Lea Salonga's Jaw-Dropping Fight to Break Broadway's Asian Barrier

They told her it was impossible. When Lea Salonga already had a Tony Award in hand for Miss Saigon, Broadway’s gatekeepers still refused to even audition her. “My agent would be submitting me for auditions, [but people were still] like ‘No, we won’t see her because she’s Asian. They were unable to imagine someone like me playing [those] roles,” Salonga revealed in a stunning interview with the BBC.

It was the early 1990s, and the most decorated musical theatre industry on the planet had made its verdict clear: Asian faces didn’t belong in leading roles.

But here’s where the story takes a turn. That same woman is now a global Broadway icon, the immortalized singing voice behind not one but TWO Disney princesses (Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and the lead in Mulan), and revered as a national treasure in her native Philippines.

The breakthrough came through an unexpected backdoor. Salonga landed Eponine in Les Misérables only because producers from Miss Saigon actively championed her behind the scenes. “Because the producers of Miss Saigon also produced Les Mis, [I received] an invitation to join… so I do appreciate that I had advocates in the office… people who were like ‘we gotta get her in’,” she explained.

But she was cast as an experiment. The show had already run for five years. January’s typically slow season meant minimal risk. “I think I was the only person of colour in that entire company at the time… so [it was like], is this a stunt? Is this trying to prove a point?” Salonga recalled the toxic uncertainty.

The stress was crushing. Eponine was traditionally a white role. Playing it meant stepping into uncharted territory. “I stressed out over Les Mis more than I ever did for Miss Saigon…[with that] it was an Asian actor in an Asian role - there’s really no controversy there. But with Les Mis, it’s like, we’re going to cast this Asian chick in this show - and there’s never been [an Asian] in this show.”

She made it work. And thirty years later, the doors she kicked open are swinging wider than ever.

Today’s generation doesn’t even realize they’re walking through paths Salonga blazed. In the current Singapore run of Les Misérables The Arena Spectacular, Salonga watches 28-year-old Nathania Ong perform the same Eponine role-making history as the first Singaporean to play it on the West End. “I get to watch [Nathania] playing Eponine… and it makes me think that [the experiment worked],” Salonga said, voice filled with pride.

Yet the fight isn’t over. Ong admits representation remains an “uphill battle,” revealing a new anxiety haunting Asian performers: “Have we been hired to meet a diversity quota, or are we actually being hired because we’re good at our jobs?”

But something seismic is shifting. South Korean musical Maybe Happy Ending just won six Tonys-including Best Musical-becoming the first show that’s “intrinsically Asian” to dominate Broadway’s biggest night. BTS, another South Korean phenomenon Salonga is a “huge fan of,” is rewriting global culture itself.

Salonga sees Asian creators finally writing their own stories instead of fighting for scraps in Western narratives. “If something is just so good that it cannot be ignored, it will be seen,” she declared.

A DreamWorks animated film steeped entirely in Philippine folklore is currently in production with Salonga attached. “An animated film that is based on my culture… I’d never thought I’d see something like that in my lifetime,” she marveled.

Would teenage Lea-the one agents rejected for being Asian-recognize this world? “Incredibly shocked, but I think also inspired to know… [that] there is a space for me,” Salonga answered with a knowing smile. “You know, you can push us to the margins - but we’re just going to centre ourselves.”