsy Morgan, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, Kristen Faith Oei, Autumn Ogawa, Yuki Ozeki, Stephanie Jae Park, Diane Phelan, Sam Poon, William Poon, Brian Rivera, Bennyroyce Royon, Lainie Sakakura, Ann Sanders, Ian Saraceni, Atsuhisa Shinomiya, Michiko Takemasa, Kei Tsuruharatani, Christopher Vo, Rocco Wu, Xiaochuan Xie, and Timothy Yang.

The King and I is performed Tuesday evenings at 7pm and Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. Please note that beginning July 9, all Thursday performances will begin at 7pm. Tickets are available at the Lincoln Center Theater box office (150 West 65 Street), at telecharge.com, or by visiting KingandIBroadway.com. A limited number of tickets priced at $32 are available at every performance through LincTix, LCT’s program for 21 to 35 year olds. For information and to enroll, visit LincTix.org.

cropped-lia-chang_photo-by-carlos-flores-3.jpgLia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon and Taxman. She has guest starred on “One Life to Live,” “As the World Turns,” and “New York Undercover.” She is profiled in Jade Magazine.

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