The star who has been playing Miss Saigon on Broadway is moving from the Vietnam War to the French Revolution.
For the first three months of this year, Lea Salonga, who originated the title role in "Miss Saigon" in London and New York, will play Eponine in "Les Miserables" at the Imperial Theater.It is a much smaller role, but the Philippine native says she doesn't care. "When I was auditioning for `Miss Saigon,' I had to go to London for final auditions," she says. "They treated us to see `Phantom,' `Les Miz' and `Cats.' I saw Eponine. It was her song, "On My Own," that I used to audition for `Miss Saigon.' I thought, `I'd love to do that part someday."'
She thought that because she was Asian, she wouldn't be considered.
When "Miss Saigon" opened on Broadway in 1991, it was shaded by controversy: Should Jonathan Pryce, a non-Asian, play the Asian role of the engineer? He had done it in the London production.
"I don't really care if an Asian plays an Asian," Salonga says.
There also was controversy over whether Salonga was an "international star" and should play Kim, the Vietnamese bar girl who is crowned "Miss Saigon," or whether an Asian-American should play her.
Knowing that not many Asians are cast in Caucasian parts, as she has been in "Les Miz," Salonga still opts for openness in casting.
"As long as they're good enough for the part, let them play it at their best," she says. "Jonathan Pryce acted so sleazy you felt oily all over. The Exxon Valdez was nothing compared to him on that stage.
"People are far off enough from the stage anyway, once you have the makeup and costumes on, it makes no difference. It's all make-believe anyway."
Salonga, 21, whose first name is pronounced LAY-ah, left "Miss Saigon" in March after hundreds of performances in London and here. "I felt myself getting stale," she says.
Cameron Mackintosh, producer of both "Miss Saigon" and "Les Miz," didn't promise her a part in another one of his shows.
But she has been busy enough since she left "Miss Saigon."
In the animated movie "Aladdin," she sang a duet during the magic carpet ride when Princess Jasmine and Aladdin fall in love.
When Salonga was scouted for "Miss Saigon," she hadn't performed outside the Philippines "in anything mainstream" - only things for the Philippine community.
"I was in pre-med when I auditioned. Weird, isn't it?", she says, in a youthfully jaunty tone. "Now this is pretty much what I want my life to be. I've sort of made my home in the States now. I probably will go to college here. It's a matter of finding the time to do it . . . My aunt finished college after she raised her kids. She tells me, `Take these opportunities while they're here. You can always go back to school."'
Salonga's clear, pure soprano voice is always mentioned in reviews. She only went to a voice teacher, Mary Hammond, after she found herself getting tired in "Miss Saigon" in London.
"The nice thing about her is she lets you keep your natural qualities and makes you stronger technically," Salonga says. "She makes you sound like yourself."
She has made friends in America, Salonga says. "At first, I had no time to feel weird. I went straight to work, then I'd have a nice supper and get to sleep. I called home every so often. My phone bills are way up there. People in New York are rude on the street, rough and tough. Inside buildings, everybody is nice. Doors make a magic transformation.
"I don't have a boyfriend. I have no time for one. Maybe after `Les Miz' I will . . . I think I'll get married someday. I have crushes . . . My brother, who's 19, is in college. He teases me that he has a girlfriend before I have a boyfriend."