How old was Lea Salonga when she auditioned for Miss Saigon?
For her audition, Salonga sang On My Own from Les Misérables, a Schönberg and Boublil musical. Salonga would later describe the song as the song that changed her life. She was 18 when she was cast as Kim, and her childhood friend Monique Wilson (who incidentally sang the same audition song) was cast as her understudy and as Mimi.
Who was the original Kim in Miss Saigon?
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, known as Lea Salonga is a Filipino singer and actress who originated the role of Kim on West End and on Broadway .
Who is the author of the musical Miss Saigon?
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini ‘s 1904 opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover.
Who was the winner of the Miss Saigon pageant?
The girls compete for the title of “Miss Saigon,” and the winner is raffled to a Marine. Kim’s guilelessness strikes Chris. Gigi Van Tranh wins the crown for the evening and begs the marine who won the raffle to take her back to America, annoying him.
When did Lea Salonga release her second album?
She released her second album, Lea, in 1988. She also opened for, and performed with, international acts such as Menudo and Stevie Wonder in their concerts in Manila in 1985 and in 1988, respectively. She finished her secondary education in 1988 at the O. B. Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila.
When did Lea Salonga play Eponine in Les Miserables?
In 1996, Salonga was in Les Misérables once again as Éponine in the London production of the musical, then continued on to perform the role in the musical’s US national tour. In the Philippines in 1999, and again in 2000, she played Sonia Walsk in They’re Playing Our Song.
Who is Lea Salonga from Flower Drum Song married to?
On January 10, 2004, Salonga married Robert Charles Chien, a Chinese-Japanese managing director of an entertainment software company in Los Angeles, California, whom she met while performing in Flower Drum Song.