Lea Salonga's Mother Manifested Her Madame Tussauds Wax Figure 40 Years Ago

Madame Tussauds Singapore, a wax museum at the Imbiah Lookout of Sentosa Island, is known for its life-like figures of the world's most famous personalities. Some of the most notable icons on display at this tourist attraction include Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, Queen Elizabeth, David Beckham, Tom Cruise, Marilyn Monroe, Beyonce, and Madonna. And the latest to join this star-studded lineup is the Philippines' very own Lea Salonga, an award-winning actress and singer who's taken Broadway by storm. Her wax figure will be permanently on display at the Music Zone of Madame Tussauds Singapore starting on September 20, 2024.

Salonga is best known for her Tony Award-winning role in Miss Saigon and is widely recognized as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in Mulan and Mulan II. She made history as the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway and later returned to the stage as Fantine in the 2006 revival. Her Broadway appearances also include the 2018 revival of Once on This Island, where she portrayed the Goddess of Love, Erzulie.

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As it turns out, this is a full-circle moment for Salonga.

"The first time I ever walked into a Tussauds, I was 12. It was in London. I went with my mother. At the time, there was a part of Madame Tussauds London called the Conservatory. There were many folks, many artists, actors, actresses, and performers who were part of that particular part of the museum. And there was a wax likeness of Liza Minnelli, whom I got to meet later in my life. And so she's there posing in her tux and her pixie haircut. And I think my mother and I were both looking at it. And she said, 'Anak, you never know. One day, that could be you.' So this, this moment today, is like a manifestation of what happened 40 years or so ago. And so I'm excited that my mom is here, that she will get to see this. Because she was the one who said, 'You never know, this might be you," Salonga shares during an exclusive reveal of her own wax figure at the Solaire Resort in Parañaque, before it moves to Singapore.

Madame Tussauds was founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. The Singapore outpost, on the other hand, officially opened in October 2014 as the seventh Asian branch of the wax museum.

Salonga's mother was joined by her friends when the curtains went up to reveal her life-like sculpture. It was met with "oohs," "aaahs," and a lot of "Oh my gosh!", even from the artist herself.

Her wax likeness is elegantly dressed in a blue gown designed by Rajo Laurel, who has designed several outfits for her.

"This is not the only gown I have of this style. I have three. There's one in red, black, and [this] blue one," she reveals.

Salonga shared that Laurel's creations are the type that she can easily fold in her luggage and bring halfway across the world for her international shows.

"When Raul creates stuff for me, he's like, 'This is one of your work dresses, which you can pack, you take out of your suitcase, it's ready to go. You don't have to do anything with it.'," she recalls.

The blue gown really came from her closet, and she even joked, "There might still be my cat's hair on it somewhere." One of her friends had to fish it out of her closet and pass it to her manager, who passed the outfit to Tussauds in London.

"So, it was a very major team effort to get this dress to the artists and the artisans that were working on this likeness. And it's down to the color of the nail polish, down to what my nails look like. The effort, down to the color of my teeth, the lashes, the makeup," she adds.

Salonga was part of every step of the creation of her wax likeness. While she was in London for a show, the Madame Tussauds team took the opportunity to have her measurements taken. She and her manager would also get progress photos, which she would show to her family.

"I think there were certain different stages of everything, and I would show things to my brother, I showed things to my sister-in-law, and the reactions were like speechlessness. My brother's reaction to one of the work-in-progress photographs was, 'Your hands, they got your hands, oh my God, even the hands?'," she says.

Elaine Quek, Head of Sales and Marketing at Madame Tussauds Singapore, said that their team of expert sculptors spent up to six months making the figure.

The biggest thing that Salonga liked about the wax figure is that it seems frozen in a moment that she's about to sing, which is apt for this Filipino artist who always has something lined up in her repertoire.

Lea Salonga's wax figure will be permanently on display at the Music Zone of Madame Tussauds Singapore starting on September 20, 2024. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 40 Imbiah Road Imbiah Lookout, Sentosa, Singapore. Ticket price starts at SGD 44 (roughly P1,900).

Madame Tussauds Singapore partnered with Klook Philippines for a limited-time one-for-one ticket promo. It is available at Klook Travel Fest from September 14 to 15, 2024, at SM Megamall.