Eva Noblezada, Lea Salonga to Star in Musical Drama ‘Yellow Rose’

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada​ is headlining the cast of musical drama movie “Yellow Rose,” along with Tony Award winner Lea Salonga​.

Diane Paragas​ directed the movie, which wrapped production last month in Austin, Texas. “Yellow Rose” is Noblezada’s debut in a feature film.

“Yellow Rose” tells the story of a 17-year old Filipino American girl from Texas who secretly dreams of becoming a country music star. When her mom is arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she runs away and is forced to embark on a journey to forge her own path or face deportation with her mother back to the Philippines.

The cast includes country music artist Dale Watson, who portrays an underground country singer, along with Liam Booth​, Gustavo Gomez​ (“Animal Kingdom”), Libby Villari (“Boyhood”), and Princess Punzalan​.

“With the increased demand for diverse Asian American stories in Hollywood, I can’t think of a better time to develop this film,” said Paragas, “’Yellow Rose’ has been in development for over 15 years, and we’ve selected an incredibly talented cast to help tell this story.”

Paragas is producing along with Cecilia Mejia​, Orian Williams ​(“Shadow of the Vampire”), Rey Cuerdo  and co-producer Jeremiah Abraham. “Yellow Rose” is supported by New York based Asian CineVision, the Cinematrografo International Film Festival (ABS-CBN Global), and was awarded the Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant earlier this year by the New York Women in Film & Television.

Solanga won a Tony in 1991 for portraying Kim in “Miss Saigon.” Noblezada received a Tony nomination last year for the same role.