Jose Llana Returns to ‘King and I,’ Releasing New Album ‘Altitude’ Based on Broadway Career

Broadway star Jose Llana is getting ready to revive his role as Lun Tha in The King and I at the Lincoln Center later this Spring. That isn’t all. Llana will also be releasing a new album, Altitude based on his favorite numbers throughout his career.

Jose Llama got his Broadway start in the 1996 revival of The King and I as Lun Tha. Some of Lluna’s other Broadway roles includes Chip in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Angel in RENT and Jessie-Lee in Street Corner Symphony just to name a few.

Llana released a statement about the new album and his storied career on Broadway (via Press Release):

“Twenty years ago – in the Broadway Revival of The King & I – I began an amazing, messy, unpredictable journey. Since then, I’ve gotten to sail on Adam Guettel’s rolling waves, misspell words in Bill Finn’s adolescent gymnasium, and rule with an iron fist in David Byrne’s presidential palace. And two decades after I arrived in New York, when I took the stage as the King in the new Broadway production of The King and I, I knew I’d come full circle. At my concert for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series, I got the chance to honor the composers who’ve kept me gainfully employed, and who make me want to keep reaching for higher altitudes. This album was inspired by that night, and the astonishing music I’ve been lucky enough to get to sing.”

Altitude hits online retailers on May 13. You can preorder Altitude at www.YellowSoundLabel.com.

Llana will make his return to the King and I at the Lincoln Center April 19 - May 1.

The tracklist for Altitude includes :

1.) “Saturn Returns” – Written by Adam Guettel, from Saturn Returns: A Concert
2.) “Icarus” – Written by Adam Guettel, from Saturn Returns: A Concert
3.) “We Kiss in a Shadow/I Have Dreamed” –
Music by Richard Rodgers / Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, from The King & I
4.) “Lonely Town” – Music by Leonard Bernstein / Lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green, from On the Town
5.) “Chip’s Lament (M. U. E.)” – Written by William Finn, from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
6.) “Marry Me a Little” – Written by Stephen Sondheim, from Company
7.) “She is More” – Written by AnnMarie Milazzo, from Pretty Dead Girl
8.) “Child of the Philippines” – Written by David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim, from Here Lies Love
9.) “Hero and Leander” – Written by Adam Guettel, from Saturn Returns: A Concert
10.) “Thinking Out Loud” – Written by Ed Sheeran
11.) “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” – Written by Billy Joel
12.) “A Puzzlement”– Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, from The King & I
13.) “A Perfect Hand” – Written by David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim, from Here Lies Love