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| Lea Salonga Makes Carnegie Hall Debut On November 7th Tony Award winning star of Miss Saigon Lea Salonga will make her debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall's Isaac Stern Auditorium, the premier classical music performance space in the United States, in New York City on Monday, November 7th, 2005 at 7PM. Performing one night only, Salonga's concert will be an intimate show with a mix of show tunes, jazz standards and other popular favorites. Excited about her first solo concert at Carnegie Hall, she comments: "It has always been my dream to take my turn at the most respected concert hall in the world. As enormous as that is for me, I still plan on making it an intimate show, singing the songs I love to sing and making some good music with a band of musicians the good old fashioned way." Salonga gained international acclaim for her award winning performance as Kim in the London and Broadway productions of Miss Saigon. In addition to winning the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for creating the lead role in London in 1989, she also garnered the coveted Tony Award as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for "Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical" when the show opened on Broadway in 1991. Then, in 1993, she became the first Asian actor to play the widely popular role of Eponine in Les Miserables on Broadway and reprised the same role in London, Hawaii and the "all-star" tenth anniversary concert production at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Salonga recently completed the first leg of her first U.S. concert tour. The successful show has been filling impressive venues such as The Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, CA and The Arie Crown Theater in Chicago, IL. She has performed in international concert halls in cities such as London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Phuket, Manila and recently, Munich, in a Leonard Bernstein Tribute as Maria in West Side Story. She returned to Broadway in the fall of 2002 when she starred in the hit "new" production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song. Among her vast array of theater credits on international stage include the lead roles of Catherine in David Auburn's Proof, The Witch in Into the Woods, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Sonia Walsk in They're Playing Our Song, Sandy Dumbrowski in Grease, the title role in Annie, and recently, Lizzie in Baby. On television, she was seen in an episode of the hit show, E.R., and re-created the role of Lien Hughes for CBS's As the World Turns. She is also the singing voice behind two Disney favorites: the heroine Mulan and Princess Jasmine in Aladdin. In Aladdin, she recorded the Academy Award winning song, A Whole New World, with Brad Kane. Richard Jay-Alexander, best known for directing and producing Bernadette Peters's Carnegie Hall concerts Live at Carnegie Hall and Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein, and the concert tours of Bette Midler's Kiss My Brass and Barbra Streisand's Timeless Farewell, will direct Salonga's Carnegie Hall debut. He was associated with theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh for a long time, having served as Executive Director of Mackintosh's American company for ten years, running its day-to-day operations in North America. He was Associate Director and Executive Producer of Mackintosh's original Broadway, touring and Canadian productions of Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Five Guys Named Moe. Jay-Alexander was the Executive Producer of Five Guys Named Moe's Grammy-nominated original cast recording. He also produced the Grammy-nominated recordings of Bernadette Peters's Live from Carnegie Hall and Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |