On Monday 9 November, Mia Kobayashi (小林美亜) sings on a RepresentAsian bill for the first time, a little over two years after making her professional debut as Kaori in Your Lie in April the Musical. In an interview with Japan Nakama ahead of the concert at the Lyric Theatre, the British and Japanese performer told us what she wants her two solos on the night to say.
Her answers keep coming back to the idea behind RepresentAsian‘s motto, “You have to see it, to be it”, and to the people on both sides of the stage door who have proved it to her.
Mia Kobayashi’s stage roles since 2024
- 2024: Kaori Miyazono in Your Lie in April the Musical at the Harold Pinter Theatre, her professional debut, straight after graduating from ArtsEd in London
- February 2025: nominated for Best Professional Debut Performance at the WhatsOnStage Awards, for Kaori
- April 2025: the Your Lie in April Original London Cast Recording is released by Ghostlight Records
- June to July 2025: Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street at Kilworth House Theatre
- September to October 2025: Maggie in A Chorus Line on its Japan tour
- November 2025 to January 2026: the title role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
- 9 November 2026: RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent at the Lyric Theatre
Two RepresentAsian solos that push back on stereotypes of Asian women
RepresentAsian asks each performer to sing from roles Asian performers are rarely seen in. Kobayashi is keeping her two solos under wraps until the night, but she told us what links them:
“I chose these two songs because, in very different ways, they challenge some of the stereotypes that can surround Asian women in musical theatre.”
The first is about having the confidence to draw a line and refuse to compromise your own values, which she calls “a really important image to put forward: an Asian woman who is strong, independent and unapologetically knows her worth.”
The second is a comic number, picked to show an Asian woman being allowed to be funny, playful and completely unrestrained:
“Asian characters can sometimes be placed into very narrow ideas of being quiet, submissive or dutiful, so I love that this song gives us something completely different.”
Eva Noblezada’s Éponine and the motto “You have to see it, to be it”
We asked Kobayashi who first made a career like hers feel possible. Her answer came back in one line:
“I was 13 when I saw Eva Noblezada as Éponine in Les Mis and was instantly inspired!”
Noblezada played Éponine at the Queen’s Theatre in 2016, after starring as Kim in the West End revival of Miss Saigon. She went on to play Eurydice in Hadestown in London and on Broadway, and in 2025 she returned to the role at the Lyric Theatre, which is the same stage Kobayashi steps onto on 9 November.
Roles not written as Asian, from Peggy Sawyer to Snow White
Since Kaori, Kobayashi has played the chorus girl turned star in 42nd Street, a dancer in A Chorus Line and a panto princess, and none of those parts was written for an Asian performer. She says that is partly how auditions have fallen and partly a choice:
“Whenever I’ve been offered a role that wasn’t traditionally written as Asian, I’ve never hesitated to take it on. In fact, I find it really exciting. I’m a huge advocate for reinventing roles and bringing your own identity and perspective to a character, rather than feeling restricted by how they were originally written.”
She plans to keep going after roles that have not historically had Asian representation, and she has a clear picture of who that is for:
“I hope that a little Asian girl can come and watch a show, see someone who looks like her playing Peggy Sawyer, Maggie, Snow White or any role at all, and think, ‘I could do that’.”
A five-year-old at the Marlowe Theatre stage door
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ran at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury from late November 2025 until 11 January 2026, with Kobayashi in the title role. One of the audience members who came to meet her afterwards was exactly the girl she describes above:
“One of the sweetest moments I had was at the stage door with a five-year-old Japanese girl. I remember her smile so vividly. It was the kind of smile that you immediately resonate with because you recognise a little bit of yourself in it. I used to be that little girl, looking up at performers and imagining what might be possible for me, and seeing her there felt incredibly full circle.”
Kobayashi gave her “the biggest squeeze”, and the moment has stayed with her:
“It reminded me that representation isn’t just about who gets to be on stage, it’s about who gets to look at that stage and believe that they belong there too!”
The cast of My Neighbour Totoro see the same thing at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, where children at the stage door recognise themselves in an entirely East and Southeast Asian company.
A Chorus Line in Japan, in English with Japanese subtitles
In autumn 2025, Nikolai Foster’s production of A Chorus Line toured Japan in English with Japanese subtitles, with Adam Cooper as Zach. It opened at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia Hall in September, played Sendai and Osaka, and finished back in Tokyo at Theatre H on 19 October. Kobayashi played Maggie, one of the three dancers who sing “At the Ballet”, the number about escaping into ballet classes as children.
She expected a quieter house than in London, and some nights she was wrong:
“Japanese audiences can be more reserved in how they express themselves. I think that comes from a real sense of politeness and respect, but it can also make for a wonderfully quiet audience! I was prepared for the big climax of ‘At the Ballet’ to be met with that same respectful silence, especially as western audiences would often erupt into applause. But there were a few nights where we suddenly got this roar of applause from the Japanese audience, and it genuinely took me by surprise every time!”
At the stage door the cast were often given thoughtful handmade gifts, and the standard of English, she says, “blew me away”.
Recognised as a Japanese performer in Japan
One Tokyo theatregoer wrote online that they only realised Kobayashi was Japanese after checking the cast list. She is used to that. People often tell her that her ethnicity is hard to place, which she finds difficult, because she feels just as Japanese as she does British. Her Japanese mum brought her up very much within the culture, so the tour meant a great deal:
“Being recognised as a Japanese performer in Japan, rather than simply a British performer, was incredibly meaningful to me. There was a real sense of recognition and belonging that I hadn’t necessarily experienced in the same way before. The tour definitely made me feel more connected to that side of myself. Japan didn’t feel like a holiday to me, it felt like home.”
Kaori in Your Lie in April the Musical, and the anime fans at the stage door
Your Lie in April began as Naoshi Arakawa’s manga and became a much loved anime in 2014. Kaori Miyazono is the violinist who pulls the piano prodigy Kosei Arima back into music. The stage musical, with music by Frank Wildhorn, played a concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in April 2024, then opened its fully staged run at the Harold Pinter Theatre that summer with Kobayashi as Kaori.
She knew of the story before she was cast but had never watched the anime all the way through. Downloading it on Crunchyroll was the first thing she did when she got the part. The fans who turned up at the stage door knew it far better, and they did not come empty handed:
“The fans were incredible at stage door. We received so many amazing gifts and beautiful drawings. I’ve kept every single one in a special box, and one of my favourites has to be a little Kaori bobblehead. She’s amazing!”
Hearing what the series meant to people often kept her out late, “but I genuinely didn’t mind, I was so eager to hear every story,” she says.
Recording Kaori for the Your Lie in April London cast album
Ghostlight Records released the Your Lie in April Original London Cast Recording on 4 April 2025, after the Harold Pinter run had ended. “Catch a Shooting Star”, her duet with Zheng Xi Yong, is now her most played track on Spotify. She loved the intimacy of the studio, but the finished album was harder to take in:
“Hearing the finished album, especially Kaori’s letter in ‘I Can Hear You’, was a real out of body experience. It almost felt like I was listening to somebody else. I still find it surreal, and very cool, to hear my voice on an album!”
These days “Catch a Shooting Star” is the “bop” she puts on for an instant mood boost. “One Hundred Thousand Million Stars” is less of a choice. She fears its melody is “permanently embedded” in her head, which anyone who has played the cast album more than twice will understand.
Kaori and Kosei reunite: Mia Kobayashi and Zheng Xi Yong at the Lyric Theatre
Zheng Xi Yong played Kosei opposite Kobayashi’s Kaori, and on 9 November the two share a bill again. “Zheng Xi walked into my life in 2024, and there is absolutely no escape for him now!” she says. Consider him warned. She calls their friendship one of the biggest gifts Your Lie in April the Musical gave her, and although she sees him often, singing on stage with him again is something she “genuinely can’t wait” for.
The night also gives a West End debut to three 2026 graduates: Charlie Moscrop and Shivaane Subash from the Royal Academy of Music, and Sameer Dhanjee from the Guildford School of Acting. Two years on from her own debut, Kobayashi has this for them:
“I’d say to savour every second. It’s a moment you’ll never forget, and what a production to be making that milestone with. The Asian community in this industry is constantly making history, and I’m so proud to be part of celebrating and supporting the incredible talent that’s coming through.”
Mia Kobayashi’s favourite places in Japan and London
Her favourite place in Japan is the local cherry blossom park in Tsuruse, her hometown in Fujimi, a stop on the Tobu Tojo Line just outside Tokyo.
When she wants Japanese food in London, she heads to Makoto in Turnham Green, West London, a small sushi bar on Turnham Green Terrace in Chiswick. If you are further from W4, our guide to the best Japanese food in London is sorted by dish.
And for anyone who loved Your Lie in April and wants something next? “Tough one! Anything Ghibli to pull on them heartstrings.” If you would rather see Ghibli on a stage, My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre runs until 3 January 2027.
RepresentAsian at the Lyric Theatre on Monday 9 November
RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent starts at 7.30pm on Monday 9 November 2026 at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. Founded by casting director Ben Armstrong in 2021, the concert is produced by Aixa Amarante Productions and supported by our friends at Dishoom. Nina Wadia hosts, and musical director Taekkeun Sim leads a four piece band. The concert runs about 2 hours 20 minutes with an interval and is recommended for ages 8 and over. Every ticket helps fund the RepresentAsian Scholarship at The Boury Academy, a year of training for a young Asian performer.
Tickets start from £20, and Japan Nakama readers can book the top three price bands for close to half price with the code REPRESENT26 on the Lyric Theatre booking page. For the full line up, the scholarship and last year’s concert, see our guide to RepresentAsian at the Lyric Theatre. You can follow Mia Kobayashi on Instagram.
Japan Nakama is the media partner for RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent at the Lyric Theatre on 9 November 2026.
