The actress will be playing the role originated by Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga in the musical’s Australian staging beginning this August.
A Filipina-Australian actress is set to play the role of Kim in the Sydney Opera House production of Miss Saigon. Eighteen-year old Abigail Adriano was announced by Opera Australia as the lead in the musical, which is set to begin performances in August.
Sydney-based Adriano was a former child actress who has appeared in the musical Matilda and in The Voice Kids Australia. She also played the role of Rose Aquino in the Netflix series The Unlisted.
“My sister and I would listen to so many different musicals,” she shares in a video release on the production’s official Instagram. “One day, she popped on a video and it was Lea Salonga in her audition room, and I just saw her singing and I saw myself in her.”
“When I found out that I got the role of Kim, I was jumping for joy, I was on the floor, I was everywhere,” the actress shares. “I felt amazing, I felt everything all at once. This is a dream come true.”
Since opening at the West End in 1989, Miss Saigon has seen no less than 50 Filipina actresses play the role of Kim in different productions and touring companies worldwide. Among the notable actresses who have played Kim over the years are Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga, who originated the role; Monique Wilson, who was Salonga’s understudy and took over the role after she left; Joanna Ampil, who played the role in London, Sydney, and for the UK tour, and was also chosen to do the Miss Saigon: Complete Symphonic Recording as Kim; Ima Castro, who played the role in Manila; and Eva Noblezada, who first played the role at the West End before reprising the role in Broadway, where she received a Tony nomination for her performance.
Miss Saigon will be running at the Joan Sutherland Theater in Sydney Opera House from August 17 to October 13, 2023.
