Lea Salonga, Global Filipino
When I think of the global Pinoy, Lea Salonga is among those who come to mind immediately. She has exhibited grace, beauty and talent that reflect the very best of the Philippine Islands. With her numerous accomplishments, it’s really hard to choose where to start.
Lea first shared her angelic voice with us at the age of 7 when she appeared in Repertory Philippines’ production of The King And I. At age 10, she was acclaimed with the gold record award for her first album, Small Voice.
Lea is best known for her award-winning role as Kim in the hit musical Miss Saigon. I still remember my joy and pride when I heard that she was chosen for this role. It was as if a dam of Philippine talent was opened, to be shared with the whole world. Lea won both the Sir Laurence Olivier and the Tony Awards for her much-applauded role.
My other favorite among Lea’s accomplishments is her performance as Jasmine’s singing voice for Walt Disney’s Aladdin. She is so perfect here, with her voice aptly seeming to rise to the skies with Jasmine’s ride on the magic carpet.
Lea has also played Eponine in Les Misérables, Eliza Doolittle in Repertory Philippines’ My Fair Lady, the Witch in Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Into The Woods, ‘Mei-Li’ in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway musical Flower Drum Song, and the singing voice of Disney’s Mulan. She has released numerous albums and appeared in countless shows all over the world.
Despite her busy schedule, Lea makes it a point to visit the Philippines regularly. Recently, her days have became even more hectic with the birth of her daughter Nicole Beverly Chien. Baby Nic was born on May 16 in Alabang. Here’s a part of Lea’s interview in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
What is it like being a mom? Is it everything you expected it to be?
So far, it’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful being a mom! I’m loving every single minute of it. It’s tough, though, getting up to change or feed her when I’m severely sleep deprived, which is where Rob comes in. And he’s been stellar.My expectations of motherhood? My approach to everything is very practical and pragmatic. This was no exception. I didn’t see motherhood as an experience that would complete me as a woman. I considered myself complete already. I wasn’t going to put pressure on Nicole to be the completion of me. That wouldn’t be fair to her. I want to set an example for her, that a woman should already be complete in herself before raising a family.
Our warm congratulations to Lea and hubby Robert!
[Sources: Philippine News]
2 Comments
I SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO LEA SALONGA’S MISS SAIGON AND QUIVER AS I DID WHEN I SAT AT THE SHOW ON BROADWAY FOR THE THIRD TIME. TIMELESS, EXQUISITE, STUNNING, POWERFUL, HUMBLE NONETHELESS, UNPARALLELED AMONG MODERN VOICES. PURE PERFECTION; Check out utube’s videos of Lea at her Miss Saigon auditions. PRICELESS; to whoever posted the lea salonga footage of the auditions, of the show, of lea on TV, at her wedding, etc…thank you for helping to capture something hard to capture….a voice as pure and true as water and sky. Lea is simply the one, the only best.
I really like lea.she’s so amazing.she’s been my favorite singer since when i was a child.i love to sing her songs especially the JOURNEY.It inspires me so much.In fact we sung that song on our graduation ceremony.i’m so touch.everybody likes her songs.i love you Lea.You have such an amazing angelic voice..