When the Weekly catches up with Lea Salonga, she’s in New York City enjoying mid-60s weather, working on a TV series and preparing for her upcoming Dream Again concert tour, which makes a two-night stop at Wynn’s Encore Theater. Oh, and a storm cyclone is descending upon the city, which the unflappable performer takes in stride. After all, she has a setlist to work out, a fun part of her job.
“Right now, I’m trying to wrap my brain around the music and starting to look at sheet music and listening to arrangements,” she says. “So it’s listening to a few things here and there and starting to get a little obsessive about certain songs, which is always a fun thing. I review music that I’ve already previously done in past concerts, and then listen to the stuff that’s new. There’s a lot of stuff in the setlist.”
A global career spanning more than four decades would certainly generate quite the catalog. Most of her fans in the Philippines know Salonga, 51, as a child actor from the ’70s. She stepped onto the global stage at just 17, when she was cast as Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, having claimed the role during a worldwide search. She debuted on the West End in London to much acclaim, crossing over the pond to win the Tony Award for the same role in 1991, along with the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards.
“By any stretch of the imagination, [the role of Kim] was going to be a huge endeavor for somebody that young, and even though I did have a lot of experience as a performer in the Philippines, I don’t think there is anything that could have sufficiently prepared me for what Miss Saigon was,” Salonga recalls.
Miss Saigon was followed by roles and accolades that have firmly ensconced Salonga in the pantheon of musical theater, including becoming the first Asian person to play Éponine in Les Misérables on Broadway and returning in the role of Fantine for the 2006 revival. Disney fans will recognize her as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and the titular role in Mulan. In her home country, she’s one of the judges in The Voice. And back on Broadway, she most recently starred in the 2018 revival of Once on This Island, which earned a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
A life lived onstage is a familiar one for Salonga, and those who have seen her perform, whether in concert or in a musical theater role, can attest to how natural she is. That stems from her talent, of course, but also from a whole lot of preparation. Even then, she says, the jitters never really go away.
“It’s not like [performers] are afraid of being onstage, because there’s nothing really to be afraid of,” she says. “A lot of times, it’s one of the safest places to be for a performer—it always feels like home. But there is a little bit of nervousness. As somebody who’s done this a long time, I’ve been in the middle of things when they go wrong. I’ve experienced a lot of that, and it’s like, ‘OK, if something goes wrong, am I quick enough to think on my feet?’ You can’t help but get the jitters because you care so much.”
LEA SALONGA May 7-8, 8 p.m., $65+. Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.
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