Eva Maria Noblezada (; born March 18, 1996) is an American actress and singer. Noblezada made her Broadway debut as Kim in a revival of ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

'', a performance for which she received a nomination for a

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, becoming one of the youngest nominees in the category, at age 21. She played the role of Ayla in the musical ''Vanara'' in a London workshop presentation on May 11th, 2018. She originated the lead role of

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

in ''

Hadestown ''Hadestown'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial underworld ...

'' on Broadway, a performance for which she received her second nomination for a

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, as well as winning the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Noblezada also played the title character of Rose in the 2020 film '' Yellow Rose'', starring alongside

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyin ...

, who originated the role of Kim in ''Miss Saigon''.

Early life

Eva Maria Noblezada was born on March 18, 1996, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. Her father, Jon, has Filipino ancestry while her mother, Angie, is of Mexican descent. Noblezada's paternal grandparents are from

Maguindanao Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...

and

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

. She and her family moved to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, where she attended the

Northwest School of the Arts Northwest School of the Arts is a grade 6 through 12 art magnet school in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school enrolls around 1100 students. Students audition for acceptance and choose a major. Majors available include performing arts (theatre, ...

until she was 17. Her aunt is

Annette Calud Annette Calud (born November 26, 1963) is an American actress. Personal life Calud was born on November 26, 1963, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Career Theatre Calud was a member of the original Broadway production of ''Miss Saigon'' in 1991 w ...

, who played Celina on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' and Kim in ''

'' on Broadway.

Acting career

On July 1, 2013, Noblezada became one of five finalists for the 2013

National High School Musical Theatre Awards The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, more commonly known as the Jimmy Awards, are awards given annually to recognize musical theatre performances by high school students in the United States. Two main awards are given each year, Best ...

Her performance of the song "With You" from ''

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

'' during the awards ceremony at the Minskoff Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

was noted by casting director Tara Rubin, who arranged an audition for Noblezada, then 17, before producer Cameron Mackintosh for the forthcoming West End revival of ''

''. Noblezada was cast in the lead role of Kim. In the spring of 2014, Noblezada left the

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

to star in ''Miss Saigon'' in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. For her performance as Kim, Noblezada won the 2015 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. She performed "I'd Give My Life for You" at the

2015 Laurence Olivier Awards The 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards were held on Sunday 12 April 2015 at the Royal Opera House, London. The ceremony was hosted by Lenny Henry. A highlights show was shown on ITV shortly after the live event ended. Gallery File:Flavia Cacace at ...

ceremony. Following the limited run of ''Miss Saigon'' in

, Noblezada assumed the role of Éponine in the West End production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' in April 2016. On May 2, 2016, Noblezada made her

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

debut, celebrating Alain Boublil and

Claude-Michel Schönberg Claude-Michel Schönberg (born 6 July 1944, in Vannes) is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil. Major works include ''La Révolution Fran� ...

, performing "The Movie in My Mind" with

and

The New York Pops The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual ...

. Noblezada reprised her performance as Kim in the first Broadway revival of ''Miss Saigon'', which opened at the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

on March 23, 2017, for a limited run through January 14, 2018. For her performance, Noblezada was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. In November 2018, Noblezada opened in the lead role of Eurydice in the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

's production of the musical ''

''. She continued in the role of Eurydice when the production transferred to Broadway's

Walter Kerr Theatre The Walter Kerr Theatre, previously the Ritz Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 219 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shube ...

in April 2019. She received her second Tony Award nomination for her role and won the Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical. Noblezada made her film debut in the

Diane Paragas Diane Paragas is a Filipino-American documentary and narrative film and commercial director. She is best known for writing, directing and producing the 2020 film ''Yellow Rose''. ''Yellow Rose'' was Paragas' debut narrative feature The film was ...

film '' Yellow Rose'' (2019) as the title character, Rose. She starred alongside

, who originated the role of Kim in ''Miss Saigon''. The film was released by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

Stage 6 Stage6 was a video sharing website owned and operated by DivX, Inc., where users could upload, share, and view video clips. Stage6 was different from other video services in that it streamed high quality video clips that were user-encoded wit ...

on October 9, 2020. In 2022, she starred in the film Easter Sunday, featuring an all-Filipino cast. In 2022, Blogtalk with MJ Racadio named er one of the "75 Most Influential Filipino-Americans". Noblezada is represented by United Talent Agency.

Personal life

On November 4, 2017, Noblezada married her longtime boyfriend, actor Leo Roberts. They were together until early 2019, when they separated. Later that year, she confirmed her relationship with her Hadestown costar, Reeve Carney, whom she is currently dating. Noblezada has been vocal about her personal struggles with

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, depression, bulimia, and body dysmorphic disorder.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noblezada, Eva 1996 births 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Filipino descent American actresses of Mexican descent American musical theatre actresses Grammy Award winners Living people People from San Diego Theatre World Award winners