Born 5 May 1976, Llana, a native of
Manila,
Philippines, grew up in
Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of
Washington, D.C. After graduating from
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in
Alexandria, Virginia, Jose attended the
Manhattan School of Music to study classical voice. During his freshman year he was discovered in an audition for the 1996 Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's
The King and I and made his Broadway debut as Lun Tha starring opposite
Lou Diamond Phillips and
Donna Murphy. He went on to star on Broadway as Angel in
Rent, Jessie-Lee in
Streetcorner Symphony, Wang Ta in
Flower Drum Song opposite
Lea Salonga, and as Chip Tolentino in
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for which he and his cast won a 2005
Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Performance. His Off-Broadway credits include Gabey in
On the Town and
Saturn Returns, both at
The Public Theater and Adam in Falling for Eve at The York Theater. His regional theater credits include the title role in
Candide (Barrymore Award Nomination for Best Actor) and Tin Man Wong in
The Ballad of Little Jo at the Steppenwolf Theater (Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination - Best Supporting Actor). He toured the country in
Cameron Mackintosh's
Martin Guerre as Guillaume which went to
The Kennedy Center after originating at
The Guthrie Theater. Llana has appeared on television in HBO's
Sex and the City, alongside
Margaret Cho and made his commercial debut as a computer salesman for Circuit City in 1999. He appeared in the Sony Pictures 2005 feature film
Hitch opposite
Will Smith and
Eva Mendes, as well as the independent film
Unconscious. Llana is also a best-selling recording artist in his native Philippines having recorded his debut solo album,
Jose, in 2004 under the VIVA Philippines label. Llana starred as El Gato in ''
Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure'', which began performances on Broadway March 21, 2011 and officially opened on April 17, 2011. The production closed on May 15, 2011, after 31 previews and 33 performances. Llana has portrayed
Ferdinand Marcos (2014 Lucille Lortel Award Nomination, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical) in
David Byrne and
Fat Boy Slim's
Here Lies Love, directed by
Alex Timbers, since the workshop production at Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA during the summer of 2012.
Here Lies Love had its world premier production at The
Public Theater in
New York City on April 2, 2013, and was extended four times through July 28, 2013. The Off-Broadway commercial production of
Here Lies Love opened at The
Public Theater in
New York City on May 1, 2014, and has performances through January 2015. Llana co-starred as Bill Sikes in The Paper Mill Playhouse production of
Oliver! in December 2013. On March 12, 2015, Llana made his Lincoln Center American Songbook Concert Debut at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse in New York. On June 18, 2015, it was announced that Llana will succeed
Ken Watanabe in the role of the King of Siam in Lincoln Center's Tony-winning revival of
The King and I. Llana played an 11-week engagement in the role from July 14 to September 29. ==Personal life==