By Ernabel Demillo
Asian American Life Host
We met in her boss’s office — the Broadway powerhouse producer Cameron Mackintosh.
We couldn’t help taking a close look at some of the awards on display. Tony Awards for Best Musical for Cat, Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera. And maybe there was a spot for one more. The revival of Miss Saigon, the story of two star-crossed young lovers, is nominated for Best Musical Revival.
And so is its young star – Eva Noblezada.
But let’s go back in time, when Noblezada, 21, first arrived in New York, just a few weeks before rehearsals were to begin for the iconic show that made Lea Salonga, an international star. A lot was riding on Noblezada’s shoulders, but she didn’t seem fazed by it at all.
Just days before her Broadway debut, Playbill Magazine dubbed Noblezada, “One of this season’s divas to watch”, along side Broadway and Hollywood stars Bette Midler, Glenn Close and Patti Lupone.
“I was very speechless,” she said. “But it made me more excited to come to New York. “
Noblezada, in fact, is no stranger to the Broadway stage. In 2013, she was a finalist for a high school musical theater competition known as the Jimmy Awards. While she was performing, little did she know that a casting agent was sitting in the audience.
That agent called her and sent her to see Mackintosh, who was casting for the Miss Saigon revival. She auditioned in the office where we were meeting now for our interview, an audition that changed her life.
Watch Noblezada’s interview here:
The Tony Awards will be televised Sunday, June 11 on CBS.
Watch our full episode here:
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