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.”
He retweeted and copied the exact same caption, but his hashtags took the win. “#TonyAwards2017 #My2ndFavoriteLea #LeaandLuke #SoLongSalonga.” Okay, gush a little bit more.
She also had a selfie taken with Josh Gad—our personal favorite from the recent Beauty and the Beast movie.
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.
Here’s Christopher Jackson, who was part of Hamilton, and artist Oak Onaodowan.
She won’t let In Transit’s Justin Guarini and David Abeles pass without a photo.
And gasp, John Lithgow. I mean guys have you seen him play Winston Churchill in The Crown?
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.
Lastly, she posted a selfie with herself, which bore the description “presenter.” Lea tagged it as her next profile photo.
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.
#RedCarpetSelfie wouldn’t be complete without the red carpet host Erich Bergen. He also starts in Netflix’s Madam Secretary.
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.
Man of the hour Ben Platt who is part of the Tony Award Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen. Remember him from Pitch Perfect?
Another one of her #RedCarpetSelfies with Cobie Smulders aka Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother.
How adorable is her reaction to Jordan Roth’s jacket?
You wouldn’t pass up a selfie with two-time Tony Awards winner Christian Borle who was nominated again for Falsettos.
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!
And yup, she also took a selfie with former Vice President Joe Biden.
A fully bearded Josh Groban too!
With fellow Eponine, Frances Ruffelle.
Here she is with Dear Evan Hansen’s Benj Pasek and Rachel Bay Jones.
Her last selfie for the night is with Denee Benton from Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (aka Great Comet.)
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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