Updated on June 12, 2017. 6:30 p.m.
Lea Salonga is truly in her element as she flew to New York for the 71st Tony Awards—she has become a nominee, an awardee, and now a presenter. We just need her to host and then she’s done it full circle.
We felt her excitement and energy when she officially announced that she would be presenting. Now we check out her series of selfies during rehearsals, and we look forward to seeing more taken backstage. But guess which selfie got my attention? And all of you, Star Wars fans, would agree with me.
Lea caught up with Mark Hamill and posted a selfie with the caption, “And here it is!!! @HamillHimself, thank you for being gracious and sweet. #TonyAwards2017.”
And here it is!!! @HamillHimself, thank you for being so gracious and sweet. #TonyAwards2017 pic.twitter.com/NaPNzCRJxM
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
He retweeted and copied the exact same caption, but his hashtags took the win. “#TonyAwards2017 #My2ndFavoriteLea #LeaandLuke #SoLongSalonga.” Okay, gush a little bit more.
And here it is!!! @MsLeaSalonga, thank you for being so gracious and sweet. #TonyAwards2017 #My2ndFavoriteLea #LeaAndLuke #SoLongSalonga https://t.co/qeEBghx6JU
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) June 11, 2017
She also had a selfie taken with Josh Gad—our personal favorite from the recent Beauty and the Beast movie.
Here is the first selfie of #TonyAwards2017: @joshgad!!! pic.twitter.com/xYcr21Hbmh
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
Of course she had a Hamilton-related selfie with her “bes” Lin Manuel Miranda. I remember when I interviewed her before and asked about her LSS and her answer was, you guessed it, Hamilton.
First @HamiltonMusical related selfie: with creator and all-around badass @Lin_Manuel! pic.twitter.com/VPlhmIGSbp
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
Here’s Christopher Jackson, who was part of Hamilton, and artist Oak Onaodowan.
And here’s the other: @OakSmash and @ChrisisSingin!!! pic.twitter.com/sIerFp2suZ
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
She won’t let In Transit’s Justin Guarini and David Abeles pass without a photo.
Another #TonyAwards2017 selfie: with @JustinGuarini and @iamdavidabeles! @InTransitBway pic.twitter.com/zJBvRLeJ9K
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
And gasp, John Lithgow. I mean guys have you seen him play Winston Churchill in The Crown?
Reunion pic: with @JohnLithgow! #TonyAwards2017 pic.twitter.com/WZgpo44UWl
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
She also posted a photo with fellow theater actor Brian Jose who she described as the person taking care of her at this year’s Tony’s.
And this is probably the most important selfie of the day: the man taking care of me, my friend @bjose. Thanks, Brian! pic.twitter.com/IgG7y5FHtO
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
Lastly, she posted a selfie with herself, which bore the description “presenter.” Lea tagged it as her next profile photo.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/dAGKnoQcWt
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 11, 2017
Aww, Lea! You’re just like any one of us going through the motions of the Tony Awards as you fan girl with fellow artists. But wait, she kept the selfies coming up until the event itself.
Here she is with Stephanie J. Block from the Broadway musical Falsettos.
Red carpet selfie time!!! Here’s @StephanieJBlock. Hi, @MartaWoodhull!!! pic.twitter.com/dgsYJyDYNS
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
#RedCarpetSelfie wouldn’t be complete without the red carpet host Erich Bergen. He also starts in Netflix’s Madam Secretary.
With Madam Secretary’s @erichbergen! #RedCarpetSelfie #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/TKfyFDTXBr
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Two Jasmines in one photo. Lea takes a selfie with Courtney Reed, she plays the role of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway.
Here with Courtney @RhodesReed! #PrincessJasmines #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/czrdp5E6Go
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Man of the hour Ben Platt who is part of the Tony Award Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen. Remember him from Pitch Perfect?
With the man of the night, @BenSPLATT!!! Congratulations on your Tony! #TonyAwards @DearEvanHansen pic.twitter.com/Gxul5bSYCA
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Another one of her #RedCarpetSelfies with Cobie Smulders aka Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother.
With @CobieSmulders from the cast of #PresentLaughter! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/xJVtfQWwQp
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
How adorable is her reaction to Jordan Roth’s jacket?
Check out @Jordan_Roth‘s jacket!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/I5sqILdsWO
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
You wouldn’t pass up a selfie with two-time Tony Awards winner Christian Borle who was nominated again for Falsettos.
With the magnificent @ChristianBorle, nominated for @FalsettosBway! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/MJuQ65OCWq
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
If there are two Jasmines in one photo, then prepare yourself with two Kims. Lea takes a selfie with Filipino-American Eva Maria Noblezada. She plays Kim in Miss Saigon on Broadway. Did you catch her performance at the awards show? Stunning!
With @EvaNoblezada! For the rest of her life she will have the “Tony Nominee” label preceding her name. #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/HsNtFgsQxa
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
And yup, she also took a selfie with former Vice President Joe Biden.
With one of my favorite people of the night, former vice-president @JoeBiden. What a cool, sweet guy! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/nQ4cDfvHM6
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
A fully bearded Josh Groban too!
With @GreatCometBway‘s @joshgroban!!! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/c9skRbfb0N
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
With fellow Eponine, Frances Ruffelle.
And we two Eponines found each other! @francesruffelle #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/pF8b4N2SJo
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Here she is with Dear Evan Hansen’s Benj Pasek and Rachel Bay Jones.
Yaaaaaas! With another huge winner, @benjpasek!!! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/FCe99JeuTa
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
With @rachelbayjones, newly minted Tony winner for @DearEvanHansen! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/NintPxqUcY
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Her last selfie for the night is with Denee Benton from Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (aka Great Comet.)
With @GreatCometBway‘s @DeneeBenton! #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/anFvUpYJAY
— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) June 12, 2017
Thanks for letting us experience the Tony’s from your point of view, Lea!
Photo courtesy of Lea Salonga’s Twitter account
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