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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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Small talk with Lea Salonga
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NEW YORK– In the middle of all the recent successes of Filipino artists in the international music scene with the likes of Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda of Journey and Ramiele Malubay of American Idol, it is difficult not look back and recall the artist who was perhaps the catalyst for bringing the world's attention to Filipino artists: Lea Salonga.
Lea is recognized for having won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Theatre World Awards– the first to win various international awards for the role of Kim in the hit musical 'Miss Saigon' back in the 1990's. Her success in 'Miss Saigon' led to many high profile international achievements, including roles in My Fair Lady, The Goodbye Girl, They’re Playing Our Song, Grease, The Fantasticks, Paper Moon, The Bad Seed, The Sound of Music and Annie.
In the Fall of 2002, Salonga made another splash on Broadway starring in the hit revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammersteins’s Flower Drum Song, with a re-imagined book by David Henry Hwang, earning her another Tony nomination as Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical.
In March 2007, Lea returned to Broadway to star as Fantine in the 2006 revival of Les Miserables and in July 2008 she will embark on a 39-week tour of Asia and the Philippines starring in Rodgersand Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Lea is also a bona fide “Disney Princess”, she can be heard on screen as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s blockbuster smash Aladdin. A specific note was made on her version of A Whole New World in Southwest Magazine. She is also the singing voice of Mulan in Mulan and Mulan 2. She can be heard on the original cast recordings of Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song (Broadway Revival), The King and I (with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), The Nutcracker, Mr Producer and the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert, where Lea became the first Asian to play the role of Eponine.
Now in this exclusive interview, we take a peek behind the glitz and glamor of her superstardom as she talks about the real stuff: Her baby Nicole, her family, motherhood, online addictions, music of the moment, and even American Idol.
Ted Reyes: Tell us about your latest tour.
Lea Salonga: I just finished concerts in Hawaii and Guam, as well as in Southern California. I have more shows scheduled in California as well -- Cache Creek and Harrah's Rincon -- at the end of April. It's basically just me and a band playing music that I love to sing.
Ted Reyes: How will it be different from the Carnegie Hall show you did a couple of years back?
Lea Salonga: It's a different repertoire and a different show altogether. And I won't be pregnant, ha ha!
Ted Reyes: Who's directing the show? Who's the musical director?
Lea Salonga: No director really, I create the set list and wrote my script (much of which was culled from shows passed, written by some incredibly talented scriptwriter and director friends of mine)... the musical director is Larry Yurman, who most recently was the musical director of Grey Gardens, which ran on Broadway last year.
Ted Reyes: Are you doing shows here in New York?
Lea Salonga: Not that I know of.
Ted Reyes: Any plans in hitting Broadway again? A play perhaps or a new musical?
Lea Salonga: I'd love to! Let's see what kind of role will come my way... however, I'll have to find a school for Nicole to attend. She's almost 2 and if I ever get another Broadway show, she'll be of school age already.
Ted Reyes: What are your plans for 2008?
Lea Salonga: For 2008 I have more concerts scheduled until June, and then at the end of June I'll begin rehearsals for Cinderella. That show will keep me occupied until April 2009.
Ted Reyes: How's the baby?
Lea Salonga: The baby's not a baby anymore... she's turning 2 in May so she's a pretty big girl. She's funny and fun to be around. Great sense of humor and really cute.
Ted Reyes: How have things changed since you became a mother?
Lea Salonga: Well, my priorities have changed... everything I do now is for her. There's no one in the world more important than her and so whatever I do in this world always has her in mind. I don't like being away from home now, because more often than not when I have to travel for work, she remains at home. I have something to look forward to, and it's weird, I start counting down the days to when I go home, from the first day out on a trip. Day 1 pa lang, nagbibilang na ako!
Ted Reyes: Do you speak to your baby in Filipino or Bisaya?
Lea Salonga: English and Tagalog mostly... I'm not fluent in Bisaya.
Ted Reyes: How do you balance your grueling schedule with motherhood?
Lea Salonga: To be honest, I really don't know. I try to keep the schedule manageable to allow for time with my little one. My managers all know my priorities so it's easy.
Ted Reyes: Are you thinking of expanding the family with another baby?
Lea Salonga: Oh we'd love another one, but it'll be a couple of years before I can think about it with any degree of seriousness.
Ted Reyes: A lot of Filipino artists are gaining exposure through American
dol and the internet. What do you think about it?
Lea Salonga: It's wonderful!!! I hope Ramiele Malubay goes far in the competition. But she's gotta go for broke when she needs to.
Ted Reyes: If American Idol was airing back then when you where still starting out, would you have auditioned for it?
Lea Salonga: Probably, just to say I did it.
Ted Reyes: Do you watch the show?
Lea Salonga: Religiously.
To be concluded
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MANILA -- DINA Bonnevie was in a candid mood at the presscon for “Babangon Ako’t Dudurugin Kita”. She admits she’s been on with Lebanese BF Habib Shammas, who’s about 10 years younger than her, for three years now and is very happy with him compared to her previous American boyfriend who even took advantage of her in their business dealings and duped her.
“I became depressed because of that,” she says. “So I prayed, ‘Lord, I hope you’ll give me someone else, show me a sign who it is that I am to love’. Then I met Habib and asked him what’s his name. He said, ‘Habib’. I asked what it means and he said, ‘The Beloved’. I was surprised and told myself, ‘Oh my God! My prayer asked for a sign who it is that I am to love and his name means ‘The Beloved’. And so far, so good. I can feel he really loves me at nagmamahalan talaga kami. But then, he also reacts kasi dahil daw lagi siyang nababanggit, when he tells his name, people would say, ‘So, you’re the boyfriend of Dina’. Hassle nga naman, di ba?”
So will she and Habib end up at the altar? “You know, ang dami kong kakilalang nagsasabing ikakasal na sila, pero hindi natuloy. ‘Yung mga hindi nag-mention nang kasal at all, sila ang biglang ikinasal. So, huwag na lang natin pagusapan ang kasal namin, para matuloy,” she laughs.
She’s happy that after she did “Hiram” and “Walang Kapalit” with ABS, GMA-7 got her again to play a very important role in “Babangon Ako”.
“Super ganda ang role ko as a jueteng queen named Evita and I’d like to thank GMA and Direk Joel Lamangan because I haven’t done a role as challenging as this one for sometime now. Acting piece talaga ito that I can be proud of.” (MNS)
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MANILA -- ALL is quiet in the Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion front.
After GMA Films sent feelers to Star Cinema for a possible co-production for the two hottest young personalities, everything seemed to have been put on hold. It was rumored that KC will not do her first film with Richard but with Star Cinema’s hot property, John Lloyd Cruz. However, it seems fans are getting louder with their clamor to have Richard and KC work on the latter’s first film foray.
According to Shirley Kuan, one of KC’s managers, there are some hurdles along the way, the biggest of which is the ongoing network war. Everyone knows that KC and Richard belong to opposing camps. Aside from this, their respective endorsements are competing products in the market which poses a great deal of interests in making the film.
So, is it a shot in the moon?(MNS)
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MANILA -- Talk show host and TV game show queen Kris Aquino suffered a miscarriage on Tuesday, a day after announcing that her mother, former president Corazon Aquino, was diagnosed with colon cancer.
"I had a miscarriage. Collapsed gestational sac and blighted ovum. We just have to wait for my body to expel on its own. Seven and half weeks. God's will so I can take care of my mom. Just came from Dr. Pastorfide with my mom now. On our way home from the hospital," Aquino said in the text message.
Last March 13, Aquino said she was pregnant with her second child by husband and star cager James Yap.
Aquino said her gynecologist told her that there were already heartbeats heard during the Doppler Test.
Kris, Kristina Bernadette Cojuangco Aquino in real life, is the daughter of former president Corazon Aquino and the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr., both key figures in toppling the Marcos regime. She has a son, Joshua, with her former live-in-partner, actor Philip Salvador. She also has a son, James, by Yap. (MNS)
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MANILA -- Sexy actress Angelica Jones lost almost P2-million worth of jewelry and other belongings in a fire that gutted her residential unit at Highway Hills Commercial Apartelle in Sierra Madre, Mandaluyong City. The fire reached fifth alarm before seven in the morning. Initial investigation said the fire started at the third floor in the kitchen area of the actress' unit and that the blaze was caused by a defective switch. Aside from Jones' room the fire also damaged another unit of the apartelle.
According to Jones she was caught by surprise as she woke up seeing her unit was already covered with smoke and fire. She recalled that she just shouted "fire!" and even thought of saving her things before she decided to run downstairs.
The actress said that she lost her mobile phone, money and other personal items but members of Bureau of Fire were able to save some of her money and belongings after fire out was declared. (MNS)
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