James Marino and Matt Tamanini talk with Lea Salonga about her Broadway career and new album “Bahaghari” (traditional songs of the Philippines)

Guest: Lea Salonga

 

Known across the world for her powerful voice and perfect pitch, Lea Salonga is a singer and actress who is best known for her Tony Award winning role in Miss Saigon. In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, in the field of musical theatre. She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway and returned to the beloved show as Fantine in the 2006 revival.

Lea is currently appearing in the Broadway revival of “Once on This Island” as the Goddess of Love, Erzulie.

Earlier this spring, Lea released her electrifying live album “Blurred Lines.” The album was recorded during her sold-out run at Feinstein’s / 54Below in 2016. The six date showcase was received with overwhelming accolades from fans and critics alike. So well received in fact that Lea returned to the famed venue for a record-setting 15-show encore performance that wrapped up her latest North American tour in the late spring (2017).

Lea also serves as a judge on the Philippines hit version of “The Voice.” Mitoy Yonting, a member of Team Lea, was named the first season winner. She recently wrapped the third season of “The Voice Kids.”

She began 2015 with a sold-out concert at New York’s Town Hall titled “Kaleidoscope” as well as performed on tour in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

In the fall of 2015 Lea began her celebrated run as Kei Kimura in the Broadway production of Allegiance. The musical, inspired and developed by legendary actor George Takei, tells the story of a Japanese American family forced into an internment camp during World War II. Lea garnered a Craig Noel nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical for her performance in the Old Globe production of Allegiance, and can be heard on the show’s original cast album

Following this, Lea made a guest appearance on the acclaimed CW television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Later that year, she performed a critically celebrated cabaret run at Feinstein’s/54 Below and performed in concert with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra as well as at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops in a new version of Boublil and Schönberg’s “Do You Hear the People Sing.”

For much of 2014, Lea performed with legendary popera quartet Il Divo, accompanying them in Asia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and all through Eastern and Western Europe on their A Musical Affair tour, celebrating the band’s 10th anniversary. She can be seen on their latest DVD and CD bearing the same name.

Lea made her debut in the world of Cabaret in 2010, performing a sold out, three week engagement at the Café Carlyle in New York City. She returned in June 2011 to delight audiences in another multi-week engagement and released a live version of her 2010 concert “Lea Salonga: The Journey So Far,” her 26th career CD, in August 2011. The CD rose to the #3 spot on iTunes Jazz Charts. In 2013, she did a third engagement titled “Back to Before,” which was lauded by the New York Times.

Lea has toured all over the world, performing sold out concerts in such locations as the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Singapore’s Esplanade (twice), Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (twice), Hong Kong Cultural Center (multiple times), Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok, Carnegie Hall in New York, and in various venues in Vancouver, Sacramento, San Diego, Phoenix, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, San Bernardino, Cerritos and San Francisco. She was also the first artist to sell out two shows at Brigham Young University’s deJong Concert Hall in Provo, Utah since The Kings Singers in 2009.

Many fans of all ages recognize Lea as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and Fa Mulan for Mulan and Mulan II. For her portrayal of the beloved princesses, the Wal[...]