Award-winning actress and singer Lea Salonga is at the center of a debate after a video capturing an encounter with some audience members in her backstage dressing room went viral.
Salonga’s response to the incident, both in the video and on her Twitter account, has sparked a discussion about boundaries and the expectations of fans.
The viral video shows Salonga firmly but politely requesting a group of fans who had barged into her dressing room to wait outside.
“Who are you? I’m so sorry. I don’t know who you are,” said the theater actress.
“We’re just a fan,” answered the video taker.
Salonga graciously explained that unless they were on the guest list, they were not permitted to be in the backstage area.
“If I allow this now, then other people are going to take advantage of this,” Lea was also heard saying.
“My friend, G Tongi, we are the co-producers of this show,” said a woman who was with the video-taker.
“We’ve been waiting here for a while,” the woman added.
The fans continued to take a video of the actress while Lea directed them to exit and pointed out the appropriate door to some other waiting audience members. She then chose a spot where she could take a photo with the people who went inside her dressing room.
Following the incident, Salonga took to Twitter to express her thoughts on the matter. In her tweets, she emphasized the importance of boundaries, stating that the price of a ticket only entitles the audience to watch the performance.
“The money you pay for a theater/concert ticket does not mean all-access. You pay for that performer’s art, and that’s where it stops,” she wrote.
“I gotta say, the folks at the stage door have been so incredibly kind, which only makes us (well, me) enthusiastic to say hello and spend the time…”
Regarding the producer mentioned in the video, Lea said she checked and “the person whose name they dropped had no idea who they were.”
She added that security had to step in to ensure the safety.
“Oh, I neglected to mention that he and his companions rushed me on the dance floor after the show. Security had to surround me at that point because they got scared.”
Fans and colleagues in the industry, like of Neri Naig, Mikkie Volante, Bryan Boy, have chimed in on the matter, with many expressing their support for Salonga’s firm stance on maintaining personal boundaries. They argue that celebrities should not be expected to compromise their privacy and comfort for the sake of fan interactions, as they are entitled to their own personal spaces.
“Stay out of dressing room. Do not go snooping backstage. it doesn’t matter how much you paid for a ticket, you are not entitled to go back there,” wrote stage actress Mikkie Volante on Twitter.
“It’s a matter of respect,” said Bryan Boy in a reaction video.
Meanwhile, the person who uploaded the video expressed his disappointment about the incident. He accompanied the video with a long post that asked Lea for a little respect and time for a photo opportunity since, he said, they were Filipinos and fans of hers.
“If ever naman po na mali kami at wala sa guest list, the fact an andun na kami para lang magpapicture…pumila at nagbayad ng mahal para sa show, siguro naman po bilang kapwa Filipino at mga fans …”
