LEA SALONGA

Fairy Tale Continues

By Gerard Ramos

‘It’s a very humbling experience.” And so goes Lea Salonga, winner of the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical, along with, a year later, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Tony Award, all for the same category, all for the Claude-Michel Schönberg-Alain Boublil blockbuster musical Miss Saigon, produced by theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh.

She is, however, not referring to the fact that—notwithstanding her awards and having fueled an expensive musical to long-running blockbuster status—occasionally she is still asked to audition for roles, as she did last year for Mackintosh’s revival of the musical Lès Miserables in Broadway. Never mind that she had done Eponine for the same musical and the same producer and the same director back in 1993 and then again in 1996. “They wanted to see if I would be right for Fantine,” says Lea Salonga matter-of-factly about assuming the role of the tragic, supremely self-sacrificing mother in Victor Hugo’s epic drama.

That said, being a mother in real life—which Lea became when she gave birth to daughter Nicole in 2006—is the humbling experience the internationally acclaimed singer-actress was referring to during a recent afternoon tête-à-tête at a restaurant in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. On hand as well for the nonfireside chat was the source of such experience, busily coloring away on a piece of paper as Mommy expertly and graciously fielded questions and more questions while trying to get some food down and commending the little one’s early displays of her inner artiste.

“She doesn’t care if you have starred in big Broadway musicals and won awards,” says Lea, with a chuckle tinged with both the profound love and the utter resignation that only mommies can readily identify. She gently brushes a wisp of hair off Nicole’s face. “She wants to be fed when she wants, changed when she wants, and you absolutely have no say in it.”

Of course, while Lea has totally and lovingly embraced motherhood in real life, the artist in her pretty much can still indulge in fantasies and fairy tales. Some to the tune of P2 million, in fact, if we are to believe the press going around about the cost of Broadway Asia’s staging of  Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which plays at the Cultural Center of the Philippines beginning July 29 before embarking on an Asian tour with stops in China, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. Based on the enduring fairy tale whose origins may be traced back to Greece in 1st-century B.C., the musical pretty much hews close to the bedtime story that parents told and continue to tell their little princesses, with two-time Aliw Award-winning theater director Bobby Garcia—no doubt still giddy from the massive success of his staging of Avenue Q here and elsewhere in the region—shepherding the lavish production (costumes by Renator Balestra! sets straight from the US!).  And while R&B singer-turned-amateur talent-contest judge Brandy may have beaten Lea for bragging rights as the first non-Caucasian Cinderella, the Tony-winning star provides the first-ever Asian face to the fairy-tale heroine. Which is important. After all, as Bobby has said in interviews, “Many just don’t realize it yet, but the Asian market is huge!” Thus, the tour stops in several cities in China and not just the usual suspects of Shanghai and Beijing.

And, yes, the Cinderella that Filipinos will no doubt enjoy—she of the preternatural youthful looks with the dimples to match (no wonder she had to audition to play Fantine!), plus that oh-so-crystalline voice—will also be the cinder girl that the Chinese, Singaporeans, Koreans, Malaysians and Thais will get to see. “I will have excellent understudies, of course, but, yes, I will be Cinderella throughout 2008 and until April 2009,” says Lea.

Needless to say, motherhood can get a little tricky when Mommy needs to virtually live in a suitcase as she spreads the gospel of happily-ever-after across the region, which is why Lea is thankful that she has a fabulous support system in her husband, Robert Charles Chien, the marketing executive whom Lea married in 2004; and—of course—her formidable mother, Ligaya, who not only nurtured Lea to and through international acclaim but also perhaps rivals her in doting on Nicole. “My husband and Nicole, they come with me, and my mom will come to visit ideally for the tour stops at bigger cities. It’ll be an adventure for all of us as a family, which is one of the reasons why I agreed to do the musical,” says Lea. “Besides, what woman wouldn’t want to be a princess for months and months of her life?”

What woman, indeed?

Cinderella will be staged from July 29 to August 24 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. Tickets are available at all selected major National Book Store branches, selected major Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls, Greenbelt 1, Glorietta 1 and TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph). Ticket prices range from P500 to P7,000.

For inquiries and reservations: 891-9999.

LEA SALONGA

Fairy Tale Continues

‘It’s a very humbling experience.” And so goes Lea Salonga, winner of the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical, along with, a year later, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Tony Award, all for the same category, all for the Claude-Michel Schönberg-Alain Boublil blockbuster musical Miss Saigon, produced by theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh.

Gab Fab: VJ Drei in the MYX

Every day, Andrei Felix, aka VJ Drei, takes us on a journey. On radio, he brings his avid listeners inside his mind as he rattles off his views on different issues that affect his listeners in between playing the latest music on Maxx FM. On TV, he takes us inside the court as he reports statistics and other basketball-related stuff in the National Collegiate Athletic Association on Studio 23. Meanwhile, on MYX, he dishes out the latest music happenings in MYX News and takes us back in time in MYX Backtrax.

Show & Tell:

She was focused on the show

THE recent verbal skirmishes among sexy stars in one of the usual disrobing events produced and organized by a men’s magazine got our attention. Well, they do this all the time anyway, the usual catfights that lead to instant publicity.

More on Christian Bale’s ‘family feud’

THE British press is spinning like a top: Not only is The Dark Knight (with an English director and a Welsh star) making history at the box office, now it has two tawdry off-the-screen subplots. Heath Ledger’s overdose death in January would seem to have very little to do with Christian Bale’s recent family feuding, but not according to the Daily Mail Online.

Fermentations:

Wrestling with Riesling

FIRST, there is the bottle, long and tapered unlike the usual wine bottle with “shoulders.” Then there is the low alcohol level with some examples just batting at 7 percent, giving the impression that the wine is wimpy and bland.  And then, because the wines are virtually oak-free, they are deemed “unfashionable,” swimming against the current tide of rich, buttery whites that have had time in new barrels. Though still misunderstood and bypassed in favor of the wines made with the more familiar Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling is considered the noblest of all white-wine grapes. Here is why.

Finally, we were all seated together, red wine poured out in the ready, and Chef Roxs, coming from his kitchen dish in hand, was headed our table. The rib eye steak from New Zealand, which he had spiced up and grilled, was going to go “under the knife.”

Learning Curve: An evening with Mega Mom

I’VE always been, unabashedly, a Sharon Cuneta fan and meeting her was such a thrill. I mean, I grew up with her—through her songs (from the time she first appeared as a 12-year-old singing “Mr. DJ”) and her movies (from her lovable cheesy Viva Films stuff with Gabby Concepcion to her more mature roles), and through her life’s many phases. And now, through her real-life role as midlifing mom to three beautiful daughters, her all-too-real struggles with her weight, her work-life balance, and her continuing efforts to improve herself as a person and as an actress. Did I mention that, being almost the same age, I also went through the same hairstyles and dress sense as she did?

Something Like Life:

Having it all...or not

Women have come a long way from the time of our mothers and grandmothers. We can choose to be anything we want to be. Go anywhere we want to go. But perhaps it is time to sit back a bit and realize that we cannot do everything.

Tea, the British Way

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN found “ecstasy” in a glass full of tea. Chinese sage T’ien Yiheng drunk the brew to “forget the din of the world.” And Queen Victoria demanded hers be served, along with a copy of Times, the moment she ascended to her throne. In the days of yore, tea was the drink of nobility, philosophers and luminaries of the literary world. Since its discovery in China 5,000 years ago, it has built empires, smoothed diplomatic relations, and fueled the obsession of more than a few nations. Perhaps no other beverage is as steeped in historical, spiritual and ceremonial significance as tea. And now more than ever, it is embraced by young and old alike for its many health benefits.

Zara Jane Juan could have been anything she wanted. A former Miss Hawaiian Tropic International finalist and Bb. Pilipinas, she is beautiful and statuesque—the kind of person you would expect to be gracing the covers of fashion magazines, and hosting glamorous events.