More on Jose Llana

At the time this article comes out, Jose Llana will be in a plane on its way to Manila. I do not know if this is his first visit since he left for the US of A when he was only three years old. But whether first or just one of many trips he had taken in the past, this homecoming will be like no other. This time around Jose Llana is coming home a star.

Awareness about Llana’s accomplishments only came about when he was tapped to play opposite Lea Salonga in last year’s Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song. Almost every Filipino knows who Lea is. So there was bound to be some interest in her leading man in her new musical who, it turned out was also Filipino, Jose Llana.

The New York critics did not always have nice things to say about the new version of Flower Drum Song but Llana was spared of the venom and he breezed through the five-month run with praises heaped on his performance. Among these are:

"…the assured, hip Mr. Llana is a star in the making.." from The New York Observer; "…Jose Llana comes closest to giving (Flower Drum Song) its center. His Ta is a solid performance. Mr. Llana is responsible for many of the show’s winning moments…" said The New York Sun; "…the powerful baritone of Jose Llana" by The Washington Post; "…the excellent Jose Llana…" from The New Yorker; "…Jose Llana is extremely affecting and dramatically on top of every moment. His solo is among the show’s most memorable…" from Variety; "(Lea Salonga’s) leading man, Jose Llana acts and sings his role beautifully, especially the honestly impassioned "Like a God" near the show‘s conclusion…" said the nytheater.com.; "…Jose Llana who plays Ta, is a young hip leading man, who can negotiate a difficult song such as You Are Beautiful with the skill of a John Raitt or Alfred Drake…" from theatermania.com.

Llana was barely 18 when he bagged the role of Lun Tha in the Broadway revival of another Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I in 1995. Though Lou Diamond Phillips, who is also part Filipino, played the lead role immortalized by Yul Brynner, Lun Tha got to sing the most beautiful songs of the piece I Have Dreamed and We Kiss in a Shadow. The King and I was followed by On the Town, the Motown revue Street Corner Symphony. He has also appeared in Rent and Martin Guerre.

It would be nice to see Jose do a real musical while in the Philippines and find out if all that the New York critics said are true. But since nothing seems afoot about that as of this moment, our chance to see him perform will be in an outdoor dinner-concert at the Gourmet Café in Tagaytay on the evening of May 31, a concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines with Cris Villonco and Ryan Cayabyab as musical director in June and at the star-studded Lagi Kitang Mamahalin, a Musical Tribute to National Artists also at the CCP in July.

He is also set to start recording his first all-Filipino album a few days after his arrival. This will be made up of some of the famous tunes written by the greatest Filipino composers of recent times: George Canseco, Willy Cruz, Louie Ocampo, Ryan Cayabyab, Danny Tan, Rey Valera, Ogie Alcasid and Wency Cornejo. This is set for release in June.

Now if that waiting period does not seem close enough for the Llana fan and the merely curious, you might want to check out the Broadway cast album of Flower Drum Song with Lea and Jose. This was released a year ago in the local market and it has pretty familiar songs like You Are Beautiful, A Hundred Million Miracles, Love Look Away, Someday, Sweet Sunday and others.

Llana was born in Quezon City. His family first lived in New York but later moved to Virginia where Jose and his sister Patricia grew up. He is almost 6 feet tall. He attends the Manhattan School of Music. Although he was always active in musical productions during his high school years, what drove him to try his luck as an actor was the sight of Lea Salonga on stage as Miss Saigon.