Lea Salonga heads first all-Filipino cast of Broadway show ‘Here Lies Love’

Stage actors Arielle Jacobs as Imelda Marcos, left, and Jose Llana as Ferdinand Marcos, seen during a performance of ‘Here Lies Love',which opens at the Broadway Theatre in New York on July 20. Photo: AP

Lea Salonga is back on the stage where her Broadway journey first began. But she isn’t playing someone Vietnamese or Chinese or Japanese at the Broadway Theatre.

For the first time in her storied career, the Filipino musical legend is actually playing a Filipino. What’s more, she is surrounded by an all-Filipino cast and she is part of a team of mostly Filipino producers that includes singer H.E.R., comedian Jo Koy and Black Eyed Peas’ Apl.de.Ap.