Lea Salonga comes to mind for many Filipinos when musical theater is talked about.
After a plethora of characters portrayed, including the red-haired Annie when Lea was all of nine-years old, it was her phenomenal casting and portrayal of the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon that earned her international acclaim and various awards like the Tony, Laurence Olivier, and Drama Desk. She was only 18 at that time when she played Kim, one of the most coveted and challenging roles written for the music theater.
On Feb. 17 and 18, a repertoire of songs from the music theater will once again fill PICC’s Plenary Hall as Ms. Lea Salonga returns to the concert scene with Songs from the Stage.
“This is the first exclusively musical theater concert we’ve done since 2002, which is quite a long time – 15 years! So many new shows have been produced since then and this will definitely be a great opportunity to pay those new musicals a visit. At the same time, we’ll do older shows that we’ve not really visited yet,” quipped Lea.
She likewise shared that music by Sondheim, Lloyd-Webber, Miranda, Bareilles, King, plus songs that the public never thought were in musicals will all highlight this much-awaited concert. “The jukebox medley is one I think we’ll all enjoy,” Lea exclaimed.
She added, “I’m just excited to be sharing a lot of musical theater with the audience. It’s not always thought of as a hip art form, until a show called ‘Hamilton.’ This unique art form is a great entry into learning one’s history and culture, and to be a practitioner of it, in whatever way, is always enjoyable and exciting!”
Songs from the Stage will be at PICC Plenary Hall, 8 p.m., on Feb. 17 and 18.
For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999.