Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, OL, is a Filipina singer and actress. She is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses, and as a recording artist and television performer. Salonga was the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway.
About Lea Salonga in brief
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, OL, is a Filipina singer and actress. She is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses, and as a recording artist and television performer. Salonga was the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. She has played numerous other stage, film and TV roles in the US, the Philippines and elsewhere. From 2015 to 2016, she returned to Broadway in Allegiance, and from 2017 to 2019 she appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island. She was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work with The Walt Disney Company. She made her professional debut in 1978 at the age of seven in the Musical The King and I with Repertory Philippines. In 1981, she recorded her first album, Small Voice, which was certified gold in the Philippines. 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. As a young performer, Salonga received a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences award nomination for Best Child Actress and three Aliw Awards for best child performer in 1980, 1981 and 1982. She acted in films, which included the family-oriented Tropang Bulilit, Like Father, Like Son, Ninja Kids, Captain Barbell and Pik Pak Boom.
She competed for the role of Kim in the debut production of the musical Miss Saigon in the United Kingdom in 1989. She won the Olivier and Theatre World Awards, and became the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award. For her performance as Mimi in Moon Moon, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2010, she starred as Mei-li in the 2002 Broadway version of Flower Drum Song. In 2011, she played the title role in Annie and appeared in other productions such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, The Rose T, The Goodbye Girl, Paper Moon and The Fantasticks. She has toured widely in the theatre roles and as a concert artist. In 2013, she appeared as the lead role in Once On This Island on Broadway in the revival of The Great Comet of 1812. In 2014, she performed as the star of the Broadway production of The Book of Mormon in New York. She appeared in a number of other musicals in the U.S. and the Philippines as well as in Europe and Australia, including The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. She starred in the film version of Mulan, which she co-wrote and co-produced with her brother Gerard Salonga. In 2012, she released her first solo album, “Lea,” which has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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