On November 7, 2005 she sold out Carnegie Hall in an all new show directed by Richard Jay-Alexander and, just prior to that, launched her first major U.S. city concert tour with performances in San Francisco, Atlantic City, Honolulu, Maui, Chicago, Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, grossing over one million dollars in ticket sales. Salonga gained international stardom for her award-winning lead role as Kim on Broadway in the 1991 production of Miss Saigon.
Having created the role of the orphaned “Kim” in Miss Saigon and brought to life the singing of the title role in Disney’s Mulan (“Reflection”) and Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin - it’s truly “A Whole New World,” for Salonga and her angelic voice.
Salonga has captivated audiences the world over - playing packed houses from Carnegie Hall to Hong Kong’s Opera Hall and has become the treasure of her Philippine homeland.
In this, her final North American 2008 show, Salonga will perform in Walt Disney’s prestigious namesake theatre. Thereafter she will embark on her Asian tour of Roger’s and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” in the starring role.
Salonga has been singing since the age of ten when she made her theatrical debut in the King and I. and has gone on to release three studio albums. She began an illustrious career in Broadway musicals when she was cast to play Kim in Miss Saigon after a world-wide talent search. Additional Credits Include Les Miserables, My Fair Lady, Grease, The Sound of Music and Annie among many others.
Earlier this year, Lea was presented the Order of Lakandula, rank of Kumandante (Commander), by the President of the Philippines. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Filipino civilian.
In the field of musical theater, she is recognized for having won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Theatre World Awards, and the first to win various international awards for a single role. She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway.
She not only won a Tony Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Leading Actress in a Musical,” but also the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Laurence Olivier Award (in London where Miss Saigon originated). Her vast array of theater credits also include Les Miserables as Eponine, the Witch in Into The Woods, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, The Goodbye Girl, They’re Playing Our Song, Grease, The Fantasticks, Paper Moon, The Bad Seed, The Sound of Music and Annie.
In Fall 2002, Salonga made another splash on Broadway starring in the hit revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammersteins’s Flower Drum Song, with a re-imagined book by David Henry Hwang, earning her another Tony nomination as Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical.
In March 2007, Salonga returned to Broadway to star as Fantine in the 2006 revival of Les Miserables and in July 2008 she will embark on a 39-week tour of Asia and the Philippines starring in Rodgersand Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Originally from the Philippines, Salonga is a bona fide “Disney Princess”, she can be heard on screen as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s blockbuster smash Aladdin. A specific note was made on her version of A Whole New World in Southwest Magazine. She is also the singing voice of Mulan in Mulan and Mulan 2. She can be heard on the original cast recordings of Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song (Broadway Revival), The King and I (with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), The Nutcracker, Mr Producer and the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. Lea has recorded over a dozen solo CD’s including Lea Salonga, Lea…In Love, By Heart, Songs from the Screen, Songs From Home, Lea…Live!, Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert and, most recently Inspired. Salonga has also made several notable appearances on such television shows as ER, As The World Turns, Mr Producer and Russell Watson: The Voice for PBS and the PBS special Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert.
Tickets are priced at $115/ 95/ 75/ 60/ 45/ 30 and will be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box office, www.ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 213-365-3500.
*Tickets may be subject to additional fees and service charges.
For more information, visit: www.leasalonga.com/press