Interview: Lea Salonga Talks 'Sounding Joy' with the Boston Pops

This is not only the most wonderful time of the year, as the song says, but for Lea Salonga, it’s also one of the busiest.

Since the November 2 release of her latest holiday album, “Sounding Joy,” on Center Stage Records, Salonga – an Olivier and Tony Award-winner for the role of Kim in the original London and Broadway productions of “Miss Saigon” – has been on tour, which she’ll bring to “A Company Celebration at Pops” at Boston’s Symphony Hall on December 17.

The new album features holiday classics including  “Sleigh Ride,” “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” “Last Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “What Child Is This,” “Silent Night,” “Christmas Time Is Here/The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and a duet with Clay Aiken on “Angels We Have Heard (Glory Be).”

In the new year, Salonga – known for Broadway shows including “Les Misérables,” the revivals of “Flower Drum Song” and “Once on This Island,” “Allegiance,” and “Here Lies Love,” and for providing the singing voice for two iconic Disney princesses, Jasmine in “Aladdin” (1992) and the title character in “Mulan” (1998) and “Mulan II” (2004) – will recreate her West End triumph in “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” when the show makes its North American premiere February 8 for a one-month run at Los Angeles’s Ahmanson Theatre before transferring to Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on March 29.

The Filipino performer, who makes her home in New York, was in Los Angeles recently when she took time out for a telephone call to discuss her new holiday album, her debut with the Boston Pops, and more.

What made you want to record “Sounding Joy”?

The last holiday record I released, “The Christmas Album,” came out in 2001, so when the idea for the new album was discussed, we thought, “Let’s do it.” We started vocal recording in the Philippines in early 2020, but then then Covid-19 happened, and the whole project went into the cooler for a while. When we finally returned to the studio, it was about leaning into the appreciation of coming out of the other side of the pandemic. And the word “joy,” besides paying homage to my mom, whose nickname is Joy, is also about learning not to take things for granted and really learning how to find joy.

You’ve chosen classics as well as new holiday songs for this album. How did you decide what to include?

My brother Gerard Salonga – who is a conductor, composer and arranger – my agent Josh Pultz, and I were the producers, and we wanted to include a wide range of music from jazz, Broadway, and pop to classical. And in addition to the familiar songs, we wanted to do a couple of new ones, too. So we recorded “Love Is Our Christmas Song” by Trina Belamide, a wonderful Filipino songwriter who has written songs for most of the Philippines’ top recording artists.

I understand one of the songs, “Christmas on Broadway,” is about your fellow Broadway performers?

It is – it’s an original song by Daniel Edmonds, who is music director for “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway, about what it means to be in a Broadway show at the holidays and, in many cases, to have to be away from your family and loved ones. Daniel wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Blair Bodine for my 2020 single “Dream On.” I love that song and this one, too. It’s got a great message and I’m so glad I got to record it for this album.

Do you have a favorite Christmas song or perhaps a favorite of the songs on “Sounding Joy”?

That’s not an easy question because I love so many holiday songs, but I’d have to say “The River” by Joni Mitchell, which is about the breakup of a romantic relationship, The song is set near Christmastime, but it’s not really about Christmas. It has become a Christmas standard, though, because it’s so good.

Are you excited to be making your long-awaited debut with the Boston Pops?

Absolutely. Performing with the Boston Pops has been a bucket-list item of mine for years. I used to watch the Pops on TV when John Williams was the conductor, and then when Keith Lockhart took over. When my brother was a student at Berklee College of Music, my mother and I moved to Boston so that we could do his cooking, cleaning, and laundry, so Gerard could give full focus to his studies. Even during that time, I never managed to see the Pops. So sharing the Symphony Hall stage with them is going to be quite a thrill.

How and where will you spend the holidays this year?

I’m heading to Manila to spend Christmas and New Year’s with my mom. I’m actually working New Year’s Eve, but otherwise I’ll have free time to spend with family and friends.

When do rehearsals begin for “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends”?

We go into rehearsals in New York in January for L.A. and then Broadway.

Much of the London cast is coming over to do the show again with Bernadette Peters and you, but do you anticipate changes to the set list?

The creative team may change some songs, but I fell in love with every song I did in the West End production so I’m hoping to do them again – especially “Loving You” and the music from “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” which I did a run of in the Philippines some years ago. And, of course, I want to reprise “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from “Gypsy.” It’s a huge responsibility to do that song. To prepare to do it, I really listened intently to the Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone versions.

There has to be a monstrous quality to Momma Rose and that’s not something I’m known for. Fortunately, Cameron Mackintosh, who devised and produced the show in London, was my biggest champion. He wanted the audience to see what I’m capable of and also where else this could lead me. It feels great to surprise people and leave them thinking, “We’re wrong, she’s not always nice.”

In your career so far, you’ve won Olivier and Tony Awards, received the Presidential Medal of Merit from the Republic of the Philippines, and been named a Disney Legend. And in September, you unveiled your wax figure for Madame Tussaud’s Singapore at a ceremony in Manila. What was that like?

It was an absolute honor and privilege to be asked. Before they begin working on your wax figure, you sit with them for a whole day to decide what image and pose to do. We decided my default concert position would be best, and I even sent them what I affectionately referred to as my “workhouse gown” because I wore it in concert so many times, in so many places, so the wax figure is wearing my actual dress. It’s a glamorous blue crepe gown made by my friend and favorite designer, Rajo Laurel. Tussaud’s even copied the jewelry I always wore with the gown, so everything was just right.

I worked with Tussaud’s in London and every step of the way, they would send me pictures from every angle of the progress they were making on the wax figure. They got every single thing right – from the hair and makeup to my hands and my dimples. When I unveiled it, and saw it completely finished for the first time, I freaked out, because it was like I had a twin. It was a manifestation of 40 years ago, when I was 12 years old and visited Madame Tussaud’s in London and saw wax figures of Liza Minnelli in her pixie haircut and wearing a tux, and Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at the Royal Wedding. I was so excited that my mom was with me for my unveiling, because she was the one who took me to Tussaud’s in London and said, “You never know, one day this might be you.”

Photos of Lea Salonga by Raymund Isaac.

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