SOUND OFF Special Interview: Lea Salonga

I recently had the opportunity to lead the original Tony-winning star of MISS SAIGON - as well as the voice of the animated heroines of Disney classics ALADDIN and MULAN - in a look back at her astounding career, covering everything from MISS SAIGON to her new forthcoming original musical ALLEGIANCE co-starring George Takei: Ms. Lea Salonga. In speaking with the iconic boundary-breaking Broadway leading lady, we also touched upon all things LES MIZ - everything from LES MISERABLES onstage, the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast to, now: the 25th Anniversary 02 Concert Experience! Don't miss Lea alongside stage veterans Norm Lewis, Ramin Karimloo and pop superstar Nick Jonas in the truly spectacular concert presentation of the world's most beloved musical as it is released in movie theaters for one night only on November 17th in anticipation of its worldwide release on DVD and Blu-Ray early next year! Plus, in this exclusive conversation, Lea shares her thoughts on GLEE and her wish to duet with new GLEE Cast member Charice, plus memories of the concert event of the past century, HEY! MR. PRODUCER, and much, much more!

The Movie Musical In My Mind

PC: You've done multiple productions of multiple musicals, now - most recently the LES MIZ 25th. Let's start with MISS SAIGON. You first did the London production...

LS: I only did the London production, then the Broadway production [twice] and then I did it in Manilla. So, I've only done it in three different venues.

PC: At Drury Lane in London, correct?

LS: Yes. Correct.

PC: Bob Avian told me some fascinating stories about choreographing the show and how different it was in previews. What was the rehearsal process like?

LS: It was crazy!

PC: It had a bombed-out set with pot holes and such, originally, right? That's what Bob was telling me.

LS: Yeah. Originally, we had potholes on the stage which proved themselves to be quite dangerous for the actors if the lighting was darker than normal. So, John Napier - our designer - actually filled them in during previews. So, eventually, they were flattened out. But, yes, there were pot holes at the beginning! I believe somebody actually fell into one...

PC: It was Bob!

LS: Ouch! Oh, I couldn't remember who it was - but, it must have been him! (Laughs.)

PC: Were you aware of Bob's work with Michael Bennett before MISS SAIGON? I mean, COMPANY and FOLLIES and A CHORUS LINE...

LS: I was aware of the shows that he had helped choreograph - especially A CHORUS LINE - but, I wasn't really familiar with him, necessarily. I think once I started working with him, then the cast started filling me in on what he had done. Then, when I started hearing about his resume, it was like, "Wow, this guy is a pretty darn big deal!"

PC: You can say that again!

LS: And, a totally lovely man, too!

PC: What was the experience with Nick Hytner as director?

LS: Because he was a wunderkind - he was very young, probably late-thirties/early-forties - when he directed that, twenty years ago - which means he's late-fifties/early-sixties now, which just boggles my mind - he was so intelligent. He's an incredibly intelligent man. I mean, I think his brain works faster than his mouth. He would try to get a thought out but his mouth didn't move quickly enough! (Laughs.)

PC: That's true of a lot of directors.

LS: Yeah, it was kind of funny, too! He's very, very smart and very insightful. He knew his stuff! He always knew what he was doing. He did all his homework. It was an incredible experience working with someone like him. He was a genius.

PC: He's an exceptional film director, too. Do you think MISS SAIGON would work as a movie musical? I do.

LS: I'm sure that it would work. With a lot of musicals, it's very difficult. But, with the way that they present musical material on something like my favorite TV show GLEE...

PC: Yes...

LS: You know, with the way they present musical numbers you can see how musical numbers can be translated very well to the screen.

PC: Exactly.

LS: I think it will be very interesting to see how SAIGON is presented as a film. But, it will take some ingenious presentation and a really great screenplay to make that happen - but, it's possible. Absolutely.

PC: The rumor is that Oliver Stone wants it and has written a script to direct.

LS: I haven't heard anything. I was just working on the LES MIZ concert a few weeks ago and there wasn't any buzz on it when we were working on that.

PC: Since you've mentioned you are a fan, would you consider playing Charice's mother on GLEE ala Idina Menzel and Lea Michele last season? What would you like to sing with her?

LS: Right. Oh, I don't know what I'd like to sing... it's not something I've really thought about in any extensive way. But, I do love the show and I'd love to do something on it. To play Charice's mom would be so much fun!

PC: You are so perfect for it. As perfect as Idina was/is. Just to be a part of that cast...

LS: Totally!

PC: With Matt Morrison and Kristin Chenoweth and Idina and Neil Patrick Harris and now, Cheyenne Jackson - you belong there! You are a part of that new Broadway "Best Of".

LS: Thank you!

PC: All of them represent the new generation of Broadway talent...

LS: Oh, my gosh! I just saw Cheyenne Jackson on it and I just laughed so hard when he flung the Hello Kitty bag over his back. So, so funny!

PC: What's coming up for you on Broadway?

LS: At the moment, as far as new musicals are concerned, I am involved in a new musical called ALLEGIANCE. It's set during World War II during the time of Japanese internment in the United States.

PC: I've heard about this. It's with George Takei, correct?

LS: Yes.

PC: He's spoken very favorably about the show and the score on Howard Stern.

LS: The score is just beautiful.

PC: Can you tell me about your character's interaction with him in ALLEGIANCE?

LS: OK. George plays a character named Sam - Old Sam, the older version of a character played by Telly Leung, fifty years before.

PC: Telly being another occasional GLEE Cast member!

LS: Yes! Isn't he just phenomenal?

PC: Yes. And what is your role in ALLEGIANCE?

LS: One of Sam's teachers - which is the role I get to play - actually, at her desk, left him an unpublished manuscript of a book called ALLEGIANCE. The book pretty much outlines her experience as a Japanese internee in one of the camps when they are sent to Heart Mountain in Wyoming. She falls in love with Sam's older brother James, played by Michael Q. Lee. It's pretty much about their experiences in evacuating in Salinas, California after internment in Wyoming - it's that experience of the years that they were spending behind barbed wire and walls in a camp.

PC: What a rich, dramatically rife story.

LS: The thing about World War II is that everyone knows about the concentration camps in Europe - in Nazi Germany and Poland and Auschwitz and the other camps - but, no one really talks about the camps that were here in the United States.

PC: It a story that has never been told in a musical. Or anywhere, really.

LS: Yeah, it's never been told and it needs to be told. I mean, George himself was an internee. His father was even sent to the more severe camp... I think there was a lot of rebellion and so-called "mutiny" within the camps because of the fact that a lot of men were being sent over and drafted to be made a part of the 442nd which had a high rate of deaths because they were sent on the most dangerous missions. Yeah, it's a pretty controversial subject.

PC: Indeed. But, it's a story that needs to be told, all the same.

LS: Even within the Japanese-American community... I mean, there are historical characters that are very polarizing. Like Mike Masaoka: there are members of the Japanese-American community who revere him and others who despise him.

PC: Sort of like Mishima.

LS: Yeah.

PC: What's the score like? Is it contemporary?

LS: It's a little contemporary, but, because the story is set in 1941 there's also a lot of music that swings. A lot of the melodies are very contemporary, but there is a lot of music that also throws back to the era of vaudeville and boogie and swing. It's a lot of fun to listen to, as well as a lot of fun to sing.

PC: It's great to hear you sing some throwback stuff again on Broadway ala FLOWER DRUM SONG! Fifties to forties!

LS: Yeah!

PC: What are your feelings on the pop opera as a musical genre versus the classic sound of FLOWER DRUM SONG and, I suspect, some of ALLEGIANCE.

LS: Yeah, LES MIZ and MISS SAIGON are the big ones.

PC: What do you get out of one form that you don't get out of another?

LS: Well, ALLEGIANCE is pretty much a book musical. You know, people talk and then they burst out into song.

PC: Right.

LS: In the modern operas that MISS SAIGON and LES MIZ are, nobody breaks out into song from conventional book dialogue. Everything is sung from beginning to end, including the recitative.

PC: Of course. What's the big difference in performance?

LS: The nice thing about doing a pop opera - in the way that doing, say, MISS SAIGON or LES MIZ would be - is that, because the convention is set from the beginning that this is an opera and everything is sung, there is never that feeling of "Why is this person bursting out into song?" because the whole thing is sung.

PC: Yeah. It eliminates that hurdle.

LS: Yeah. You can still figure out when it's a song and when people are singing dialogue with one another. You still have that clear-marked demarcation in the way that it would be with a book musical. That said, it's also nice not to be singing the whole time, you know? (Laughs.)

PC: I bet! Especially some of your huge roles!

LS: Yeah, it's great when it's all sung because then there is a fluidity that you simply cannot get in a traditional book musical. But, that said, you also get more chance to rest in a traditional book musical where you aren't singing for two and a half hours, or however long the show lasts.

PC: So, you don't prefer one form over another?

LS: There are charms and attractions to each one. Doing either is great and I have fun either way.

PC: What do you think of MARTIN GUERRE, the Boublil/Shonberg book musical?

LS: I've never actually heard the entire score. I mean, I've auditioned for it so I have listened and learned a few songs here and there and I've done concerts where it was played, but I've never heard the entire thing. I wouldn't want to comment on it without hearing the whole thing.

PC: You were there the night David Campbell premiered the title song and starred with him in the MISS SAIGON sections - tell me about that magnificent HEY! MR. PRODUCER concert. Do you have memories of that night?

LS: I have memories of that entire week!

PC: Tell me everything!

LS: (Laughs.) OK. Rehearsals took about a week. I remember that on the day that I arrived - I think I flew in from the United States with my mom to London that week - and, before I even got to go to the hotel, I headed straight to Drury Lane for rehearsals.

PC: Wow!

LS: Right? So, I rehearsed "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" in a salon in the theatre. There are so many bars in Drury Lane! There's one downstairs and one in the mezzanine and... So, we are up in the grand salon for rehearsal and they clear all the chairs out to give us some space. There's four of us - there's me, Millicent Martin, Ruthie [Henshall] and Maria [Friedman] - and, when I get there, they tell me I'm singing the top part.

PC: The hardest part!

LS: Right! Because I was the last one there! They just said, "Oh, we know you can do it!" I was like, "Great! I just got here and I have jet lag and you give me the toughest part to sing! Thanks a lot, ladies, thanks a lot!" (Laughs.)

PC: And it's cold in that theatre.

LS: Yeah! So cold. So, we're (Sings.) "Do do do do DO". And, when I was first learning it, I wanted to slash my wrists!

PC: Sondheim harmonies!

LS: Ugh. I was jumping harmonies like crazy! I was an alto one minute, a soprano another minute... all over the place. (Laughs.)

PC: Were you familiar with Sondheim, or at least the song, by the time you started to rehearse it?

LS: They sent me - it wasn't an MP3 back then, but a cassette or something - and I learned it by listening to the music. So, I had a pretty good idea of the music as I learned it, flying over.

PC: Another story?

LS: Oh, I have to tell you my Hugh Jackman story!

PC: Yes, you do! That was like his big world debut!

LS: Yeah! This was two weeks before OKLAHOMA! Opened at the National Theatre and he was playing Curley.

PC: Of course! What an iconic performance that turned out to be!

LS: I hadn't actually seen him in it or met him yet. One of my friends who was doing the MISS SAIGON segment with me said, "OK. They are rehearsing OKLAHOMA! You have to go into the house and sit," and I‘m like, "Why? What's with OKLAHOMA!?" And, she said, "You just have to trust me," and, I'm like, "Fine." I didn't even bother to get out of my SAIGON outfit.

PC: Great advice!

LS: So, I'm sitting in the fifth or sixth row and Maria Friedman is a few seats away from me. And, a cappella, out of nowhere, comes this beautiful voice singing, "Oh What A Beautiful Morning", (Sings.) "Da da da da da da da DA". And, we're like, "Oh, God. Who's that?" He was nowhere onstage. Then, the chorus begins and he comes out dressed as Curley with the hat. And, I'm like, "Oh, my God!" and you could hear this big inhale and gasp that came out from all the ladies. I looked over to Maria Friedman and she was just shaking her head like "Mmmhmmm." He was so gorgeous. Just walking out onto that stage... that man.

PC: A real star.

LS: Yeah. He was described by other members of the cast as like a Howard Keel - this tall, handsome, traditional masculine musical theatre man.

PC: Old school.

LS: Old school! Total old school! It was breathtaking to watch him. I was just like, "Wow. Now I understand why she told me to come sit out here!"

PC: Tell me about working with that other Aussie - David Campbell, who also has done this column (just last week) - and doing the MISS SAIGON segment with him. What a Chris!

LS: Yeah! The funny thing is, we rehearsed at the Drury Lane so we got to actually rehearse on the stage where SAIGON was still playing. I think it was after the rehearsal that I asked what production he had been in and they said he hadn't been in one. He hadn't done it before. He had never played Chris. So, I was like, "OK. Wait a minute. He hasn't played Chris in any production of MISS SAIGON and he will be playing Chris in HEY! MR. PRODUCER? Cameron must have a lot of faith in this guy to do it!"

PC: Without a doubt! And, he delivered!

LS: He sang it fantastically and he was just beautiful. Actually, my breath was just taken away when I got to do it with him. I was just like, "Wow!" He was unbelievable.

PC: You two really made the story arc work in that medley of songs. It must have been very challenging to do all those edits and the new staging, wasn't it?

LS: Not really. Not really. I think once we actually got the edits out and we knew what we were doing, it wasn't a problem. I don't remember it taking a long time to rehearse that. It wasn't that big of a deal to learn.

PC: You also were doing double-duty that night since you sang Eponine in the LES MIZ section at the end.

LS: Yes. I sang "On My Own" and - I will tell you - that edit was a little tougher. You know, "Sing first verse, then go straight to the bridge and then sing the final verse." That was a little trickier.

PC: What does it feel like to know how many hundreds of millions of people have seen that 10th Anniversary concert?

LS: Insane. Insane.

PC: Tell me about the 10th Anniversary versus the 25th Anniversary that premieres in movie theaters next week.

LS: They were very different. It felt very different to do the 10th versus the 25th. The 10th was a more traditional concert - you know, sit on the stage, go to the mic, come and sit back down - so, I was basically sitting there from the beginning of the show, having to wait maybe forty-five minutes before I got to go up to sing.

PC: How is the 25th different?

LS: In the new version, it's much more staged compared to the 10th. There are actual entrances and exits and more of a set that was a built. It's like a rock concert! (Laughs.)

PC: With a real rock star in the cast - Nick Jonas!

LS: Because it was at the 02 arena, I really felt like a rock star up there. Being next to Nick helped, too! (Laughs.)

PC: You are a rock star, Lea. Thank you so much. This has been fabulous.

LS: Thank you, Pat. We'll talk again soon.

Please check out the official website for the Trevor Project to see the details of Lea's ongoing work for the organization - as well as her performance of "Reflections" from MULAN - at a time when the issues addressed by the charity could not be more timely and in need of support.

Photo Credit: Bing Shimizu (Lea Salonga as Fantine)