Jose Llana & Hoon Lee to Step In for Ken Watanabe in Tony-Winning Revival of The King and I on Broadway

We’ll soon be getting to know some new monarchs at Lincoln Center! Jose Llana and Hoon Lee will appear as the King of Siam in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I. Tony nominee Ken Watanabe is scheduled to play his final performance in the role on July 12. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the 2015 Tony-winning revival also stars Tony winners Kelli O’Hara and Ruthie Ann Miles, and is playing at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Llana, who most recently starred as President Marcos in Here Lies Love opposite Miles off-Broadway, will begin performances on July 14 and is set for a limited 11-week engagement through September 27. His Broadway credits include Wonderland, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Flower Drum Song, Rent, Streetcorner Symphony and the 1996 production of The King and I, in which he performed the role of Lun Tha. On screen he has been seen in Hitch and Sex and the City.

Lee will begin performances on September 29, immediately upon completion of filming the Cinemax series Banshee. His Broadway credits include Pacific Overtures, Flower Drum Song and Urinetown.

The King and I is set in 1860’s Bangkok and tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam (Watanabe) and Anna Leonowens (O’Hara), a British schoolteacher, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children. The musical’s score includes Getting To Know You, Hello Young Lovers, Shall We Dance, I Have Dreamed and Something Wonderful.

The cast of The King and I additionally features Ashley Park, Conrad Ricamora (who also appeared in Here Lies Love with Llana), Edward Baker-Duly, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Murphy Guyer, Jake Lucas, Paul Nakauchi and Marc Oka.