DREAM COME TRUE...
Award-winning Broadway and West End star Lea Salonga chats to MARION MCMULLEN about lockdown, lies and getting back on stage again
Where did you spend the pandemic?
I was home in Manilla for most of it. I’m a natural trouper and I was like, ‘Oh, I have been preparing for this moment my entire life’.
I was thinking this is not going to be forever, but after a while there’s the isolation and that feeling of ‘Oh, my gosh, when is this going to end?’ and the feeling of vulnerability when you realise ‘When am I going to be performing again? When am I going to be able to the thing that I love?’.
It was like, ‘Am I grounded the rest of my adult life? Is this it? Have I sang my last song in public?’.
One of my friends, who is a theatre director, now residing in Vancouver, said: “Theatre has been through plagues, we’ve been through worse, we’ll be fine, just give it a couple of years, just give it time, and it will be OK.”
It’s the fear of the unknown, that uncertainty, that I think is the part that got everyone.
What stopped you going stir crazy in quarantine?
My friends. Every few weeks we would go on Zoom and drink together and play games and my daughter would sometimes join in the games. Sometimes we would just shoot the breeze and we would be in all parts of the world.
I think what kept me sane was my personal relationships.
What has it been like filming the new series of Pretty Little Liars?
(Laughs) It’s been quite the adventure. I’m one of the moms in the show, which means the heavy lifting belongs to the younger people, as it should.
The five of them – lovely young women and very talented actors – are this new generation of liars and the moms, we have secrets of our own that we are trying our best to keep a lid on. We are trying to keep things quiet, trying to clamp down the intensity of the secret we are keeping.
The moms are all in cahoots with each other and trying not to let anyone else find out exactly what is going on, but in a TV show like this the truth always comes out and stuff hits the fan.
It’s been such a lovely experience.
Are you looking forward to bringing your Dream Again tour to the UK?
Oh, yes. It’s been busy with wardrobe and shoes and all of that wonderful stuff. All the stuff that prefaces the fun part which is getting to perform in venues and actually touring.
We are still in a pandemic, but it seems to be kind of winding down.
It’s figuring out how to stay safe, how backstage can remain that way and the audience can stay safe as well, figuring out all of the things that we never had to think about before, so the ball game has kind of changed.
The first time that I got to sing since the pandemic was on Christmas Day in Dubai at the Dubai Expo with this revolving door of performers, people like Alicia Keys, Coldplay, and it was fantastic.
It felt like a Christmas miracle for a bunch of us because a lot of us had not performed for a crowd of any size for so long, let along a crowd of 10,000 people.
We did holiday songs, hits and songs from Disney [Lea sings Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in the Mulan movies and has been given the title Disney Legend] and we pulled from the worlds of jazz and pop, and it was just a fun night.
My body remem- bered how to do it, but my brain was like, ‘Oh, it’s been a while’. But it turned out great.
Has flying again been a novelty?
The first time I got on a plane again I was a little nervous, I’ll be honest. It was to travel to New York and it was the first time that I had travelled in almost two years. [Laughs] I was so excited that when the flight attendant asked me what I wanted for dinner I was bouncing up and down in my seat. And even through the masks, everyone was just happy to be on a plane. I was excited and giddy. I’ve actually got to do quite a bit of flying lately, so it’s no longer a novelty but when my daughter first flew with me to Dubai and then to New York recently, she had not travelled in a couple of years.
She’s done long drives with me and now the aeroplane thing, but by the time the tours are over we are going to be so tired of all the travelling.
It’s going to be, ‘Oh my gawd, I think I need a break’.
Your brother Gerard is musical director and conductor for the tour. Is he looking forward to being in the UK with you?
My body remembered how to do it, but my brain was like, ‘Oh, it’s been a while’.
My brother has never toured the UK before and I think he’s only ever been to visit London, so he’s very excited.
He has friends that work in orchestras in the UK so on Facebook they are saying, ‘So are you actually coming to the UK?’ He’s like, ‘Absolutely, I’m going to be there.’
I foresee pints of beer and steak dinners and just shooting the breeze and hours and hours of catching up.
Lea on returning to performing after lockdown
Lea Salonga – Dream Again tours from June 18. Visit cuffeandtaylor. com for tour dates and booking information