By Phoebe Dorothy Estelle
What’s it like to be on critically acclaimed and awarded theatre musicals, where you have be sound good and be the best actress that you should be? For most artists confidence, skills and passion are tools for success and our very own top-notch performer Lea Salonga is the walking example of these traits.
And in spite of her international celebrity, Lea never forgets het roots — the Philippines. The only true Filipina diva is once again back with a powerful new album, Inspired, which will no doubt capture the heart of local music fans.
One hundred percent is what she gives to everything she does. Remember her shampoo commercial where it showed her requesting for another take just to get it right? Many would say that it was just press release but, indeed, her drive for perfection is very real.
The applause and fame that she received when she did the Broadway hit, Miss Saigon, has kept her in the limelight. She is the only Filipino actor who garnered citations from teh Tony, Drama Desk, Laurence Olivier, Theatre World and Outer Critics Circle, highly-respected award giving bodies in the field of theatre productions.
“This (trophy) is also goes too for everybody back home who dreams of winning Tony awards. Wake up, a dream will come true for someone else too,” Lea’s speech when she won her 1991 Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Her success playing Kim was followed by numerous offers that opened doors not only for her but to other Filipino performers as well. After Miss Saigon, she was tapped to play Eponine in the long-running musical, Les Miserables, on Broadway, she was the first Asian to play the character.
She also top billed another musical play “Flower Drum Song” and appeared on the CBS-TV daytime show “As the World Turns.” Her debut in U.S television came with the Hallmark TV movie, Redwood Curtain, where she worked with Jeff Daniels and John Lithgow.
She recently returned to Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theatre that started March 6. This time she plays the factory worker, Fantine, who was pushed to be a prostitute.
Apart from Broadway and Philippines, the award-winning singer and stage actress also gained popularity in Singapore because of the plays she did — “In to the Woods,” “They’re Playing Our Song” and “Baby”.
In the concert scene, her first international concert was held at the Isaac Stern Hall at the famous Carnegie Hall in November 7, 2005. She was only the third Fipino to perform in the said venue. In support of the Filipino athletes during the 2006 DOHA Asian Games in Qatar, Lea graced Khalifa Stadium with an estimated 50,000 audience to perform “Triumph of the One” during the closing ceremony.
Known for having supreme singing style, she also did recordings for Disney’s animated films like “Aladdin” as the singing voice of Jasmine and Fa Mulan in “Mulan.” Back home she has has consistently topped OPM record sales from her first album “Small Voice” to her latest “Inspired.” In fact, she is one the Philippines’ Best Selling Female Artist of All Time with sales of 19 million.
“Inspired” was Lea’s most recent project before going to Broadway. The album is comprised of easy-to-listen ballads like the Jim Brickman composition “To Hear You Say” fand “Two Words,” her official wedding song written by Louie Ocampo.
“I guess it’s a word that describes our collective state of being. We were inspired by various things: my new baby, different artists’ albums and/or vocal stylings, experiences, people, just going about our individual days. There wasn’t any one thing I can pin down or point out, but whatever these things were, it brought out our best. I hope you all enjoy what you’ll hear,” Lea’s said of her album under Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Lea gave birth to her baby girl named Nicole Beverly, May 16 last year. She has been married to businessman Robert Chien for three years now.
Pehaps, all her accomplishments can be summed up in her latest Hapee toothpaste commercial.
“Nakasakay na ako sa flying carpet, naging sundalo at bayani. Nakatira na sa palasyo mula Thailand hanggang London. Naging refugee at ulila. Lumaban sa rebulusyon, naging Kim sa Saigon, hanggang sa naging Mrs. Chen at mommy ni Nicole. Lahat ito nagawa ko ng nakangiti, hindi ako natakot, hindi umurong, hindi nawalan ng boses. Kahit ano pa, kahit saan pa.
Lea is not only a dreamer but an enabler, her reputation as a singer, actress, and as an artist is really an inspiration to every proud Filipino.
Tags: Lea Salonga, Philippine Music News, OPM Albums
About Phoebe Dorothy Estelle: Phoebe Dorothy Estelle believes in the power of dreaming and it's smarter to be lucky than lucky to be smart. She's boyish and jolly outside but feminine inside. Has faith to the Divine Providence and an ambivert gal who loves performing arts, anime, interesting stories or people, music,films and ice cream..
June 15th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Nice work… Lea really “inspired” me to “reach for the impossible”… Yeah, I`m working on that…
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October 16th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I wish we have more great artist like her not a copycat such as many filipino performers so that the philippines will be putted again in the map of entertainment/musical world.