Once upon a time, forty years ago during the age of disco, Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga was a little girl who loved to sing.
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“Lea was always singing at home. Singing and singing, always singing. She wanted to be on stage,” says Ligaya Salonga, her motherandconstant companion. Ria, the daughter of Ligaya’s sister, saw six-year-old Lea performing at home, and suggested that Lea and Ligaya visit Repertory Philippines at the Insular Life Theater.
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Ria’s aunt was Baby Barredo, one of the co-founders of Repertory Philippines. Lea enjoyed her visit, walking across the stage, learning the difference between “stage left” and “stage right.” It was her version of an after school activity which Ligaya said was a “good training ground” to teach her to be disciplined and more articulate.
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White long-sleeved blouse, JUN ESCARIO. Feather and sequin cape, PATTY ANG. Crystal earrings, CAROLINA HERRERA. PHOTO: RAYMUND ISAAC
Not long afterward, director Zeneida Amador, the other co-founder of Rep, cast Lea as one of the royal children in the musical, The King and I. She was seven when she made her stage debut.
“But I only allowed her to do all this after she finished her assignments,” says Ligaya, now 81, but as strong and feisty as ever. “I drove her to and from the theater each time.
Two years later, Lea donned a curly-haired wig and moved to center stage as she sang the song “Tomorrow” at the top of her lungs, playing the main character Annie in the Repertory production of the musical of the same name. “In just a few weeks, Lea Salonga will be the talk of the town,” Barredo was quoted as saying in a newspaper article before the show opened. She was right.
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Emerald top, MARK BUMGARNER FOR COMME ÇI. Feather cape (used as a scarf), PATTY ANG. Lemon quartz and tourmaline earrings, JANINA for JUL DIZON. PHOTO: RAYMUND ISAAC
When Lea was 18, she became the darling of the West End in London, originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon. She had been handpicked in Manila by a panel composed of the show’s producer Cameron Mackintosh, original director Nicholas Hytner and composer Claude Michel-Schönberg and lyricist Alain Boubil, and went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award, the highest honor for an actor in British theater.
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That summer, I was one of hundreds of Filipino fans who waited outside that stage door in London, bursting with pride for our fellow Filipino who had taken the international theater world by storm. Years later, when we became friends, Lea remembered that day, and even showed me a photograph her mother had taken at the time. She has an astounding memory.
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When Lea turned 20, she moved to New York for the Broadway production of Miss Saigon and won plum acting awards, including the Tony, the biggest prize in the New York theater world.
Over the years, Lea landed many more strong female roles in London and New York, including both Eponine, and then Fantine in Les Miserables, Mei-Li in Flower Drum Song, Kei Kimura in Allegiance, and recently, the goddess Erzulie in Once On This Island, which won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.
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Many little girls have also found a strong role model in Lea as the singing voice of two Disney heroines: the strong-willed Princess Jasmine who was swept off her feet on a magic carpet by Aladdin, and the fearless warrior, Mulan. “A Whole New World” from Aladdin won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1993. Lea and Brad Kane performed the numberonstage at the 65th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
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I was fortunate to catch Lea’s last New York performance as Erzulie in June, this time not as a fan, but as a friend, and happily witnessed her stunning performance, which, as always, merited a standing ovation and thunderous applause from the theater audience, as well as the warm, bittersweet sendoff by her fellow cast members offstage. Tears, warm embraces, lots of flowers, promises to keep in touch. Outside the stage door, more applause from dozens of people who patiently awaited her exit for a chance to get an autograph or a photo with her, till she finally excused herself to have a very late post-theater dinner and drinks with her colleagues. More hugs and kisses.
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Black off-shoulder top, VANIA ROMOFF. Polka dot palazzo trousers, CAROLINA HERRERA. Fuchsia heels, MM6 MAISON MARGIELA. Windsor Fleur earrings, LOUIS VUITTON. Gold ribbed necklace, JANINA for JUL DIZON. On Lea’s right hand: White enamel and gold bangle, LOUIS VUITTON. Pearl and floral bangle in rose gold and floral wraparound ring in rose gold, both NICOLE WHISENHUNT. On Lea’s left hand: Rose gold ring with rose cut diamonds, NICOLE WHISENHUNT.PHOTO: RAYMUND ISAAC
Four decades after The King and I, Lea continues to sing her heart out, enthralling audiences all over the world.
When asked about her career’s longevity, Lea shrugs modestly.
“I don’t know, it could very well be circumstantial, it could very well be providence. It could very well be that over the years my Mom and my managers have had a 'slow but steady' approach to my career, rather than a 'burn hot, burn bright, burn out' strategy,” she says. “I think the people who have stayed around in this industry a long time have had the philosophy of not rushing. It’s like there are those who buck trends or set them. In my case, I think it was the philosophy of my Mom who has managed me all these so many years, prioritizing things that have nothing to do with the business. Prioritizing life.”
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During her younger years in the Philippine entertainment industry, Ligaya made sure Lea stayed in school, having that “semblance of normalcy,” as she calls it. “There have been people who once they become some sort of famous, they drop out of school. My Mom was very adamant that I not go that route. ‘You have to go to school, you have to have that discipline,’ she said. I appreciated that. That’s how I learned how to prioritize things.”
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Lea was one of those students who really enjoyed school, and would’ve pursued her degree in Biology at Ateneo de Manila University, if Miss Saigon hadn’t come knocking.
“My Mom says ‘Man supposes, Goddisposes,” and I guess this is what God had meant for me. And this is a path that has been carved out by a hand that is not of this earth. It’s interesting how you can make all these plans, but then something bigger happens, and then all your plans end up not being followed.”
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At one point, Lea and Rob Chien, her Asian-American husband, had been pretty settled in Los Angeles, when a work opportunity opened up for Rob in the Philippines.
“I was perfectly happy living in L.A. at the time, and he’s from the States, so I don’t think he ever envisioned living here, but look, here we are!” she says. “He initiated it, it wasn’t even me. He said, ‘there is this offer,’ and we made the decision together. We didn’t have a timeline, and we weren’t sure how long we would live here, but that was back in 2005, and we’re still here.”
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Nicole, their 12-year-old pre-teen, is herself a budding theater actress, having been cast in the Atlantis production of Matilda.
“She loves to sing and she loves going to the theater. She’s one of the best musical theater buddies I have. She enjoys theater, but I’m not exactly sure she wants to do it forever,” says Lea. “Musical theater might as well be classified as an athletic sport. It takes so much physical stamina, it takes so much mental energy, vocal stamina as well. It’s like your entire body is wrecked by the time the eight shows a week are done. Physical therapy is a necessity.”
“When I’m doing a show I have to have acupuncture, I have to do exercise, I have to eat properly, my entire day revolves around the few hours when I’m in the theater. It takes a lot of dedication and a heck of a lot of discipline. It takes a lot out of me. When I’m doing a show, no matter how big or how small the role, I need to rest, I need to get sleep, I need to not talk to people so I’m not the most social. I don’t go out a whole lot. It takes a lot of focus. There’s a lot of mental energy involved.”
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Ligaya remembers the toll Miss Saigon took on her daughter those many years ago.
“There was all this emotion in the show. She was screaming at the top of her lungs every day. She almost lost her voice,” says Ligaya. “I had to take her to the doctor without telling them I was taking her to the doctor. So she was absent for one day and I took her to the doctor. The producers got mad at me, of course. They said they should be the one taking care of her. But then my doctor and their doctor said the same thing. She had to take three weeks off. Her vocal cords were swollen. She was developing nodules. It was so scary. She was so exhausted. So she was off three weeks and was given a voice coach, a voice teacher. There was that fear that she might lose her voice.”
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Lea says that after months of hard work onstage, she always looks forward to breaks of just doing nothing.
“So when I do have the time to rest, I do nothing and hang out with my family and friends. I hang out hard. When I do nothing I do nothing hard, because when I work I work hard,” she says.
Lea admits that being away from Rob and Nicole is extremely difficult, and that every time she takes on a job, it is a “family decision” because it affects all of them. For Once On This Island, Lea had to be in New York for at least eight months.
“When I called Rob on the night of the Tonys to tell him that we won, he started crying because of the sacrifice that we all went through,” says Lea. “It’s not just me, it’s probably harder for them, because of my absence. It’s difficult for Nicole that I can’t always be there for her. So the fact that the show won the Tony made the sacrifices worth it. It’s like we had something to show for what we gave up.”
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Lea says that when they, as a family, decide she will do a show, it has to be something worth flying halfway around the world for, giving up her life at home for so many months.
“It has to be singular and unique and creative and special,” she says.
We dare say that’s an apt description of herself.
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Lea celebrates her four decades in entertainment this year with a special two-day show at PICC on October 19 and 20. Both shows were completely sold out just days after tickets were released in August.
Photographs by Raymund Isaac Produced by Nicole Limos Styling by Jacqui Salonga, assisted by April Lozada Makeup by Juan Sarte Hair by Marlon Suarez and Raymond Mateo Additional art direction by Sandy Aranas, assisted by Hannah Lazatin and Pau Fong Shot on location at Bank Bar Manila
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