Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
María Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, KLD, known as Lea Salonga, is a Filipina singer and actress best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses, and as a recording artist and television performer, especially in the Philippines...
NationalityFilipino
ProfessionStage Actress
Date of Birth22 February 1971
CityManila, Philippines
ask boxes carve claim gig home liked living mom needed sent stuff york
I was 28, and my mom was living with me. I had to decide. You have to claim it; you can't ask permission. After a gig in Singapore, she went home, I went to New York on my own, I packed her stuff in boxes and sent it home. I don't think she liked me for a while for doing that. It was something I needed to do to carve out my own space.
active affair auditions aunt cousin filipino founders kept love mom musicals needed repertory
When I was about 6, my cousin was very active in a Filipino repertory company, doing musicals and plays. Her aunt was one of the founders of the company, and she told my mom that there were these auditions for 'The King and I,' and that they needed kids. I auditioned, got in and the love affair started from there and just kept going.
tv work
I was doing TV work, theatre work, and some film work in the Philippines when I left.
appreciation doe needs
The thing about Sondheim is that it does get very cerebral. You do need a faculty with words and a love for the lyrics to not just pull it off, but to have an appreciation for it.
fit good high interested love
I'm interested in just about anything that's right for my voice, and that's a good fit for my personality in the part as well. 'Evita' has always been a dream part for me, but it's really, really high to sing. I'd love to do Elphaba - heck, I'd even do Glinda. For me, I'd do anything to get into 'Wicked!'
bursting convention opera pop
The nice thing about doing a pop opera - in the way that doing, say, 'Miss Saigon' or 'Les Miz' would be - is that, because the convention is set from the beginning that this is an opera and everything is sung, there is never that feeling of 'Why is this person bursting out into song?' because the whole thing is sung.