She also attended the University of the Philippines College of Music's extension program aimed at training musically talented children in music and stage movement. Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. She finished her secondary education in 1988 at the O. 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. She released her second album, Lea, in 1988.
As a young performer, Salonga received a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences ( FAMAS) award nomination for Best Child Actress and three Aliw Awards for best child performer in 1980, 19. She acted in films, which included the family-oriented Tropang Bulilit, Like Father, Like Son, Ninja Kids, Captain Barbell and Pik Pak Boom. After the success of her first album, from 1983 to 1985, she hosted her own musical television show, Love, Lea, and was a member of the cast of German Moreno's teen variety show That's Entertainment. In 1985, she and her brother took part in the eighth Metro Manila Popular Music Festival as the interpreters for the song entry titled "Musika, Lata, Sipol at La La La" which was composed by Tess Concepcion.ĭuring the 1980s, Salonga also had several television projects through GMA Radio Television Arts where she worked as a child actor. In 1981, she recorded her first album, Small Voice, which was certified gold in the Philippines.
She played the title role in Annie in 1980 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 (1982), Paper Moon (1983) and The Fantasticks (1988).
She made her professional debut in 1978 at the age of seven in the musical The King and I with Repertory Philippines. Her brother, Gerard Salonga, is a conductor. She spent the first six years of her childhood in Angeles City before moving to Manila. Salonga was born in Ermita, Manila, to Feliciano Genuino Salonga, a naval rear admiral and shipping company owner (1929–2016), and María Ligaya Alcantara, née Imutan. Life and career 1971–1989: Early life and career
1.4 1997–2004: Recordings, concerts, TV and Flower Drum Song.1.3 1993–1996: Les Misérables, films and other musicals.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 has toured widely in the theatre roles and as a concert artist. She has played numerous other stage, film and TV roles in the US, the Philippines and elsewhere. Salonga starred as Mei-li in the 2002 Broadway version of Flower Drum Song. She was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work with The Walt Disney Company.
She provided the singing voices of two official Disney Princesses: Jasmine in Aladdin (1992) and Fa Mulan in Mulan (1998). She also portrayed Éponine and Fantine, respectively, in the musical's 10th and 25th anniversary concerts in London. Salonga was the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. Salonga is the first Filipino artist to sign with an international record label ( Atlantic Records in 1993). Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, OL, ( / ˈ l eɪ ə s ə ˈ l ɒ ŋ ɡ ə/ born February 22, 1971) is a Filipina singer and actress, best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses ( Jasmine and Mulan), and as a recording artist and television performer.Īt age 18, she originated the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon in the West End and then reprised the role on Broadway, winning the Olivier and Theatre World Awards, and becoming the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award.