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NEW York City has always been special for Lea Salonga, that is why she gets giddy and excited every time she returns to the city that embraced her and made a few of her dreams come true.
The setting was at the studio of celebrity photographer Robert Kim somewhere in the city’s fashion district. Los Angeles-based concert producer Vic Perez gathered Lea and Patti Austin for a photo shoot for their upcoming concert series and invited the Asian Journal to take a peek into what fans may expect when the two famous performers come together onstage next month.
In between breaks and impromptu song numbers by the photographer himself, we asked Lea questions about their upcoming show, her thoughts on Billy Elliot and other Broadway musicals, the national elections in the Philippines this May and yes, even the weather.
Here are excerpts:
Asian Journal: Welcome back to New York. What brings you here?
Lea Salonga: I have a reading at the Playwrights Horizon on my birthday (Feb. 22), and I am also doing Broadway Bakwards at the Lincoln Center. I also have a three-week long series at the Café Carlyle from March 9 to 27. I’ll be away from home for a while. It’s okay. It’s New York.
AJ: Are Rob and Nicole with you?
LS: No, I’m here solo. My family in Manila has been ping-ponging being sick, and we’ve been passing it around. I am actually happy to be away from my family right now so that when I recover from this, I don’t catch anything new. I’m quite happy being away right now but I do miss everybody at home.
AJ: You are working on a collaboration with THE Ms. Patti Austin...
(Then, Patti Austin, who was getting her hair and make-up done, interjects: "Get it right! The Ms. Patti Austin" and breaks into laughter.
LS: I would never get that wrong. (laughs) I have listened to her, I’ll be honest now...
PA: Be careful, be careful. I just started in the business a couple of years ago.
LS: I have listened to a lot of her pop stuff and sung a lot of it on TV. She is incredibly popular in the Philippines and everybody, at a moment’s notice can sing any of her popular songs. When we worked together the first time, it was a big thrill for me because it was her. I was backstage mouthing the words to everything she was singing when she was up onstage. It’s nice to be able to work together again.
AJ: So you have worked with her before.
LS: Before this, yeah. We never actually got to sing together, which kinda was a shame.
AJ: How many shows will there be in this tour?
LS: We have three for now. Our producers will release the dates soon.
AJ: You just had a successful concert at the PICC called Your Songs. Are there any plans to bring that show to your audience here in America?
LS: Thank you. It will be a little elaborate to bring it because of the sets—we had those big LED screens. We toured it within the Philippines. We were able to bring it to Cebu and Bacolod, but we had to cut down on the orchestra and a lot of things which kind of makes me feel bad because it sounds really great when the orchestra is a little bigger and the band is a bit lusher. If we can find a way to make that possible and bring it here, that would be great.
AJ: And you actually sang a Lady Gaga song.
LS: Oh yeah! (laughs). It’s all over YouTube now. It’s crazy. The concept of the show was requests from the viewers. One of the overwhelming requests was Poker Face by Lady Gaga.
AJ: There must have been a ton of requests for songs you have never performed before.
LS: Exactly.
AJ: How were you able to whittle down the number of songs?
LS: It was crazy. Even after the dress rehearsal, we whittled it down some more. We cut stuff, we changed some things, we cut out a verse here and there. If there was something that we felt the audience at the dress rehearsal did not respond to, then we cut it.
AJ: And you are also doing Cats!
LS: Yes, I’ll be doing Grizzabella.
AJ: You have a very busy year.
LS: I do. I’m looking at it and I’m getting kinda cross-eyed. I’m trying to just take each show as it happens, take each performance little by little. I look at my schedule slowly instead of trying to look at the bulk because it will just drive me nuts.
AJ: I read somewhere that you have never done Memory before.
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