Lea Salonga: A Disney Legend
Crossing borders and exceeding expectations seem to be the bane of existence for Lea Salonga. Being born in a third world country might have been enough excuse to recede from success, but this was never her intention. Singing musicals at the age of seven and releasing her first recording album at the age of ten was her jumpstart in life. However, it was the opportunity to become the first Asian to sing ‘Les Miserables’ in Broadway that truly marked her career and illuminated her professional star. And, at 40 years old, there is nothing she can do to keep that star from shining.
Lea Salonga is one among the very few and select people with truly exceptional talents and achievements. Singing musicals like ‘Annie’, ‘Goodbye Girl’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ at the age of seven has truly paved the way for her to create an international career that knows no boundaries or any inhibitions. Apart from these musicals, she has also performed the roles of Fantine and Eponine in the world renowned Broadway musical, ‘Les Miserables’. Lea Salonga is also known to be the voices behind two distinguished Disney characters; Princess Jasmine and Mulan.
Four years after Lea Salonga opened Stevie Wonder’s concert in Manila, she flew to Los Angeles to perform the song ‘A Whole New World’. And, as everybody already knows, ‘A Whole New World’ was the soundtrack for the movie Aladdin. What most people might not remember is that this Disney Soundtrack which was performed with Brad Kane was awarded an Oscar is the same year.
A few years after being awarded an Oscar for a Disney soundtrack, Disney decided to engage in Lea Salonga’s talents once again. They assigned Lea Salonga to sing the songs of Disney’s latest Disney heroine, Mulan. Among the assortment of songs that was given to Lea, part of those was the exceptional song ‘Reflection’.
For the part four years or so, Lea Salonga has based herself in the Philippines. However, despite being limited in her choices, she has embarked on a life that is no less busy or demanding as her previous years abroad. Being the face of Avon’s anti-aging line of products is just one of her many appointments. Among her other appointments is her being a newspaper columnist and a Philippine TV personality with regular guesting’s and shows. However, these appointments are just mere stones compared to her latest diamond accomplishment. On August of this year, Lea Salonga was officially named as a Disney Legend. And since being labeled a Disney legend is only decided by top executives of the Walt Disney Company, it is a very big deal.
Lea Salonga has had many firsts. Being the first Asian to get the lead role for the Broadway show ‘Les Miserables’ is one of those firsts. Being the first Filipino to become a Disney Legend is second. However, despite these monstrous achievements, you can tell that the Lea we fell in love with thirty years ago is still the same Lea we know now.
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 24th, 2011 at 8:55 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.