The Theater People Podcast Welcomes Broadway Legend, Lea Salonga

On Monday, February 5 Theater People podcast welcomes Tony winner Lea Salonga. For the episode, Salonga Talks about taking on the role of Erzule, The Goddess of Love in Michael Arden's Broadway revival of Once On This Island, which is currently playing at The Circle in the Square theater on Broadway.

She discusses the decision to make her Broadway return, which required her to live away form her husband and daughter in the Philippines, working with Arden on finding the role, and why this re-imagined production works so beautifully in that space.

She also talk about starring in FUN HOME in the Philippines for the show's first international production.

Salonga made her Broadway debut as Kim in 1991 in MISS SAIGON--a role she originated in London and then won the Tony for on Broadway. She went on to star on Broadway in LES MISERABLES, FLOWER DRUM SONG, and ALLEGIANCE.

Salonga is also beloved for being the singing voice of Jasmine in the Disney film version of ALADDIN and Mulan in MULAN. In the Philippines, where she lives full-time and is considered a mega-star, she is a judge on the country's version of the TV competition show THE VOICE.

Listen to the new episode here:

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Previous guests on the Theater People Podcast include Tony-winner Cady Huffman (THE PRODUCERS), Tony-nominee Annaleigh Ashford (KINKY BOOTS), Tony-nominee Laura Osnes (BONNIE & CLYDE, RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA), Tony-winner Daisy Eagan (THE SECRET GARDEN), stage and screen star Michael Urie (UGLY BETTY, BUYER & CELLAR), Broadway star and webseries creator Andrew Keenan-Bolger (NEWSIES, SUBMISSIONS ONLY), Tony-nominee Anika Larsen (BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL), Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN IDIOT, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH), two-time Tony-winner Katie Finneran (NOISES OFF, PROMISES, PROMISES), Eden Espinosa (WICKED, BROOKLYN, RENT), Anthony Rapp (RENT, IF/THEN), Olivier-Winner Lesli Margherita(MATILDA), Tony-winner Tonya Pinkins (JELLY'S LAST JAM, CAROLINE OR CHANGE) two-time Tony nominee Robin De Jesus (IN THE HEIGHTS, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES), Tony-winner Karen Olivo (IN THE HEIGHTS, WEST SIDE STORY), Tony-winner Jerry Mitchell, KINKY BOOTS' Ellyn Marie Marsh, GODSPELL and RENT star Telly Leung, Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (IN THE HEIGHTS, BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL, Hamilton), three-time Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger (25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTRY SPELLING BEE, THE GLASS MENAGERIE), Margo Siebert (ROCKY), Amber Iman (SOUL DOCTOR), Alysha Umphress (ON THE TOWN), Mary Testa (FALSETTOS, WICKED), Tony-winner LaChanze (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, THE COLOR PURPLE, IF/THEN), Lindsay Mendez (GODSPELL, DOGFIGHT, WICKED), the hosts of the Ensemblist podcast Mo Brady (THE ADDAMS FAMILY) and Nikka Graff Lanzarone (CHICAGO, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN), Tony-nominee Keala Settle (HANDS ON A HARDBODY, LES MISERABLES), two-time Tony-nominee Andy Karl (ROCKY, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY), Tony and Emmy-nominee Martha Plimpton (PAL JOEY, A DELICATE BALANCE), musical theatre legend, Elaine Paige, Tony-nominee Tony Yazbeck (GYPSY, ON THE TOWN), Lisa Howard (THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU), Tony-winner Jeanine Tesori (FUN HOME, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, VIOLET), Tony-nominee Marc Kudisch (HAND TO GOD, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, ASSASSINS), and Tony-nominee Kerry Butler (HAIRSPRAY, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, CLINTON THE MUSICAL), Tony-winner Michael Cerveris (THE WHO'S TOMMY, ASSASSINS, FUN HOME), TV and Broadway star Lea DeLaria (ON THE TOWN), Tony-nominee Geneva Carr (HAND TO GOD), director Michael Mayer (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN IDIOT, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH) and writer/lyricist Dick Scanlan (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, EVERYDAY RAPTURE, WHORL INSIDE A LOOP), Tony-winner Laura Benanti (INTO THE WOODS, GYPSY, SHE LOVES ME), Tony-winner Lena Hall (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH), Kate Baldwin (FINNIAN'S RAINBOW, BIG FISH), Elizabeth Stanley (ON THE TOWN, BRIDGE OF MADISON COUNTY tour), Andrew Briedis a.k.a. Annoying Actor Friend, Norm Lewis (LES MISERABLES, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), Renee Elise Goldsberry (THE COLOR PURPLE, Hamilton), Tony-nominee Beth Malone (FUN HOME), Alex Brightman (SCHOOL OF ROCK), Tony-nominee Megan Hilty (SMASH, NOISES OFF), Sierra Boggess (THE LITTLE MERMAID, SCHOOL OF ROCK), Tony-nominee Phillipa Soo (HAMILTON), Adam Kantor (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Spencer Liff (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, SPRING AWAKENING), Andrea Burns (IN THE HEIGHTS, ON YOUR FEET), Tony-nominee Danny Burstein (FOLLIES, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Paul Alexander Nolan (BRIGHT STAR), Laura Michelle Kelly (MARY POPPINS, FINDING NEVERLAND), Tony-nominee Carmen Cusack (BRIGHT STAR), Krysta Rodriguez, Andy Mientus, and Alex Boniello (SPRING AWAKENING), Tony-nominee Jenn Damiano (NEXT TO NORMAL, AMERICAN PSYCHO), Tony-winner Alice Ripley (SIDE SHOW, NEXT TO NORMAL, AMERICAN PSYCHO), Betsy Wolfe (BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, THE LAST FIVE YEARS), Tony-winner James Monroe Iglehart (MEMPHIS, Aladdin), three-time Tony-nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (WICKED, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, WAITRESS), original SIDE SHOW stars Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley, Tony-winning producer Kevin McCollum (RENT, IN THE HEIGHTS, SOMETHING ROTTEN), PARAMOUR's Jeremy Kushnier, Tony-nominees Will Chase and Rob McClure, The Ensemblist's Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Jose Llana (25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BE, HERE LIES LOVE, THE KING AND I), Tony and Emmy-winner Thomas Kail (IN THE HEIGHTS, Hamilton, GREASE: LIVE), Tony-nominee Rebecca Luker (THE SECRET GARDEN, MARY POPPINS), Jay Armstrong Johnson (HANDS ON A HRDBODY, ON THE TOWN), Mandy Gonzalez (IN THE HEIGHTS, HAMILTON), Tony-nominee Brandon Uranowitz (AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, FALSETTOS, Tony-nominee Jenn Colella (IF/THEN, COME FROM AWAY), Tony-nominee Eva Noblezada (MISS SAIGON), Tony-winner Gabriel Ebert, Tony-winning legend Betty Buckley (CATS, 1776), Derek Klena (DOGFIGHT, ANASTASIA), Julia Murney (WICKED, THE WILD PARTY), Alexandra Silber (MASTER CLASS, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Reed Birney (THE HUMANS, "1984"), Tyler Hanes (CATS), Moran James (GODSPELL, MOTOWN), Tony-nominee Jeremy Jordan (NEWSIES, BONNIE & CLYDE), Helene Yorke (BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, AMERICAN PSYCHO), Telly Leung (GODSPELL, ALADDIN), and more.