on television. She also received a Presidential Award of Merit from President Corazon Aquino for her services to the arts. When Miss Saigon opened on Broadway in 1991, she again played the role of Kim, winning the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World awards and becoming the second-youngest actress and first actress of Asian descent to win a Tony Award. During the production transfer from West End to Broadway, a controversy erupted over Salonga's citizenship. The Actors' Equity Association (AEA) initially prevented her from reprising the role, wishing to give priority to Asian-American performers. However, Cameron Mackintosh claimed he could not find a satisfactory replacement for Salonga, and an arbitrator later reversed the AEA ruling. In 1993 and 1996, she returned to play Kim on Broadway. In 1999, she was invited back to London to close the West End production, and in 2001, at the age of 29 and after finishing the Manila run of the musical, Salonga returned to Broadway to close that production. In 1991, she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1992, she performed the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's animated film Aladdin. Later that year, Salonga's agent submitted her to an audition for the leading role of Eliza Doolittle in the upcoming Broadway revival of My Fair Lady. However, the casting director for the production refused to see her because of her race. Shortly after, Salonga was contacted by Cameron Mackintosh to join the Broadway production of Les Misérables. 1993–1996: Les Misérables, films, and other musicals In 1993, Salonga played the role of Éponine in the Broadway production of Les Misérables, becoming the first Asian actress to perform the role on Broadway. She performed the song "A Whole New World" from Aladdin with Brad Kane at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where the song won an Oscar, having already won a Golden Globe Award. That same year, she released her self-titled international debut album with Atlantic Records. In 1994, Salonga played in various musical theatre productions in the Philippines and Singapore, such as Sandy in Grease, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and the Witch in Into the Woods. In the U.S. in 1995, Salonga played the role of Geri Riordan, an 18-year-old adopted Vietnamese American child in the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Redwood Curtain, which starred John Lithgow and Jeff Daniels.