Free concerts in city parks and alternative spaces are among New York’s ultimate summer pleasures. It’s even better when you know someone that is performing.
Yesterday was a glorious afternoon for me and many others. Jose Llana, Tony award-winner Ruthie Ann Miles and Betsy Morgan from the Tony award-winning revival of Lincoln Center’s The King and I, took center stage at the 15th annual lunchtime theatre summer series, ‘106.7 LITE FM’s Broadway in Bryant Park.’ The 2015 program has presented the best of Broadway, free to the public, on six consecutive Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. ET on the Bryant Park Stage.
Llana and Miles last starred together as Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos in the long-running hit musical Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim at the Public Theater.
Llana, who is currently playing a limited engagement as The King of Siam through Sunday, September 27, sang “A Puzzlement”.
After his turn as The King, Llana is headed to the recording studio to lay down tracks for his new CD, which will feature a lineup of songs that he performed in his sold-out Lincoln Center American Songbook Concert last March. He is also planning more concert dates in the late fall and winter to promote the album.
A Chat with Broadway’s New King of Siam, Jose Llana
Ruthie Ann Miles, who garnered a Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony Award for her role as Lady Thiang, sang “Something Wonderful”.
She had her adorable daughter, Abigail and her mother, Esther in tow.
AsAmNews.com:Asian American Wins Tony Award
And Betsy Morgan sang “Hello, Young Lovers”.
The line-up also included performances from the casts of Daddy Long Legs, Once Upon a Mattress, Dames at Sea, Spring Awakening and Hand to God.
Hosted by LITE FM’s on-air personalities, the annual presentation of open-air, On- and Off- Broadway lunch hour performances in Bryant Park is presented by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Aruba Tourism Authority and SheaMoisture.
Lia Chang is an award-winning filmmaker, a Best Actress nominee, a photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine.
