Singer Lea Salonga is of Filipino descent and has also gained fame as an actress. She is the owner of the Tony Award and the Laurence Olivier Award. The girl became the first Filipino singer to sign a contract with a record company known throughout the world. Lea achieved fame as the first Asian actress to play the roles of Fantina and Eponina in the musical Les Miserables. In addition, she became the first performer of the role of Kim, the heroine of the musical Miss Saigon. The girl gave her own voice to two Disney princesses: Jasmine and Mulan.
early years
Lea Salonga was born in 1971 (February 22) in Angeles. The girl spent the first 6 years of her life in this city, after which the family went to Manila. At the age of seven (in 1978), the future singer took to the stage for the first time and took part in a Filipino production called “The King and Me”. After that, she got the main role in the musical called "Annie."
In addition, the girl joined the cast of the productions of Fantastic, Paper Moon, Violinist on the Roof, Goodbye, Dear, Cat on a Hot Roof.
Miss Saigon
In 1989, Lea Salonga was selected as the leading female actor in a new production called Miss Saigon. The producers of the musical failed to find a sufficiently strong vocalist who would have an Asian appearance and live in the UK, so they decided to conduct a casting in other countries as well. A 17-year-old girl, while listening, performed a song from the musical Les Miserables called On my own. After that, in order to check how much the singer’s voice matches the musical material, she was asked to sing works related to the Miss Saigon score called Sun and Moon. The jury approved the interpretation of the role of Lea and marked her as a potential performer of the role of Kim.