From: aku@leland.Stanford.EDU (Andrew Chia-Tso Ku)
Subject: Re: Lea Salonga in Concert (comments)
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 20:51:45 GMT

I am forwarding this posting from Peter Luk (Peter.Luk@eng.sun.com) since
he is currently unable to post.

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In article <1992Oct4.234230.26046@leland.Stanford.EDU> bunnyman@leland.Stanford.EDU (Edwin Chen) writes:
>Just saw Lea Salonga in her second solo performance in the US last night.
>It was at the Civic Auditorium in San Franscisco, and needless to say,
>it was great!  Her voice is still as pure as when I first heard it
>in Miss Saigon back in February.  She sang selections from Phantom,
>Miss Saigon, King and I, Less Miz, along with some traditional
>Filipino folk songs, and "From a Distance" as the encore.

I, too, attended Lea's concert at the Civic Auditorium, but I am afraid it
was only a so-so, average performace for me.

With "Miss Saigon" the only (major) accomplishment in her short and astounding
career (first woman to win Olivier and Tony in the same year?), it is
difficult to have a full program for a concert without borrowing material
from other resources; in this case, Lea borrowed heavily from recent popular
shows (with "The King and I" the lone exception not being recent). In general,
she delivered the numbers well, and it was a treat to hear all the much too
familiar melodies performed live on stage. However, as much as I enjoyed her
performance in MS, I felt that Lea has a pleasant voice but a very limited
range. This was particularly obvious in "All I Ask of You" where some part
of a phrase was transposed one (or two) octave lower before it went back up
to what it's supposed to be. "Anthem" was partly and jointly sung with Chris
Pecaro (I believe that was him, I missed Lea's introduction of him), a small
part of "Memory" was barely audible (the verse before the climatic "Touch 
me...")...etc. One the other hand, she did an outstanding "I Have a Dream",
and was at her best with all the MS numbers. "From the Distance" caught me 
by surprise and made me to want more (the delivery was like a cross between
Nanci Griffith and Bette Midler, and I thoroughly enjoyed it) but 
unfortunately it ended the show.

I didn't quite like the orchestration of the show, it sounded thin and
lacked the fullness one would expect from a 35-member ensemble. (But then
I was sitting literally "stage left" so that might explain part of the
problem. Anyone else thought the orchestra was just okay?) Chris Pecaro
was a "lame" Phantom, so all you Wilkenson and Crawford fans have nothing
to worry about 8). His duets with Lea for the MS numbers were very
convincing, for a split moment one could almost believe that they were
performing MS on stage. I liked his rendition of "Empty Chairs" which I
thought was equally driving and vigorous.

It is interesting to note that Lea was a first year pre-med student before
Cameron picked her for the MS role. She has since decided to have a career
in theatre, and has sent in her application to Yale and other drama schools
in England. She will be performing the role of Eponine on Broadway in 
January, and she will also have a CD out on Atlantic soon. Personally, I
think she has great potential, with proper training, guidance, and a good
agent, she can be very successful. Until then, I would say she has a fine
voice for a "pop" artist, and I would keep my eyes and ears open for
anything she will be doing in the future.

-Pete