A Miss Called Lea
Lea Salonga first charmed audiences at age seven, when she starred in the Repertory Philippines musical The King and I, and later playing the titular character in the musical Annie. Even at that tender age, her talents were remarkable and I knew that the audience knew that the little girl they held in reverence would go on and become a national sensation.
But prior to becoming one of the Philippines’ greatest prides and joys, Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (born on February 22, 1971) was just a normal girl with big dreams that matched her talent. After spending the first six years of her life in Angeles City, she and her family –– her father, Feliciano Genuino Salonga; her mother, Ligaya Alcantara Imutan; and her siblings, Gerard (who would later play a vital role in Lea’s career) and Sheila –– moved to Manila, where she completed her elementary and secondary studies.
Even as a girl, Lea was fond of performing. She often participated in school productions at the O.B. Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, where she graduated high school. By that time, she had starred in various productions such as The Sound of Music, The Goodbye Girl, Fiddler on the Roof, The Rose Tattoo, Annie, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and had even recorded an album, Small Voice. Lea Salonga opened for boy band Menudo’s concert when they came here in ’85 and for Stevie Wonder in ’88.
If you think her list of credits are remarkable, you’d be amazed to know it doesn’t stop there. Aside from acting on the stage, Lea could also be seen on TV and in movies. She starred in the hugely successful teen variety show, That’s Entertainment and hosted her own musical show, Love, Lea. She starred in various films such as Like Father, Like Son, Ninja Kids, Captain Barbell, and Tropang Bulilit. Her acting talents were well-received by critics, and even garnered her a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) award nomination and three Aliw Awards as Best Child Performer.
There was no doubt about it –– Lea Salonga was an extremely talented individual. But no one could have anticipated that she become a world-class stage actress. In 1989, Lea nabbed one of the lead roles in the Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s multi-million-dollar British production of Miss Saigon. In her audition for the role of Kim –– who gets entangled in a doomed relationship with a US soldier –– Lea sang “On My Own” from Les Misérables. The members of the panel had her sing “Sun and Moon” from Miss Saigon and were impressed. She was offered the part, with her fellow Repertory Philippines performer and friend Monique Wilson as her understudy (Wilson assumed the role of a bargirl named Mimi). When Lea got the part –– with her fellow Repertory Philippines performer and friend Monique Wilson as her understudy (Wilson was given the role of a bargirl named Mimi) –– she took up residence in London, England’s West End, where the production of Miss Saigon would play until 1991. In 1991, the musicale moved to Broadway, and Lea reprised her role as Kim. In 1999, she went back to West End to close the musical and in 2001, appeared again on Broadway as Kim to end the Broadway production of Miss Saigon. Her portrayal of the innocent, naïve Vietnamese bargirl earned her an Olivier Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical, as well as the Tony, an Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Theatre World Awards for Best Actress.
Aside from her impressive stint in Miss Saigon, she starred as Éponine in the Broadway and West End production of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and provided the singing voices for Mulan in the Disney movie of the same name (1998) and Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin (1993). She sang, along with Brad Kane, Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” at the 65th Academy Awards, where the song would ultimately win the Oscar for Best Original Song. In 1993, she released her debut international album under Atlantic Records, entitled Lea Salonga, which went on to sell over three million copies worldwide.
After all this, and starring in a Hallmark TV movie with Jeff Daniels (Redwood Curtain), Lea didn’t think it was beneath her to go back to her native country and star in a local movie opposite Aga Mulach (Sana Maulit Muli in 1995, which earned her a second FAMAS award). It’s one of the reasons why I love her so much –– aside from, of course, her sublime talents that would forever make us proud of her.
Reference:
· Wikipedia. 2011. Lea Salonga – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lea_Salonga. [Accessed 04 June 11].
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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