No, not that Princess Leia of the Star Wars
saga. I’m talking about Lea Salonga, the Philippines’ pambato in the international music scene.
A lot of accolades have been said about
her--and they are all well-deserved, of course. I won’t enumerate all of them
here because the list is long. Besides, Mr. Google can give a biography of Lea
more accurately, lest I be accused of copy-pasting. Please allow me to mention
here some highlights of her extraordinary career that made a personal impression
on me.
1. She made a breakthrough in the international
scene in 1989 when she was chosen, among the many hopefuls around the world, as
the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. At a young age of 18, she
enthralled audiences in the West End with her pure, crystal clear, magical
voice. In 1989, Lea won the Laurence Olivier Award for her role in the musical.
She would reprise the role of Kim in Broadway, winning the Tony, and other
prestigious awards in the US.
From Youtube
From Youtube
I must have mentioned sometime in my blog that
I was part of the UP Concert Chorus who toured the world in 1990. London was
part of our itinerary, and luckily, we were able to watch Miss Saigon with Lea
playing Kim at that time. After the show, all the Korus members wanted to be
Kim. Scratch that. All of us wanted to be Lea. Getting out of the theater, we
held our heads higher after seeing her perform. We felt prouder to be
Filipinos.
 |
| Me, (third from the left), with the 1990 UPCC Members at West End, London. |
Bonus: Lea was kind enough to meet us back stage after her performance.
 |
| Photo by Lionel Guico |
Of course, after watching the play, we jammed
by singing the Miss Saigon libretta in between our UPCC practices and concerts. We
learned the songs by heart. Needless to say, some of our members were so
inspired by Lea’s success that later on, some of my UPCC friends became
part of the Miss Saigon cast when it was brought in other countries.
From Youtube
2. In between Miss Saigon, she lent her singing
voices to lovable characters, most notably, Princess Jasmine and Mulan. Correct
me if I’m wrong, I think that she is the only performer who had sung as two different Disney characters.
When Lea became Princess Jasmine, I was already
starting a family. I sang “A Whole New World” over and over again to my first
born daughter. When Lea became Mulan, Issa was already three years old, and it
was my daughter’s turn to sing the Reflection song repeatedly. Even my daughter
wanted to be Lea!
Just last night, I watched on the internet how Lea and Brad Kane reunited to sing A Whole New World again.Yup, twenty-three years may have passed, but I will never get tired of listening to Lea's version of this song.
3. In my humble opinion, her performance at the
10th Anniversary of Les Miserables as Eponine was the best ever.
Sorry, maybe I’m being biased here. But I get teary-eyed everytime I see these
clips on Youtube. Everytime.
She first made the Filipinos proud more than 25
years ago. And she is still at it, mga kababayan. Our Lea is continuing to
shine in a role written for her in a new musical called Allegiance. Thanks to
Youtube, we can take a glimpse of how glorious a performer she still is.
Kim, Princess Jasmine, Mulan, Eponine, Fantine,
Cinderella…the list is dizzying. Now can you blame me if I call her Princess
Lea?
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