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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider Lea Salonga: Four decades of inspiring people

Lea Salonga: Four decades of inspiring people

Published Mar 15, 2023 02:29 am

Lea Salonga (Facebook)


A critically-acclaimed  entertainment career spanning 45 years! This is definitely enough to put Lea Salonga on the pedestal as one of the great Filipina artists of our time. Now 52, she's far from stopping with a full schedule for 2023. From Sept. 16 until Jan. 6, 2024, Lea returns to London's West End to star in  Stephen Sondheim's "Old Friends" along with another award-winning performer, Bernadette Peters. But prior to this, the Philippines' international stage superstar gets busy in New York. July marks her epic return to Broadway, where she will perform "Just Ask the Flowers"  in her role  as Aurora Aquino in the David Byrne/Fat Boy Slim musical about Imelda Marcos, " Note that Lea first conquered Broadway in 1991 as Kim in "Miss Saigon" - a stint which made her "the first actress of Asian descent to win a Tony award." Prior to this, she was not even 20 when she won the Laurence Olivier Award  for Best Actress in a Musical in London.  It can be said that Lea's accomplishments paved the way for many Asian artists to make their mark in the industry too, despite the fact that so much still needs to be done. Lea is particularly excited about her portrayal in "Here Lies Love" which she is also producing. She has been quoted as saying: "I'm thrilled to be part of this show as well as part of a company composed of an abundance of Filipino talent, a first in Broadway history. We're showing the world what we're capable of." Lea continues to be relevant because she has used her platform to advocate for important causes, such as diversity and representation in the arts. Aspiring young artists, particularly those from under-represented communities, look up to her as a role model.  Lea has been vocal about her experiences with discrimination, particularly in the early stages of her career when she was refused to be seen for the role of Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" because of her skin color. Over on Twitter where she has 5.6 million followers to date, Lea continues to espouse causes dear to her heart, such as mental health awareness, children's rights, family planning and support for the LGBTQ community. About the latter, she has said: "I have a half-brother who is very, very, very gay, many cousins, best friends who are all members of the LGBT community, and for me to not say anything would be hypocritical. There is a lot of prejudice." Lea's views on most issues are liberal and humanitarian. On the personal front, her married life with her husband of almost 20 years, Robert Chien, is happy and stable. The diva also dotes on her only daughter, Nicole who is 16 and is also a budding singer.  As someone who started performing at the tender age of seven, Lea's  success is rooted not only in her exceptional talent, but also her dedication to her craft and hard work. "I don't think I would've been performing this long if I didn't love it sincerely to the degree that I do. It's not enough to like it. Dilettantes like things. Professionals love things, and I consider myself a professional," she once said about her "calling." The phenomenal singer was raised to be prayerful by her mother, Ligaya. There's an anecdote about young Lea struggling to finish her run in Miss Saigon because she was always sick and her voice was failing her. She was thinking about studying to be a doctor after her time in "Miss Saigon" was over. But while attending Sunday mass, the priest preached about "using the gifts God gave us."  Lea took it as a sign to continue inspiring people with her singing and she never stopped from there.
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