Lea Salonga made entertainment and social media headlines this week after her performance with the four-man opera group Il Divo at a show on their European tour, titled A Musical Affair.
Best known for her Tony Award-winning role in Miss Saigon, the Broadway actress and singer, now 43, made a return to her Disney princess roots with an impressive performance of A Whole New World from Disney’s Aladdin.
Salonga was the original singing voice of Princess Jasmine (also voiced by Linda Larkin) in 1992. More than 20 years later, she’s proved to audiences worldwide that she’s still got it.
The performance with Il Divo was recently featured on the popular Hollywood show Entertainment Tonight, which called it “awesome” and mentioned Salonga still sounds “just as lovely.”
MTV News also noted “girl power” in the new performance.
“It’s been 21 years since the 1993 release of Aladdin, and certain things never change,” the website said. “We’re still waiting on that magic carpet ride, and we still think a monkey would make a great pet. One more thing that’s remained awesome: Princess Jasmine’s voice.”
MTV added, “You’ll notice that it took four men to sing Aladdin’s part of the classic song, while Salonga can handle the Jasmine part just fine on her own…Girl power much?”
Salonga became an international sensation with her Broadway roles as Kim in Miss Saigon and later as the first Asian to play Eponine in Claude-Michel Schönberg’s classic Les Miserables. She is currently a coach on The Voice Philippines.
Though the Disney duet performance was posted back in April, it caught media attention as Salonga has been touring with Il Divo around Europe since the end of September, making stops in Vienna, Berlin, Geneva, Prague, Frankfurt, and later in the UK.
The tour shows will feature both Salonga and opera supergroup Il Divo’s powerful, perfect-pitch voices, both in solos and duets. More information about the Europan tour, as well as ticket information, is available on Il Divo’s official website.
(With reports from Inquirer, MTV, and Entertainment Tonight.)
