Lea Salonga, singer and actor

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lea Salonga was just 18 when she became an international theatre star, taking a leading role in the world premiere production of the musical Miss Saigon in 1989. Her performance - first in London, then on Broadway - won her Olivier and Tony awards. She has provided the singing voice for two Disney princesses, and has become a strong advocate for better Asian representation on stage and screen. She was born in Manila in the Philippines, where she made her professional stage debut in 1978 at the age of seven in a production of The King and I. Further roles in musicals followed, and she recorded a best-selling solo album when she was 10.

Lea planned to become a doctor before she was invited to audition for Miss Saigon, and her immediate success launched a performing career in which she has made history many times. She was the first Asian woman to win a Tony for an acting role, the first Asian actor to star in Les Misérables, the first Filipino artist to sign a record deal with an international label and the first person to voice two different Disney princesses - Mulan and Jasmine in Aladdin, in which she sang A Whole New World, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. She has appeared in numerous international stage productions, as well as television shows, films and singing tours.

Earlier this year she starred in and made her debut as a producer on the musical Here Lies Love on Broadway: written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, it focuses on the life of Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In September, Lea returned to the London Stage in 'Old Friends' , a musical tribute to Stephen Sondheim.

She has performed for six Filipino and four American presidents.

DISC ONE: Feed The Birds (Tuppence a Bag) - Julie Andrews, The Disney Studio Chorus DISC TWO: Days and Days -Judy Kuhn DISC THREE: Billie Jean - Michael Jackson DISC FOUR: Tsismis - Ryan Cayabyab DISC FIVE: Gymnopédie No. 1. Composed by Erik Satie and performed by Philippe Entremont DISC SIX: Intro: Singularity - BTS DISC SEVEN: Baby Mine - Betty Noyes DISC EIGHT: Snooze - Agust D ft. Ryuichi Sakamoto & WOOSUNG

BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson LUXURY ITEM: A typewriter CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Snooze - Agust D ft. Ryuichi Sakamoto & WOOSUNG

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Doleepa, and I'm at your service.
0:04.7	Join me as I serve up personal conversations with my sensational guests.
0:08.8	Do a leap interviews, Tim Cook.
0:11.2	Technology doesn't want to be good or bad.
0:15.0	It's in the hands of the creator.
0:16.7	It's not every day that I have the CEO of the world's biggest company in my living room.
0:20.7	If you're looking at your phone more than you're looking in someone's eyes, you're doing the wrong thing.
0:26.0	Julie, at your service, listen to all episodes on BBC Sales. on the BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts.
0:35.8	Hello I'm Lauren Levern and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.
0:39.8	Every week I ask my guest to choose the Eight Tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:48.0	And for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:52.0	I hope you enjoy listening. My My castaway this week is the singer and actor Leah Salonga, one of the most successful performers the Philippines has ever produced.
1:22.0	Her perfect pitch and prodigious talent was spotted early. She became
1:26.1	a star in her own country before she hit double figures with a TV show and a hit record of her own. As a teenager she planned to leave show business behind and become a doctor.
1:36.2	But before she could finish her course at university she was spotted by the team behind Le Miserable
1:41.5	who were on a global search for the lead in their new musical, Miss Saigon.
1:46.2	She went on to an international recognition for her performance as Kim at the age of just 18, with an
1:51.5	Olivier in London and a Tony Award on Broadway. She has made history many
1:56.2	times. She was the first Asian woman to win a Tony for an acting role, the first Asian
2:00.6	actor to star in Le Miserobler, the first Filipino artist to sign a record deal
2:04.9	with an international label and the first person to voice two different Disney princesses,
2:10.1	Aladdin's Jasmine and Mulan. This summer she
	...

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