LEA SALONGA BRINGS HER WORLD TOUR TO RADY SHELL
With a repertoire steeped in Broadway history and Disney-film lore, Lea Salonga will bring a rich array of material to her performance Tuesday night at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The Philippines-born star of musical-theater stage and the big screen is blessed with a voice that’s both sublime and expressive.
Salonga is most closely associated with her teenage Broadway debut as Kim in “Miss Saigon” in 1991 and her vocal turns for Disney as Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin” and Fa Mulan in “Mulan.” While notable to be sure, they are only part of a long and stellar career that also includes a starring role in the Old Globe Theatre’s world-premiere production of “Allegiance” in 2012. (Salonga later reprised her role on Broadway in the musical about Japanese American internment during World War II.)
I remember being in the audience at the Globe 10 years ago and how moved I was by Salonga’s performance. She is a genuine presence onstage.
Salonga’s “Dream Again Tour” winds up its North American leg in Honolulu a few days after the San Diego concert, then resumes in the United Kingdom in mid-June. That seems fitting as she first played Kim in “Miss Saigon” in London’s West End before the show premiered on Broadway. theshell.org