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Her international breakthrough came with her performance as Kim in Miss Saigon, for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actress in a Musical in 1990 and, in 1991, became the first Asian actress to win a Tony Award and the second-youngest actress to win for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. For the same performance, she also won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World awards. In addition, she has received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Musical Theater Album, for the Broadway cast recordings of Flower Drum Song (2004) and Once on This Island (2019). In 2025, Salonga was honored with the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award at the 91st Annual Drama League Awards. Salonga has also been recognized by the Philippine government for her cultural contributions, receiving the Presidential Merit Award in 1990 and the Congressional Medal of Achievement in 2007, and being appointed Commander of the Order of Lakandula in the same year. Salonga also became a Disney Legend in 2011. She is the first Asian actress to win a Tony Award, and in 2026, became the first Filipino to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.