Lea Salonga Kicks Off Australia & New Zealand Tour Today

Lea Salonga goes down under!

International stage superstar Lea Salonga is set for an Australian and New Zealand leg of her ongoing national tour kicking off this weekend.

More information on the Australian and New Zealand tour is as follows: "Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga is set to kick off her eagerly anticipated tour of Australia and New Zealand this weekend. Her first stop is in Aukland, NZ for a sold out show on Friday, July 24th. After that, she heads to Australia for shows in Brisbane on the 26th, Sydney on July 31st and finally Melbourne on August 1st.

Known across the world for her powerful voice and perfect pitch, Salonga is best known for her Tony Award winning role in Miss Saigon. In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, in the field of musical theatre. She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical LES MISERABLES on Broadway and returned to the beloved show as Fantine in the 2006 revival.

Lea will begin rehearsals in September for her much awaited return to Broadway in Allegiance. She garnered a Craig Noel nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical for her the shows successful run at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Developed by legendary actor George Takei, Allegiance tells the story of a Japanese-American family forced into an internment camp during World War II.

Lea most recently wrapped touring with Il Divo for the group's worldwide "A Musical Affair" tour. When not on tour, Lea is a coach on the Philippine version of the hit "The Voice". Mitoy Yonting, a member of Team Lea, was named the first season winner.

Lea has toured the world performing in sold out concerts in such locations as the Disney Concert Hall, Singapore's Esplanade, Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Bangkok Convention Center, Carnegie Hall, and numerous venues in her hometown of Manila, and in cities such as Vancouver, Sacramento, San Diego, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and San Francisco. She was also the first artist to sell out two shows at BYU's de Jong Concert Hall since The King's Singers in 2009.

In 2010, she participated in the 25th Anniversary Concert of LES MISERABLES to sold out crowds at the UK's O2 arena as well as dazzling as the hauntingly tragic Grizabella in a limited run of CATS in her hometown of Manila. She also teamed up with legendary Grammy winner, Patti Austin, to perform the concert series, 'Heart and Soul,' in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Lea has continued to celebrate the music of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönerg, the creators of LES MISERABLES and Miss Saigon, by participating in the recurring concert, "Do You Hear the People Sing," with other renowned artists worldwide. The show, which debuted in 2011 in Indianapolis, has been performed in such cities as Dallas, Ottawa, Shanghai, and most recently as a charity concert event in Manila, raising over 24 million pesos (around $500,000) to build 200 new homes via Habitat for Humanity Philippines for the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan."

More information is available at Lea Salonga's official site here.