Miss Saigon Tony Nominee Eva Noblezada’s Advice for the Jimmy Awards 2017 Performers: ‘Stop Comparing’

Wide-eyed Broadway hopefuls will be giving everything they’ve got at the Jimmy Awards on June 26 at the Minskoff Theatre. This year’s National High School Musical Theatre Awards, hosted by Dear Evan Hansen Tony winner Ben Platt, will feature 74 high school students competing for the Best Actress and Best Actor Awards. More important, the event will mark the Great White Way stage debuts of those who will go on to be the performers of tomorrow. Many fantastic performers are Jimmy Awards alums: Ryan McCartan, Kyle Selig and Abby Corrigan, to name a few. 

In honor of the forthcoming ceremony, we wanted to recall (read: watch YouTube videos on repeat of past participants saaanging) Eva Noblezada’s epic Jimmy Awards performance and catch up with the 2013 finalist on her meteoric rise to Miss Saigon Tony nominee.



“I knew I was going to meet amazing people,” Noblezada said of her experience as a Jimmy Awards nominee. “It’s a gathering of so many youngsters that love theater so much. It’s not about the competition, but about the friends you make and all the things that you learn.”

Just four years after being discovered at the 2013 Jimmy Awards, Noblezada has made both her West End and Broadway debuts. Less than a year after her Jimmy Awards performance, she opened the Cameron Mackintosh-produced revival of Miss Saigon and went on to reprise her performance as Kim on Broadway; she garnered a 2017 Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, sharing her category with Denée Benton, Christine Ebersole, Patti LuPone and victor Bette Midler. On June 11, she took the stage at Radio City Music Hall to perform with the cast of Miss Saigon during the 71st annual Tony Awards. 



Noblezada says Eva then would not believe it if Eva now told her what would be in store. “I would have probably told myself, ‘Who are you? Go away! That doesn’t make any sense!’” she joked. “No, I’d actually say, ‘It’s going to be a really difficult journey, but you’re going to work your butt off. Try and enjoy every single second of it. Despite so many people telling you you can’t do it, you’ll succeed and surpass not only their expectations, but your own.’”



Noblezada returned to the Jimmy Awards stage in 2016 to perform from Les Miserables; after Miss Saigon’s run finished in London, she lent her talents to the role of Eponine in the West End. These opportunities have taught Noblezada a great deal about the journey from bright-eyed hopeful to name-in-lights star. Despite her success, she doesn’t recommend theater students try to be just like her.

“As a theater student, all you do is watch clips of other performers doing what you want to do,” Noblezada said. “Stop comparing yourself to other people, and just keep working your ass off. Find your strengths on your own, and address your weaknesses.”

We cannot wait to continue to watch Noblezada shine and to see what comes from this year's Jimmy Awards on June 26!