Whether you grew up with Disney’s animated classics of the 1990s or have a love for musical theatre, Filipino actress-singer Lea Salonga needs little introduction.
The award-winning Broadway star, who last performed in Kuala Lumpur in 2011, recently returned to serenade local fans in From Broadway To Disney: Lea Salonga With The MPO late last month. All three performances at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP), KLCC, sold out, marking an impressive venue debut.
At the final matinee, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) welcomed Salonga, 55, with a special overture featuring some of the best-known songs from her repertoire. The orchestra was led by resident conductor Gerard Salonga, her younger brother, making the occasion a long-awaited musical reunion.
“My earliest musical memory with my sister is of playing chopsticks on the piano together. I must have been four years old. She started piano lessons a year before I did, and the fun of playing these easy duets was part of what eventually prompted me to take lessons,” said Gerard, 53, who was a reassuring presence on the DFP stage alongside his older sister.
Despite feeling under the weather, Salonga opened with stirring renditions of Pure Imagination from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman. For those experiencing her voice live for the first time, it was an immediate reminder of the vocal command and precision that have made her one of musical theatre’s most celebrated performers.
With full-scale Broadway and West End productions hopefully returning to the Klang Valley, the local musical theatre scene may be on the cusp of a change. In the meantime, Salonga’s appearance offered Malaysian fans a chance to hear an international headliner revisit the classics, a welcome reminder of the enduring appeal of musical theatre. Earlier this year, Salonga spent about two months in Singapore, juggling several projects.
These included the maiden voyage of the Disney Adventure cruise ship, a career-spanning concert series at Esplanade Theatre in March, and a subsequent run as Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables: The Arena Spectacular World Tour at Sands Theatre.
With Salonga appearing so frequently across the Causeway, it was perhaps no surprise that From Broadway To Disney sold out following the announcement of the MPO’s 2026 season.
A family connection
On the DFP stage, Salonga kept the audience entertained with her easy wit, sharing anecdotes and playful exchanges with Gerard. She noted that this was the first time she had performed with her brother conducting.
“When Gerard was appointed the resident conductor here at the MPO in 2019, I thought I’d surely be invited to perform here within the first two years ... but then Covid happened, and before you know it, he’s been here seven years, so this has been a long time coming,” she said.
As the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in Mulan, Salonga’s concert would hardly have been complete without a Disney medley. The hall stirred with excitement as the opening notes of Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid rang out.
She followed with A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella, Home from the musical adaptation of Beauty And The Beast, and Colours Of The Wind from Pocahontas. Two of her most beloved Disney songs, Reflection from Mulan and A Whole New World from Aladdin, came in the second half.
In KL, Salonga also revisited the musical that launched her international career. Following her recent Broadway appearance in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, after acclaimed runs in Los Angeles and London, she paid tribute to Miss Saigon with a medley from the show. Her performance as Kim earned her a Tony Award, making her the first Asian woman to win the honour.
“When I auditioned for Miss Saigon, I was a biology major in university, studying to one day become a doctor. But those 20 minutes in the audition room forever altered my future.
"Safe to say, were it not for Miss Saigon, we wouldn’t be here sharing all this incredible music, so here’s to the musical that brought me many firsts,” said Salonga, who divides her time between her home in Manila and work in the United States.
The programme, arranged by Gerrard, ranged beyond Disney and Miss Saigon, taking in musical theatre favourites from Les Misérables, Saturday Night Fever and Company. Guest vocalists Nigel Huckle and Sarah Galbraith joined Salonga for parts of the programme, adding further variety to the afternoon.
For the finale, Salonga tackled Defying Gravity from Wicked, a vocally demanding number marked by its expansive range and shifting keys. She returned for an encore featuring On My Own from Les Misérables, before switching gears with Whitney Houston’s hit I Wanna Dance With Somebody, getting the audience on its feet.
The concert was a reminder that, for all the familiarity of Salonga’s recordings, hearing her voice in person is an entirely different experience. Here’s hoping Malaysian fans won’t have to wait another 15 years for her next visit.
