TGIF Feature: PBS 'Great Performances' presents Lea Salonga in concert

YOUTUBE

Lea Salonga at the Sydney Opera House.

As part of its fourth annual “Broadway’s Best” lineup, PBS' Great Performances shines a spotlight on Tony Award winner Lea Salonga with the world premiere of Lea Salonga in Concert, Nov. 27.

Captured in peak performance from the Sydney Opera House last year with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Salonga performs the beloved songs she made famous throughout her Broadway career and her signature songs from the animated movie blockbusters, Aladdin and Mulan as well as the showstopper, “On My Own” from Les Miserables.

Speaking from her home in Manila, Salonga said, “I’m glad we have these to remind us of just a year ago what life was like and maybe bring hope to people that this is what we have to look forward to once the virus is gone.

“This is like a time capsule for me because you see the audience shoulder to shoulder, not wearing masks, screaming and unrestrained in their reactions and responses to whatever is happening on stage,” she said.

Salonga, long a Broadway mainstay, recently appeared in her first movie role in Yellow Rose, which premiered last month to critical acclaim despite the coronavirus limiting audiences. In the movie directed by Filipino American Diane Paragas, Salonga plays the aunt of the movie's main character played by Eva Noblezada.

When she watched the movie for the first time, Salonga said to herself, "This is beauty. This is a work of art that our people can be really proud of." 

Renowned worldwide for her powerhouse voice and perfect pitch, Salonga entered the Broadway musical scene with her 1991 performance as Kim in Miss Saigon, for which she became the first Asian to win a Tony. Most recently, she starred in the Tony-winning 2017 revival of Once on This Island. 

She was also the first Asian cast member to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway, the character who sings "On My Own." 

“The first time I ever sang it, I was 17 years old and I’m now 49,” she said. “I don’t get tired of singing the song. And I allow myself for the context of things to be different because I’m not that kid experiencing unrequited love. I’m an older woman and the words fall differently after enough life.”

Lea Salonga's "Great Performance" will air, Nov. 27, 9 p.m. on local PBS stations (check local listings.)