Tony nominee , who left to shoot a film in Japan, played his final performance as the King July 12. He was succeeded on July 14 by Jose Llana, who recently completed a run as another singing Southeast Asian potentate, President Ferdinand Marcos, in the Off-Broadway musical Here Lies Love. He joins fellow Here Lies Love alumni and Tony winner , who play Lun Tha and Lady Thiang, respectively.
Llana will play the King for 11 weeks through Sept. 27, followed by , who begins Sept. 29, immediately upon completion of filming his starring role on the fourth season of the Cinemax series 鈥淏anshee."
They will all play opposite 2015 Tony-winning Best Actress in a Musical . , who earned a Tony Award for the 2008 Lincoln Center Theater Broadway revival of , directed The King and I, which opened April 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and won the 2015 Tony Award as Best Revival of a Musical.
The principal cast also includes (Mamma Mia!) as Tuptim, (Peter and the Starcatcher) as Sir Edward Ramsey, () as Prince Chulalongkorn, (South Pacific) as Captain Orton, Jakes Lucas (Newsies) as Louis, Paul Nakauchi (Chu Chem) as Kralahome and Marc Oka (Anything Goes) as Phra Alack.
Also featured are , , , , LaMae Caparas, , , , Olivia Chun, , , , MaryAnn Hu, , Christie Kim, , , , , Rommel Pierre O鈥機hoa, , , , , , , , , , Lainie Sakakura, , , , Takemasa, , Christopher Vo, and .
The revival has choreography by Tony Award winner (South Pacific, Newsies) based on the original choreography by . The original orchestrations are also being used with dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.
The King and I reunites Sher with his Tony-winning South Pacific creative team, including scenic designer , costume designer , lighting designer , sound designer and musical director . Casting is by Telsey + Company/Abbie Brady-Dalton, CSA.
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O'Hara's history with Lincoln Center Theater includes the Sher-directed productions of聽 补苍诲听South Pacific. She most recently collaborated with Sher on . Her stage appearances also include , The Pajama Game and Nice Work If You Can Get It.
The King and I marked Watanabe's American stage debut. His film work includes "The Last Samurai," "Inception," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Batman Begins" and "Godzilla." His Japanese theatre credits include Dialogue with Horowitz, , Shitayamannen-cho monogatari, The Lion in Winter and The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
The and musical, based on the life of Anna Leonowens as well as Margaret Landon's 1944 novel "Anna and the King of Siam," includes classics such as "Hello Young Lovers," "I Whistle A Happy Tune," "Shall We Dance?" and "Getting To Know You."
The original production opened March 29, 1951, at the . It starred and and ran for 1,246 performances. The King and I has been revived on Broadway three times; the most recent production starred and .
According to LCT, "Set in 1860's Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children."
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