Lea Salonga
Pride of the Philippines

Really, who doesn’t know her?

And that’s even while she remains under-appreciated in her home country (Shame on us!) than, say, Judy Ann Santos or KC Concepcion or Richard Gutierrez or Sam Milby or... this is basically mentioning all the popular pretend-actors in the country these days.

But, yes, everyone knows her.

Or should, at least.

For this is Lea Salonga, who, after originating the role of Kim in Cameron Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon, won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Theater World Awards, the first to win various international awards for a single role – and certainly the only Filipina to do so (and will, for quite a while, too – and that’s not just a guess).

Born Maria Ligaya Carmen Imutan Salonga on February 22, 1971, the eldest child of Feliciano Genuino Salonga and Ligaya Alcantara Imutan (brother: Gerard Salonga), she was always an achiever – e.g. she was a Bergamo 1 Student while studying at the O.B. Montessori Center in Greenhills, Metro Manila; debuted in Repertory Philippines’ The King and I when she was seven, eventually becoming the lead star of Annie, before joining such productions as Fiddler on the Roof, The Rose Tattoo, The Sound of Music, and The Goodbye Girl; recorded Small Voice when she was 10; hosted her own musical television show, Love, Lea; and won thrice from the Aliw Awards as Best Child Performer.

Her biggest break came in 1989, when she was chosen to play the main role of Kim – the producers scoured the world to find someone like her, supposedly, so finding her was a great catch, indeed.  Everybody now knows she won, as earlier mentioned, the Olivier Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for the 1989/1990 season.  When the musical moved to Broadway in 1991, with Salonga still playing Kim, she subsequently won the Tony, Drama Desk... et cetera awards for the same role.

Other roles since then included Eponine and Fantine in the Broadway production of Les Miserable, singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Walt Disney’s Aladdin, Sandy in Grease singing voice of Fa Mulan for Mulan I and II, and as The Witch in Into the Woods, among others.

These barely touch Salonga’s achievements.

Meaning, to fully appreciateher, grab Inspired, Songs from Home: Live Concert Recording, Songs from The Screen, The Broadway Concert, Lea Salonga: The Christmas Album, By Heart, Les Miserables: The Dream Cast Concert (1995), Lea... In Love, Lea, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Flower Drum Song (2002), and Miss Saigon, of course, among others.

Or watch Cinderella (2008), Mulan I (1998) and Mulan II (2005), Sana Maulit Muli (1995), Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal (1992), Aladdin (1992), and Like Father, Like Son (1985), also among others.

In 2004, Salonga married Robert Charles Chien, a Chinese-Japanese managing director of an entertainment softwarecompany in Los Angeles, California (they met when she was doing the Flower Drum Song), and they have a daughter (Nicole Beverly, born May 16, 2006) – another big move for the only performer to have performed for five Philippine presidents (from Ferdinand E. Marcos to Gloria M. Arroyo), three US Presidents (George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush), and for the late Lady Diana Spencer, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Definitely, here’s one Filipina to do the country proud.

Everyone knows her.

Or should.

She’s Lea Salonga.