Lea Salonga sounds a bit like an elder stateswoman of the theater in a rollicking morning telephone chat.
The Broadway star and Disney legend, known for everything from “Miss Saigon” to “Mulan,” has never been anything less than forthright and funny when I’ve talked with her, and she’s just the same in a conversation about her upcoming “Stage, Screen & Everything in Between” concert tour stop at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
“I’m at that stage of my life where sleep isn’t always easy to come by,” she says. “It’s ‘the change.’”
And, if at age 54, she’s upfront and upbeat about the challenges that come with menopause, she’s also happy to report that some things remain unchanged.
“I’m thankful I haven’t turned into a baritone … yet,” she says. “I was trained very, very well by some really great teachers. I can very consciously call upon technique.”
That singing technique and angelic voice have endeared her to generations of Disney fans; Salonga was the singing voice of both Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin” and the title character of “Mulan.”
Onstage, she stormed into theatergoers’ hearts as fiercely emotional Kim in the original Broadway production of “Miss Saigon,” becoming the first Asian actress to win a Tony Award in the process, and has since performed in musicals such as “Les Misérables,” “Flower Drum Song,” “Allegiance,” “Once on This Island” and “Here Lies Love.”
And she has won acclaim and respect around the globe — including the Presidential Merit Award and Congressional Medal of Achievement from her native Philippines — for her string of albums, concert performances and TV and film appearances, as well as her advocacy work for hunger relief, public health, reproductive freedom, the prevention of violence against Asians and women, and promoting LGBTQ rights.
Lea Salonga burst onto the worldwide theater scene with her Tony-winning turn as Kim in “Miss Saigon.” (Orlando Sentinel file photo)
Along the way, she has performed in such locales as the Royal Albert Hall in London, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Hollywood Bowl, at the British handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, and at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disneyland. Among her audiences have been the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III when he was a prince and presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Joe Biden.
This year, the Drama League — the presenter of the oldest awards honoring theater in North America — presented her with the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award. In 2026, she will become the first Filipino to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I’ve been a lucky, lucky duck to get the opportunities I’ve gotten,” she says modestly.
Singing Sondheim
Salonga’s most recent Broadway appearance was in “Old Friends,” the revue of the late, great Stephen Sondheim’s music that just closed in June. In the show, she made a splash interpreting such iconic musical-theater characters as Mrs. Lovett from “Sweeney Todd” and Mama Rose from “Gypsy.” I can personally testify she deserved every accolade received for her sly comic timing and emotional depths revealed, but she was more interested in the collaborative feeling of putting the show together.
Lea Salonga, standing to the left of co-headliner Bernadette Peters, poses with the cast of “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.” (Courtesy Danny Kaan/Orlando Sentinel file photo)
“To get to be shoulder to shoulder with Bernadette Peters, who was a major muse of Stephen Sondheim and in the company of people who were close with him…,” she says of the experience. “The show was a labor of love for so many, and I was so lucky to be part of that environment.”
She says she appreciated the opportunity even more because of the life experience she could bring to Sondheim’s famously dense and insightful lyrics.
“I think being older was a benefit because I could think, ‘Oh my gosh, how did he write my life?’” Salonga says. “He really knew how to write for women. These characters were really colorful — sometimes insane. They were not two-dimensional. Getting to sing a little bit of this, a little bit of that from all these shows, it was like Christmas came early.”
Lea Salonga as Eponine in “Les Misérables.” She plans on singing Eponine’s signature song, “On My Own,” during her concert at the Dr. Phillips Center. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Among the young actors in the cast: Jasmine Forsberg, who grew up in Central Florida and graduated from Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park. Salonga had previously worked with her on “Here Lies Love,” the David Byrne musical about the rise and fall of former Philippine leaders Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
“She’s insanely talented,” Salonga says of Forsberg. “Here’s this little body and this massive, gigantic voice. She’s clearly meant for this: effervescent when she’s in the room but so serious when she has her game face on. I don’t think I can say enough good things about her.
Closer to home, Salonga has a direct connection to the next generation of performers in son Nic, an actor who has booked the key role of Moritz in a production of “Spring Awakening” in the Philippines’ capital city of Manila.
This image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Lea Salonga as Aurora Aquino, center, during a performance of “Here Lies Love” at the Broadway Theatre in New York. (Boneau/Bryan-Brown via Associated Press)
“I’m incredibly proud,” she says.
She has upcoming concert dates across Asia, so she’ll get to check in with him: “I’m going to be hovering in the region,” is how she puts it.
‘Just bonkers’
A champion for her fellow artists with Filipino heritage, she was thrilled to see them so well represented among this year’s Tony Award winners. Actors Darren Criss (“Maybe Happy Ending”) and Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Boulevard”) won awards, as well as musician Marco Paguia, who won for best orchestrations for “Buena Vista Social Club.”
“I got to be in the room where it happened,” says Salonga, who attended with her son. “We were just bonkers, screaming. For him to see that, it’s like giving my kid permission to dream. And dream big.”
But, wait, doesn’t Salonga’s incredible international success provide her son with inspiration?
“Oh, never mind me,” she says with a laugh. “I’m just mom, I’m not cool anymore!”
In the Broadway musical “Allegiance,” Lea Salonga starred opposite George Takei. (Courtesy Matthew Murphy/Orlando Sentinel file photo)
And she’s modest again when asked about her early contributions to the growing diversity on Broadway.
“If me getting on stage proved there’s talent from all corners of the world, and in the immigrant communities of the U.S., then that makes me happy — and maybe that’s what I am meant to do,” she says thoughtfully. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand and think there’s only one demographic to serve. It warms my heart to see that things are changing.”
Fan favorites
Orlando is the last stop of this leg of Salonga’s concert tour, which has had memorable moments — surprisingly revolving around baseball. After performing in Southern California, she hung out with an aunt who lives in Los Angeles, “going to restaurants, doing laundry and watching a lot of Dodgers games.”
Then in Toronto, she performed on the opening night of the World Series match between L.A.’s Dodgers and the Canadian city’s Blue Jays.
She heard of the Blue Jays’ victory backstage between her finale and encore — so when she returned to the stage, she was able to give the crowd good news.
“I gave the score to the audience, and everybody was happy,” she says, though Blue Jays fans would ultimately be disappointed, of course.
In Orlando, the final stop on this leg of the tour, sports talk is not part of the plan. Salonga says to expect Sondheim tunes and “stuff folks are not familiar hearing come out of my mouth.”
But she promises fan favorites too: “On My Own” from “Les Misérables,” “Reflection” from “Mulan,” “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin” and duets from “Miss Saigon.”
“It’s the end of the tour, so who knows what’s going to happen on that night,” she says with another big laugh. “It’s going to be really special.”
In 2023, Lea Salonga performed onstage at the TAAF Heritage Heroes Awards Dinner in New York City. (Courtesy JP Yim/Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation)
Next up: She’s recording a voice-over role for a 2026 DreamWorks animated film titled “Forgotten Island,” that also features the voice of musician H.E.R. It’s based on Philippine mythology, and Salonga’s role allows her to both embrace her maturity and have some fun playing against type.
“I get to not be the ingénue or hero or pretty girl,” she says of her character. “She’s a baddie, and playing a villain is fun.”
In the role, she also gets to vocalize differently than fans are used to.
“I’ve been enjoying doing the character voice,” she says. “I’m embracing the rougher part of my voice and the rougher part of my personality.” Then, with a laugh: “I’m in my villain era!”
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Lea Salonga
What: The final stop on the North American leg of her ‘Stage, Screen & Everything In Between’ tour
Where: Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 13
Cost: $58.41 and up
Info: drphillipscenter.org
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/12/03/lea-salonga-orlando-concert/