Audiences nationwide will see a Fil-Am Cinderella  

Filipino American Diane Phelan, who is playing Cinderella in the touring production of “Into the Woods,” in a backstage photo. INSTAGRAM

BUFFALO, New York — Audiences across the country will have a chance to see a Filipino American Cinderella on stage this year. Diane Phelan is playing the orphan-turned-princess in the touring production of “Into the Woods.”

Tony Award winner Lea Salonga has praised Phelan’s performance in this latest Broadway revival of the beloved musical in an Instagram post as “supremely talented, smart and present.”

The musical links several Grimm fairy tale characters, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, and goes on to explore the consequences of their fulfilled wishes.

This staging by New York City Center’s “Encores!” program series started off as a sold-out concert with Broadway stars Sara Bareilles and Neil Patrick Harris as the Baker’s Wife and Baker, respectively.

The show’s music is by the late Stephen Sondheim, who had a cameo in the recently released Netflix whodunit “Glass Onion.” The 2002 Broadway revival starred Vanessa Williams as the Witch while the 2014 film version had Meryl Streep heading the cast.

Best job

Phelan initially joined the Broadway production at St. James Theatre as a standby, which is an actor who goes on for an absent actor in specific roles. But she wasn’t just tasked to be a standby for one role.

Diane Phelan (left) with Tony Award winner Lea Salonga. INSTAGRAM

“I was over the moon to be cast as a standby for five roles in this iconic and beloved show. The opportunity to work on five meaty roles with the opportunity to perform them on one of the most revered stages in the country made me feel like I had the absolute best job on Broadway.

“I loved the immense challenge of learning and honing so many principal roles. It was like the best playground ever.”

Profound

Phelan, whose mother is Filipino and father is of Irish American heritage, was born in Taiwan and moved to the U.S. when she was nine years old.

“When we first came to the states, my mother’s lifeline had been community theater. We did ‘South Pacific,’ ‘Godspell’ and others. I joined in and discovered I had a voice and a love for telling stories. It was in high school doing ‘Fiddler On the Roof’ that I felt a profound connection to acting and I had just started formal singing training. These were the beginnings for me.

Filipino American Broadway actor Diane Phelan. CONTRIBUTED

Phelan’s previous Broadway credits include “School of Rock,” “Bernarda Alba” and “West Side Story.” She was also in the off-Broadway staging of the Imelda Marcos disco-pop musical “Here Lies Love,” which has been announced to open on Broadway in June.

Elation

As she went through performing her different standby roles, she developed an affinity for one that “felt most right [to] spend more time with.” Of course, before you knew it, she was cast as Cinderella for the Broadway production and then for the tour. (Fil-Am Albert Guerzon played Cinderella’s father in the Broadway production.)

“There is a special kind of elation when you are granted access to opportunity as a person of color in this business that feels like savoring the best meal without interruption. That’s what it was like to close the run out on Broadway as Cinderella and what it feels like to be told I’m playing Cinderella on the full tour.”

The tour kicks off in Buffalo, New York and will have shows in cities such as Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, among others.

“One of my favorite parts about performing Cinderella in New York was getting to see all the Asian and Filipino families who would come up to me after the show to tell me with tears in their eyes how much seeing me on that stage has meant to them.

“I’ve fought long and vocally for diversity in casting over the years and to actually experience it from this angle is incredibly joy filled for me. So the prospect of being able to bring this show and representing in a capacity some of our community hasn’t seen before feels deeply satisfying.”