Dennis Gaviola

Article (news)

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News North America

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iPapwajW2v4?&amp;t=1sautoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>When I logged onto Zoom for my interview with Lea Salonga last week, I was nearly breathless, having sprinted from a Manhattan hotel elevator to my newly assigned room, apologizing for looking frazzled. She smiled back from a plainly lit room somewhere in Manila, dressed simply in a zipped-up black top and her signature cropped hair, white AirPods in place, a picture of groundedness in the eye of a joyful storm.Only weeks earlier, the world had learned that she would be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and she was still visibly processing it.“It’s crazy,” she said, blinking into the camera, momentarily at a loss for words. “I’m still — I mean, I can’t — It’s… yeah, I mean, okay, I’m incredibly grateful, incredibly happy, but it’s still a little surreal.”Lea Salonga has never been one to perform humility. She simply is humbled by the honor because she knows the road she’s walked to get here. And yet, to hear her speak, you’d think she was still back at the beginning. She shares what she thinks what will likely happen at the ceremony.“I may burst into tears. But I will look at it to make sure there are no spelling errors,” she says. “Over my entire career, I’ve had my name misspelled enough times.”This is Lea. The icon who originated Kim in &quot;Miss Saigon,&quot; sang for two Disney princesses, and filled concert halls around the globe. And still, she isn’t exempted from her name’s misspelling and mispronunciation.But if she seems too grounded, let’s be clear: the woman’s feet have never left the stage, never stopped moving. At 54, she’s still starring, still singing, still rehearsing. In fact, during our conversation, she was between rehearsals for &quot;Into the Woods&#x27; in Manila. <div> </div><div>Passing the baton</div>She’s also sharing that stage now with her son, Nic Chien, who’s making his own debut as a principal in the show. “Ang galing n’ya. He’s really, really good,” she says with no effort to disguise the pride in her voice. “He understands the text. He understands this character. He’s figuring it out.”But this isn’t a sentimental spotlight for a showbiz family. This is something quieter and more enduring. It’s the feeling of lineage being lived in real time. Of batons passed not just in metaphor but in musical phrasing and blocking onstage. Theater for the Salongas is a shared language.Lea never loses sight of the village, the ecosystem. She says this about her star on the Walk of Fame: “I&#x27;m thankful to the Manila International Film Festival for nominating me and everyone that worked to make this happen.” she says. Lisa Lew of MIFF and other community members campaigned hard to give Lea her much-deserved recognition. “You have lifted me up to get this honor. And I will not be forgetting this.”Her long and distinguished career is marked by milestones. She’s a Tony and Laurence Olivier award winner, Disney Legend, a performer of an Oscar-winning song, and so many other firsts for Filipino and Asians talents.  “I can be called a trailblazer all day, but the thing is, it’s not a solo thing. There has to be somebody picking up the baton, you know,” she says. “And it&#x27;s one of those things where, I&#x27;ll pass the baton on to somebody, and then it&#x27;ll get passed on, and then I&#x27;ll get it back, and then I&#x27;ll pass it on again. I&#x27;m so glad that there have been so many people passing the baton to one another, and that there are so many relays happening at once. There are people who are blazing trails in different parts of this industry. We&#x27;re everywhere.”She’s seen what happens when the next ones do. When Darren Criss wins two Tonys. When Nicole Scherzinger brings the house down. Salonga was at the Tonys this year as a presenter, and seemingly, an unofficial Filipino talents cheer captain. But she was glowing with the kind of pure theater fan joy for every artist at the Tonys as she heaped accolades on host Cynthia Erivo. And she wasn’t alone.“I birthed a theater nerd,” she said proudly, referring to her son Nic. “We were screaming for everybody.”<div> </div><div>BTS fangirl</div>“Screaming for everybody” might as well be the ethos of Lea’s life. She’s ARMY. In the most unexpected twist of all, Lea Salonga has become the world’s most relatable BTS stan. It was delightful to witness her connect it to being part of the Netflix animated mega-hit &quot;K-Pop Demon Hunters.&quot;“I sing one line!” she said, cracking up. “But it is one line I am so glad to have done because of how huge a hit it is. I mean, you’ve got BTS members singing the songs. Does that mean that I am now officially one degree away from BTS because of this movie?”She was joking. Mostly. “I went in to sing one line, it was literally an hour out of my day. I didn’t know what was going to come of this. And now it’s one of the biggest hits on Netflix… I see Jungkook singing lines by the Saja Boys, and I’m like, Are you kidding me? Is this happening right now?”That one singing line was for a younger version of the character Celine, a fierce but flawed mother. Her part might be fleeting, but Lea knows the impact. “It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss me moment,” she says. “And I’m happy to have done it.”It’s not just Netflix stardom by proxy. Lea’s connection to BTS runs deeper than a single line in a blockbuster. It’s full-blown, no-shame devotion. And it started with one specific moment. “The minute I saw V’s face in &#x27;Dynamite&#x27;, I’m like: And I’m gone. That’s it.” She laughs. “I will follow BTS off a cliff.” Her tone was half-serious, fully delighted. She started naming favorite projects and says “mwah” after each, like a true ARMY lifer: &quot;Golden&quot; by Jungkook. &quot;Layover&quot; by V. Everything in &quot;Agust D.&quot; But one album stands out.“&#x27;Right Place, Wrong Person&#x27; by RM,” she said without hesitation. “That’s the hill I think I’ll die on.”Her appreciation isn’t casual. It’s deep, technical, musical. “This guy really threw the ball far to push himself and challenge himself into doing things that weren’t expected of him.” And like any true musician, she breaks it down. “I try to listen to music that is very different from mine. That’s why I like &#x27;Right Place, Wrong Person&#x27; as much as I do. It’s not for everybody… You listen to it and think: I don’t know if I can write on that yet. It takes a minute to acquire it.”She paused. “But it’s just so good. I need multiple listening sessions,” she says. “Just the sound. The production. The melodies. How all these instruments come together. I just need time to listen to all of that.”<div> </div><div>Pursuit of excellence </div>What started as a detour, a side conversation about a hit film and a favorite band, suddenly sounded like the thesis of who Lea is: someone deeply moved by craft, effort, and the unrelenting pursuit of excellence.“It’s how people talk about you, too, you know,” I said. She laughed. “I appreciate that.”It’s poetic to see someone who’s an icon in her own right be such a fan. Because here is Lea Salonga, a woman raised in Manila and now based in New York, who found her way to the Walk of Fame not by chasing stardom, but by mastering craft. She insistently shows up with excellence year after year, in project after project. She’s the performer who still treats every job, big or small, the full attention it deserves.“You have to be,” she says, with signature clarity. “That’s kind of non-negotiable. If you’re gonna do something, please do it well. Do it well for yourself.”And yet, her work extends beyond the stage. As a supportive mother of a transgender son, she is navigating complexities that no rehearsal could have prepared her for. “Parenthood, even in the most ideal of circumstances, is uncharted territory,” she told me. Her approach? Honesty. Open-heartedness. Letting her son know he’s not alone. “This world can be hostile, but being honest is one of the bravest things that this young person can be,” she says. “I&#x27;m grateful that we have resources, and that we have trans friends that we are able to speak to with regards to their own unique experiences as trans people in this crazy world, and how they are doing it. From what I&#x27;m able to gather, each of them are doing it with kindness and with grace, but with a fighting spirit, which one needs as a human in this world.”She describes further how she navigates their life. “Sometimes it’s a great day. Sometimes it&#x27;s like: Aaaand we&#x27;ve just been thrown for a loop. But on the whole, it&#x27;s been challenging but not impossible to navigate.” In that sentiment is the sum of it all: her strength, her artistry, her resolute optimism. Lea Salonga is still performing at the highest level, still showing up, still making space for others. Soon, a star in Los Angeles will mark the path she’s carved.

Lea Salonga looks back on her journey with humility and humor, sharing how she keeps evolving — as an artist, a mother, and yes, a full-blown BTS stan.

Lea Salonga looks back on her journey with humility and humor, sharing how she keeps evolving — as an artist, a mother, and yes, a full-blown BTS stan.

Here in Hollywood: Lea Salonga talks Walk of Fame, K-pop cameos, and life as a BTS fan

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Here in Hollywood: Lea Salonga talks Walk of Fame, K-pop cameos, and life as a BTS fan

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News North America

Published Jul 25, 2025 05:41 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 26, 2025 09:10 AM PHT

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Here in Hollywood

Yong Chavez

Lea Salonga

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