Lea Salonga

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Biography

Lea Salonga-Chien (born February 22, 1971) is a mezzo-soprano singer , actress , and Disney Legends|Disney Legend from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Miss Saigon#Major characters|Kim in the musical theatre|musical Miss Saigon , for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award|Olivier , Tony Award|Tony , Drama Desk Award|Drama Desk , Outer Critics Circle Award|Outer Critics and Theatre World Award|Theatre World awards.

She was the first Asian people|Asian to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables on Broadway theatre|Broadway . She also provided the singing voice of two official Disney Princess|Disney Princesses : Princess Jasmine|Jasmine in Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin (1992), and Fa Mulan in Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004). Salonga was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work with Disney Company|the company .

Career

1978–1988

Salonga made her professional debut in 1978 at the age of seven in the musical The King and I by Repertory Philippines. She became the lead star of Annie (musical)|Annie and joined other productions such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , Fiddler on the Roof , The Rose Tattoo , The Sound of Music , The Goodbye Girl , Paper Moon (film)|Paper Moon and The Fantasticks .

She began her recording career at the age of ten with her first album, Small Voice , which received a gold certification. A song on the album, the duet "Happiness", marked her first recording collaboration with her younger brother Gerard Salonga , who would, years later, work with her as musical director or creative director in her concerts and recordings. Gerard Salonga|Wikipedia: Gerard Salonga Her second album, Lea (album)|Lea , was released in 1988.

In addition to performing in musical theater and recordings, Salonga hosted her own musical television show, Love, Lea , and was a member of the cast of German Moreno 's teen variety show '' That's Entertainment (TV series)|That's Entertainment . She acted in films, which included the family-oriented Tropang Bulilit , Like Father, Like Son , Ninja Kids , Captain Barbell , and Pik Pak Boom . She also opened for international acts such as Menudo (band)|Menudo and Stevie Wonder in their concerts in Manila in 1985 and in 1988, respectively.

As a young performer, Lea Salonga received a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences ( FAMAS Awards|FAMAS ) award nomination (the Philippine equivalent of an Oscar nomination) for Best Child Actress. and three wins from the Aliw (literally, "entertainment") Awards as Best Child Performer.

1989–1992

Salonga was selected to play Kim in the musical Miss Saigon in 1989. Unable to find a strong enough East Asian actress/singer in the United Kingdom, the producers scoured many countries looking for the lead role of this major British production. For her audition, the 17-year-old Salonga chose to sing Alain Boublil|Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg|Schönberg's " On My Own (Les Misérables)|On My Own " from Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables and was later asked to sing "Sun and Moon" to test the compatibility of her voice quality with the songs in the musical. The members of the panel were impressed with Salonga's rendition of the songs, noting that from Salonga's very first note, they already knew they had a potential Kim. Salonga competed with childhood friend and fellow Repertory Philippines performer Monique Wilson as they were tested with songs from the musical, which included "Too Much for One Heart", a number replaced by the duet "Please" just before the musical opened. Salonga was offered the lead role, with Wilson as her understudy (who was given the role of the bar girl named Mimi).

For her performance as Kim, Salonga won the Laurence Olivier Awards|Olivier for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for the 1989–1990 season. Miss Saigon|Wikipedia: Miss Saigon From its original London home, Miss Saigon moved to Broadway in April 1991. Salonga subsequently won the Tony Award|Tony , Drama Desk , Outer Critics Circle Award|Outer Critics Circle and the Theatre World Award|Theatre World Awards for the same role. Between 1993 and 1996, she was asked periodically to play Kim on Broadway to boost ticket sales. In 1999, she was invited back to London to close the musical, and in 2001, at the age of 29 and after doing the Manila run of the musical, Salonga returned to Broadway to close the Broadway production.

In 1990, Salonga performed in a homecoming concert in Manila entitled A Miss Called Lea . She also received a Presidential Award of Merit from Philippine president Corazon Aquino .

1993–1996

In 1993, upon completion of her initial stint as Kim on Broadway, Salonga played the role of street waif Éponine in the Broadway production of Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables , and later flew to Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles to perform the song "A Whole New World" of The Walt Disney Company|Disney's Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin with Brad Kane at the 65th Annual Academy Awards , where the song won an Oscar. That same year, she released her self-titled international debut album with Atlantic Records , which had modest sales in the USA but went platinum in the Philippines and sold 3 million copies worldwide.

In 1994, Salonga played in various musical theater productions in the Philippines and Singapore . She starred as Sandy in Grease (musical)|Grease , Grease (musical)|Wikipedia: Grease as Sonia Walsk in '' They're Playing Our Song , and as The Witch in Into The Woods .

Back in the U.S. in 1995, Salonga played the role of Geri Riordan, an 18-year-old adopted Vietnamese American child in the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Redwood Curtain (film)|Redwood Curtain , which starred John Lithgow and Jeff Daniels . She then flew back to the Philippines to star with Filipino matinée idol Aga Muhlach in the critically acclaimed film Sana Maulit Muli , which gave her a second Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences ( FAMAS Awards|FAMAS ) award nomination, this time for Best Actress. She accepted an invitation from Sir Cameron Mackintosh to play the role of Éponine in his 10th anniversary production called Les Miserables in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall . Salonga performed along with Colm Wilkinson , Michael Ball (singer)|Michael Ball , Judy Kuhn , and Philip Quast .

In 1996, Salonga was in Les Misérables once again. She played Éponine in the London production of the musical, then continued on to do the role in the musical's U.S. national tour in Hawaii.

1997–2003

From 1997 to 2000, Salonga did recordings and concerts in the Philippines and another engagement in London, in addition to her periodic returns to Miss Saigon in London and on Broadway theatre|Broadway . In 1997, she released '' I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (album)|I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing '' (recordings from her childhood days) to gold sales in the Philippines. That recording was followed by Lea... In Love in 1998 and By Heart in 2000, with both albums reaching multiple platinum status in the Philippines. In addition to the release of these albums, she participated in the tribute concert to Sir Cameron Mackintosh in London called "Hey Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh", where she did numbers from several of his musicals. She also performed in four concerts: The Homecoming Concert , The Millennium Concert , The Best of Manila and Songs from the Screen – the last two being benefit shows. Salonga returned to Manila in Miss Saigon , staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines at the end of 2000.

After Miss Saigon s closing on Broadway in 2001, Salonga recreated the role of Lien Hughes originally played by Ming-Na Wen in the soap opera As the World Turns . After completing her contract that year, she was asked to return to the role in 2003. She guested on Russell Watson's The Voice concert, narrated for the television special My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States , and appeared on the Christmas episode of the TV medical drama ER (TV series)|ER , playing the role of a patient with lymphoma .

In 2002, Salonga returned to Broadway to play the role of a Chinese immigrant in a reinterpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Flower Drum Song opposite Jose Llana . This was after the reinvented musical had a run at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 2001 with Salonga playing the lead role and with the show garnering multiple wins and nominations, including Lead Actress in a Musical for Salonga, from the Theatre Los Angeles Ovation Awards . The show, given a brand new libretto and considered one of the 10 best plays on Broadway in 2002 by Time (magazine)|Time magazine, garnered Tony Award nominations for Best Book , Best Costume Designer , and Best Choreographer , and earned nominations from the Outer Critics Circle Award|Outer Critics Circle , the Drama League , the Astaire Award s, and Broadway.com's Audience Award s and Broadwayworld.com's Fans' Choice Award s as well. The Salonga-led Broadway revival cast album was also a top contender at the 2003 Grammy Award s for Best Musical Show Album . While Salonga's performance was received positively by theater critics such as Matthew Murray, Heather Cross, Patrick Purdon, and John Simon, among others, she was not nominated at the Tony Award s for her brief stint on Broadway that season, although she did get nominations for Distinguished Performance from the Drama League , for Favorite Lead Actress in a Broadway Musical from Broadway.com's Audience Award s, and for Best Lead Actress in a Musical from Broadwayworld.com's Fans' Choice Award s. Between the 2001 Los Angeles and 2002 Broadway theatre|Broadway productions of Flower Drum Song , she performed in a non-musical theatrical production for the first time, playing the role of Catherine in the stage play Proof (play)|Proof in Manila . This was followed by a major concert, The Broadway Concert , at the Philippine International Convention Center . She also sang with Harry Connick, Peter Gallagher, and Michelle Lee in a tribute number for Richard Rodgers at the 56th Tony Awards .

In 2003, Salonga did her first "all-Filipino" concert in Manila called Songs from Home , which later won a second Aliw Awards|Aliw Award as Entertainer of the Year ; she also won the previous year. Upon her return to the U.S., she performed in several shows at the Mohegan Sun in Montville, Connecticut . This was followed by a Christmas concert in the Philippines called Home for Christmas at the end of the year, which was nominated for the 18th Aliw Awards , and performances at the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in Marlton, New Jersey the following year, in 2004. Later that year, she played Lizzie in the Manila production of the musical Baby (musical)|Baby , which earned her another nomination from the Aliw Awards .

2004–2007

In 2005, Salonga played her first US concert tour in San Francisco , Los Angeles, Atlantic City , and Chicago. Concert dates in Washington, D.C. and Norfolk, Virginia followed. Later that year, Salonga performed with a 26-piece ensemble to a sold-out crowd at the Isaac Stern Hall in Carnegie Hall for the benefit of Diverse City Theater Company. Between her concerts, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences ( FAMAS ) bestowed her with the Golden Artist Award at the 53rd FAMAS Awards in honor of her international achievements. FAMAS Awards|Wikipedia: FAMAS Awards She performed during the grand opening of Hong Kong's Disneyland and recorded two songs on tenor Daniel Rodriguez 's In the Presence CD. That same year, Salonga did voice work for Disney's English dub of Hayao Miyazaki 's My Neighbor Totoro as Mrs. Kusakabe. Salonga's other Disney film credits include the singing voice of Princess Jasmine for Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin in 1992 and Fa Mulan for Mulan and Mulan II in 1998 and in 2004, respectively.

In 2006, at the 15th Asian Games in Doha , Qatar , Salonga concluded the closing ceremony with the song "Triumph of The One" before an audience of 50,000 people at the Khalifa Stadium. 2006 Asian Games|Wikipedia: 2006 Asian Games

In 2007, Salonga released her first studio album in seven years called Inspired , which has been certified platinum, and finished another stint in the musical Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables on Broadway, this time as Fantine . She was scheduled to appear in a number of musical events scheduled in different countries until 2008.

Salonga received the Order of Lakandula Award from Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in recognition of her excellence in her craft and for using her talents to benefit Philippine society. It was also announced that she would return to Broadway in the musical Les Misérables , replacing Daphne Rubin-Vega as Fantine on March 6. Her tenure started, however, on March 2, four days earlier than planned. Her casting on the show has been credited with boosting the musical's ticket sales on Broadway. On September 27, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was in New York, watched Salonga in her new role in the musical, whose cast that night included Filipino American s Adam Jacobs as Marius and Ali Ewoldt as Cosette . Her contract with the musical ended on October 21, 2007 and she was succeeded by Broadway's original Cosette Judy Kuhn . For her performances in this revival, Salonga received rave reviews and made it again to the short list of Broadway.com's Audience Award favorites—this time for Best Replacement for her new role as Fantine. During her stint on Broadway this season, she appeared on Broadway on Broadway 2007 and Stars in the Alley 2007, spoke at the Broadway Artists Alliance Summer Intensives, guested on the Broadway musical 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , and participated in Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS' 12th Annual Nothing Like A Dame event to benefit the women's health initiative of The Actors Fund. Right after doing Les Misérables , she performed in two events: at the US Military Academy Band's concert in West Point where she sang four songs and an encore and in her own concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York.

As of November 2007, a number of performances were scheduled for the rest of the year and for 2008, including a Christmas presentation in Manila, concerts in other parts of the Philippines and in California, Hawaii, Hong Kong, and Guam and Broadway Asia Entertainment's international tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (musical)|Cinderella , where she plays the lead.

2008–present

On 3 July 2008, Salonga became a columnist in the Philippine Daily Inquirer with her column "Backstory" (Entertainment section), "Introducing: Lea Salonga, writer". She performed in "Global Pop" at the Music Center on July 11, 2008. It was presented by The Blue Ribbon a group founded by Dorothy Chandler in 1968. Backed by an orchestra of 19 musicians, Salonga received a standing ovation for her solo concert on July 11 at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall . Salonga also performed part of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "There's Music in You", as preview of her coming show Cinderella at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 29.

From late July 2008 to mid-2009, Salonga played the title role in the 30-week Asian tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (musical)|Cinderella , opening in Manila and continuing to China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. According to Billboard.com, Salonga was scheduled to perform in Nevada, Washington, California, Indiana, New York, Hawaii and more in 2009 and was also asked to dance the Filipino novelty dances "Ocho-ocho" and "Spaghetti".

In July 2009, Salonga agreed to advertise the Avon Products line of anti-aging skin care products Anew Rejuvenate in the Philippines.

Also in the same month, Salonga was invited to sing at the 95th Anniversary Special of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). She was given a standing ovation after her first song, which was an original composition by the Church arranged by Ryan Cayabyab .

At the Requiem Mass for former President of the Philippines|President Corazon Aquino on 5 August 2009, Salonga sang the patriotic Bayan Ko as the recessional before Aquino's casket was brought out of Manila Cathedral . – GMANews.TV

Salonga celebrated 20 years of Miss Saigon by performing in a concert called "Lea Salonga...Your Songs", at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Plenary Hall on December 11 and 12, 2009. She conducted an online poll via www.LEAyoursongs.com where fans could request songs they wanted to hear. The concert had crooner Richard Poon, the award-winning dance group Philippine All Stars and Concert Comedy Queen Ai-Ai de las Alas as special guests. "Lea Salonga...Your Songs" was under the musical direction of her brother, Gerard Salonga along with the FILharmoniKA.

From 23 July to 22 August 2010, Salonga played the role of Grizabella in the Manila run of the Asia-Pacific tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber 's Cats (musical)|Cats at the Cultural Center of the Philippines . She returned to Les Misérables on October 3 in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables as Fantine, fifteen years after appearing in the 10th Anniversary as Eponine.

In 2010, Salonga joined forces with Avon as a celebrity judge for Avon Voices, http://www.avonvoices.com Avon's first ever global, online singing talent search for women and songwriting competition for men and women. Instantly, she become part of Miss Universe history because of her winning final question which won by Miss Angola Leila Lopes (pageant titleholder)|Leila Lopes .

Salonga was honoured as a Disney Legend on 19 August 2011.

She was chosen to serve as one of the judges in the 60th Miss Universe 2011 Beauty Pageant in São Paulo, Brazil on 12 September 2011.

Salonga will star in the Broadway-bound musical, Allegiance , at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from 6 September – 20 October 2012.

Education and personal life

Lea Salonga is the daughter of Feliciano Genuino Salonga and Ligaya Alcantara Imutan and spent the first six years of her childhood in Angeles City before moving to Manila . She is the cousin of ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell . She is not related to former Senator Jovito Salonga . She has a brother named Gerard Salonga who is an orchestral conductor.

She studied and finished her secondary education in 1988 at the O. B. Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, where she was a Bergamo 1 Student and an active participant in school productions. She also attended the University of the Philippines College of Music's extension program aimed at training musically talented children in music and stage movement. A college freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University when she auditioned for Miss Saigon , she later took two courses at Fordham University 's Lincoln Center campus while in between jobs in New York.

On January 10, 2004, Salonga married Robert Charles Chien, a Chinese-Japanese managing director of an entertainment software company in Los Angeles, California , whom she met while doing Flower Drum Song . They have a daughter, Nicole Beverly, who was born on May 16, 2006, named after Salonga's late mother-in-law , Beverly. She is also an avid video game enthusiast, and has mentioned her love for the hobby in several of her print articles.

On October 15, 2010, Lea Salonga was nominated FAO Goodwill Ambassador|Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Discography

Small Voice (1981)

Lea (album)|Lea (1988)

Miss Saigon|Miss Saigon (Original London Cast) (1990)

The King and I|The King And I (Hollywood Studio Cast) (1992)

Little Tramp – The Musical (1992)

Aladdin (soundtrack) (1992)

Lea Salonga (album)|Lea Salonga (1993)

Les Miserables - The Dream Cast in Concert (1995)

Hey Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron MacKintosh (1997)

'' I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (album)|I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing (1997)

Mulan (soundtrack) (1998)

By Heart (1999)

Lea... In Love (1999)

Lea Salonga Live Vol. 1 (2000)

Lea Salonga Live Vol. 2 (2000)

Lea Salonga Christmas Album|Lea Salonga: The Christmas Album (2000)

Making Tracks (2001)

Songs from The Screen (2001)

The Broadway Concert (2002)

Flower Drum Song (2002)

100% Lea Gives Her Best (2003)

Songs from Home: Live Concert Recording (2004)

Mulan II (soundtrack)|Mulan II (2005)

The Ultimate OPM Collection (2007)

Inspired (2007)

Shelldon (soundtrack)|Shelldon (2008)

The Journey So Far - Recorded Live at Cafe Carlyle (2011)

Filmography

Tropang Bulilit (1981)

Like Father, Like Son (1985)

Captain Barbel (1986)

Ninja Kids (1986)

Pik Pak Boom (1989)

Dear Diary (1989)

The heat is on in Saigon (1989) – the making of Miss Saigon

Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin (1992) – singing voice of Princess Jasmine

Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal (1992) – Sandy

Sana Maulit Muli (1995) – Agnes

Redwood Curtain (film)|Redwood Curtain (1995) – Geri Riorden

Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert|Les Misérables: The 10th Anniversary Concert (1995) – Éponine

Mulan (1998 film)|Mulan (1998) – singing voice of Fa Mulan

As the World Turns (2001) – Lien Hughes (also reprised role in 2003)

My Neighbor Totoro (2004) – voice of Mrs. Kusakabe in the The Walt Disney Company|Disney English language version

Mulan II (2004) – singing voice of Fa Mulan

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams (2007) – singing voice of Princess Jasmine

Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert (2010) – Fantine

Copyright Citations

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1. Jodi Benson 2. Ariel Rivera 3. By Heart 4. Caleb Kane 5. Claude-Michel Schonberg 6. Claude-Michel Schönberg 7. Daphne Rubin-Vega 8. Hollywood Bowl Orchestra 9. Jose Mari Chan 10. Judy Kuhn 11. Julie Gold 12. Kyla 13. Miss Saigon

Undetermined Music Artists