Salonga Comments On ALLEGIANCE, Cafe Carlyle, THE VOICE & More

In a new essay penned by Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage icon Lea Salonga for the Philippine Enquirer, the triple-threat discusses her many current endeavors and her immediate plans for the future, including her ongoing Cafe Carlyle cabaret residency, the recent ALLEGIANCE workshop and her upcoming judging duties on THE VOICE in The Philippines.

In discussing her Cafe Carlyle shows, Salonga writes, "My repertoire will consist of songs both old and new to me... a few are songs I've previously performed in concert elsewhere in the world while a generous chunk of material is brand new to my ears. There is, as always, musical theater included... standards... as well as a few contemporary things that will be fun for me to sing for the first time. My director, Victor Lirio, was driven crazy by my hectic schedule, but we found the time to get this program completed and ready."

As for ALLEGIANCE? "The Allegiance Lab Project rehearsal period lasted all of three weeks, which is not nearly enough time when working on an original piece. So we all worked at a breakneck pace. We had quite a few brand-new ensemble numbers, some new solo pieces, reconfigurations of older songs, and one that actually made a return from the 2011 workshop. All in all, I'm very happy with the new music that made their debut for the lab, and I'm hoping they don't go anywhere. That said, our creative team isn't precious about anything on paper, whether it's a song or a few lines of dialogue. If it doesn't move the story along, it will be excised."

Furthermore, Salonga hinted at her plans for the pairings coming up on THE VOICE OF THE PHILIPPINES, which she judges. She writes, "I had a nice chat with many members of the creative team for the show as a gentle reminder that it was now time to put my battle round pairings together. Sorry, I will not divulge any carefully guarded secrets here, except to say that once I figured out the pairings, I got incredibly excited! I can't wait for the real work to begin, and I sure hope that you all enjoy the shows."

Check out the entire original essay by Salonga here.