The hit musical "Miss Saigon" will open in spring 2017 on Broadway. Fil-Am actress Eva Noblezada will play Kim, the lead role. The male lead would be played by Jon Jon Briones, another Filipino actor.
"Miss Saigon" has a limited engagement at a Shubert theater through Jan. 15, 2018. After its London run, the musical would be staged in the U.S., reports Broadway.com. Laurence Connor directs the musical. He is also the director of "School of Rock" and "Les Mis."
"Miss Saigon" is Noblezada's professional and West End debut after she was discovered when she reached the finals of the National High School Music Theater Awards. In high school, she played Ariel in "Footloose," Joanne in "Godspell," Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" and Maria in "West Side Story."
Briones, who plays the Engineer, is a singer in the Philippines who was in the original London cast which had Filipina actresses Lea Salonga and Monique Wilson as the original Kims.
Meanwhile, the West End production would close at the Prince Edward Theatre as "Aladdin" opens on Feb. 17, 2016. The musical, in the meantime, would be stage in Japan in 2016 and then move to Germany, Australia, Asia, UK, Europe and Middle East.
Other cast members are Chris Peluso as Chris, Siobhan Dillon as Ellen, Hugh Maynard as John, Sangwoong Jo as Thuy and Natalie Mendoza as Gigi.
The musical is set in 1975 when the American soldiers were set to leave Vietnam. It is a love story between an American soldier and Kim, a 17-year-old Vietnamese woman who works as bar girl in a cheap nightclub in Saigon owned by the Engineer.