International theater actress Lea Salonga is thrilled about the latest news about her having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“That’s crazy,” Lea said. “I’m incredibly grateful, incredibly happy, but it’s still a little surreal. I think it’s a good word. That’s a good word because I still don’t believe that it’s happening.”
She got up at 5 am, checked social media and started seeing posts. “I couldn’t believe that those posts were real because these days, it’s not always easy to tell if something is real or not.
“I’ve been a victim of deep fakes, so it’s like, I don’t know. Maybe someone’s trying to pull my leg or whatever. Then I saw my manager’s E-mail and he said, ‘Please call me before you look at anything.’ And I’m like, ‘Ah, that’s my sign.’ When my representative tells me that I have to call him, it usually means something important is going down.
“And I said, ‘Okay, too late.’ I already saw social media and I think that made him laugh. And then he confirmed that the news was for real, that I really would be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
In the ceremony, whenever they decide to schedule it, Lea will look at the star to make sure that there’s no spelling errors.
“Over my entire career, I’ve had my name misspelled enough times,” she lamented. “And so I’m going to look at that thing and I’m going to check if my name is properly spelled. I will pose for photographs and I’ll probably pay it a visit whenever I’ve got family that I want to see it. And I’ll still be like, ‘This is a big pinch me’.”
Lea has been a trailblazer for Filipinos in the Philippines since she was a child. Decades later, she is undoubtedly still blazing.
“I guess I haven’t run out of fuel yet,” she said. “I’ll take it. I guess I’ve been able to maintain relevance in the eyes of folks in my industry that even as an older performer, I mean, I’m 54 years old, I’m not young, young, I’m still strong enough to do what it is that I do.
“But it’s nice that there are folks who have still been able to find me relevant, that there is still something that they see or hear that they still hold on to and think of as, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a voice that I enjoy listening to.’
“And, yeah, it feels like there’s still a great deal of responsibility, given what it is that I do, to continue to do what it is that I do well. That’s the thing for me, that I do what it is that I do at the level at which I do it. And hopefully, folks see it.”
Not surprisingly, even after decades in the industry, Lea has been operating at the highest level as a performer.
“Because you have to bze,” she said. “That’s non-negotiable. I think when you see something that’s… Like somebody didn’t put the effort in or someone didn’t work hard enough. If you’re going to do something, please do it well. And do it well for yourself.”
Last June, Lea graced the 78th Tony Awards which she described as one of her “favorite” Tony ceremonies yet. The ceremony was hosted by theater actress Cynthia Erivo.
“It was wonderful,” said Lea. “Cynthia Erivo was the perfect host because you never saw her sweat. When you are responsible for keeping an event well-paced and fun, you also have the responsibility to be calm about everything.
“Where even if you’re panicking or even if something awry is happening backstage, you’re the person that keeps everyone in the room calm. I mean, even the air conditioning in that place was cooperating. I’ve been in that theater where it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, why is it so hot?’ And it felt like, ‘Okay, the climate is perfect in here.’
“The tone that she said, the voice. Her voice has always been unreal. And she, with that also perfect British accent, just kept everything going at a beautiful pace. And she was funny, even at the expense of herself a couple of times.
“And she kept everything going and she kept it fun. It just felt really lively and really fun and really funny. And, yeah, Cynthia was never self-centered about anything. She did exactly what she needed to do. She did exactly what we wanted her to do and it went beyond my expectations.”
Lea and her son, Nic, 19, had the most wonderful time watching the Tonys. “I have a theater nerd,” Lea said of her son. “I birthed a theater nerd who was just the biggest fan of everybody.
“Whenever there was a Filipino Tony Award winner, like Marco Paguía went up for best orchestrations and he’s musical director for Buena Vista Social Club, or Nicole Scherzinger, we were screaming.
“When Darren Chris was called, we were yelling and screaming for our friends who were winning. Even for people that we didn’t know, we were screaming for everybody. It was a wonderful night and it was just so beautiful.
“I was yelling because maybe ‘Happy Ending,’ which is probably my favorite new show of the season, won. And Darren also won a second Tony that night because he’s one of the producers. So he is like, Filipino, double Tony Award winner in one night.
“Then Marco Paguia won two Tonys that evening because he had already gotten a special Tony Award, previous to the ceremony. Yeah, it was a great night for the Pinoy. It was a great night for Asian shows. It was a great night for representation.”
She was a presenter. “I wanted to present a maybe ‘Happy Ending’ because I had so many friends in the show, including the director, the scenic designers, Clint Ramos, who is one of the founders of Theater Group Asia here in Manila.
“Clint was Tony nominated for those costumes in ‘Happy Ending.’ I can be called a trailblazer all day, but the thing is, It’s not a solo thing. There has to be somebody picking up the baton.
“It’s one of those things where I’ll pass the baton onto somebody and then it’ll get passed on and then I’ll get it back, and then I’ll pass it on again. It’s just this never-ending relay. I love that.”
