Taewon Kim (also credited as Taewon Yi Kim) is a Korean-American mezzo-soprano and musical theatre performer, trained at Juilliard and the Peabody Conservatory. She made her Broadway debut originating the role of Lady Thiang in the 1996 revival of The King and I at the Neil Simon Theatre, continuing through the production's closing in February 1998, and reprised the role as an original cast member of the 2000 West End transfer at the London Palladium (Apr 18, 2000 – Apr 21, 2001). Her West End performance earned her the 2001 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination in the same category. While performing on Broadway, she also began her long association with the Korean original musical The Last Empress (명성황후), eventually becoming its defining lead and helping bring the production to Broadway, Los Angeles, the West End, Canada, and Japan across a seventeen-year career in the role. She has since built an extensive career in Korean musical theatre and currently teaches as a professor at Myongji University.