Lea Salonga
MAY inamin si Lea Salonga matapos alalahanin ang pagbida niya sa musical play na “Miss Saigon” noong dekada otsenta.
Sa teaser ng kanyang panayam sa “Finding Your Roots” ng PBS, inamin ni Lea na nangamba siyang tanggapin ang papel bilang “Kim” dahil sa posibilidad na ma-brand siyang bilang “bold star.”
Kwento niya sa interview, konserbatibo ang mga Pilipino kaya’t ang kanyang pagganap bilang 17-year-old prostitute ay maaaring magbigay ng impresyong hindi masyadong wholesome.
“I was really concerned with how conservative audiences in the Philippines were going to take it, because my career up at that point was just very wholesome. And I was a child entertainer and performer. I was about to turn the page in a really big way. Because back home actors, especially actresses, you were really either wholesome or really not,” sey ni Lea.
Baka Bet Mo: Sunshine Cruz pinagsisihan ang pagiging ‘bold star’: Naging malaking parte ‘yun ng separation namin
Patuloy niya, “There was no gray area. Yeah, like, am I going to be like what they called a ‘bold star’? Am I going to be branded as that? A bold star, that’s what they were called.”
“And then I realized, in the West, the gray area was where a lot of actors resided,” dagdag pa ng theater star.
Sa kabila nito ay tinanggap pa rin ni Lea ang nasabing role na ipinalabas sa London’s West End noong 1989.
At dahil diyan ay nakuha niya ang makasaysayang panalo bilang Best Actress in a Musical mula sa Laurence Olivier Award noong 1990.
Sinundan ito ng Tony Award nang balikan niya ang papel sa Broadway, dahilan upang maging kauna-unahang Asian female na nagwagi ng nasabing tropeo.
Si Lea rin ang unang Asian na gumanap bilang Eponine sa Broadway production ng “Les Misérables” at Fantine sa revival nito noong 2006.
Bukod dito, kilala rin siya bilang boses ni Princess Jasmine mula sa “Aladdin” at Fa Mulan mula sa “Mulan.”
Dahil sa kanyang mga iconic na pagganap, ginawaran siya ng titulong “Disney Legend.”
Kamakailan, naglabas ng bagong holiday album si Lea, nagkaroon din ng concert sa Maynila, at bumida sa silent play na “Request sa Radyo” last year kasama ang BAFTA nominee na si Dolly De Leon.