Esteemed Disney legend and musical theatre icon Lea Salonga graced the Festival Theatre Edinburgh with her new tour “Stage, Screen and Everything in between.”
Esteemed Disney legend and musical theatre icon Lea Salonga graced the Festival Theatre Edinburgh with her new tour “Stage, Screen and Everything in between.” Audiences can look forward to hearing beloved songs from Lea’s most iconic roles, including hits from Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Aladdin, and Mulan as well as a variety of stage and screen favourites with some surprises along the way.
Lea is joined onstage by her band led by her brother and musical director Gerard Salonga and backing singers Adam Filipe and Sarah Galbraith. Together they take you on a journey through Lea’s impressive career and iconic moments that helped her define it. Lea’s natural stage presence and stunning vocals soar through this dynamic setlist.
The show opened with an audio clip of Lea’s life-changing Tony Award win before she graced the stage to sing “Pure Imagination” (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and “A Million Dreams” (The Greatest Showman). These opening songs demonstrated Lea’s flawless vocals and perfect pitch beautifully. This was followed seamlessly with a Rodger and Hammerstein melody featuring songs from South Pacific, Cinderella, and Carousel.
Lea engages the audience between songs with her charming and endearing personality and anecdotes. Telling stories of her time on and off stage and sharing some of her career highlights with her fans in the audience. Next on the set She performed “She Used to Be Mine” (Waitress), this being my highlight of the setlist as her vocals shined through the entire song wonderfully while conveying the emotion and beauty of the number.
They went on to surprise the audience with a fun and electrifying version of “Staying Alive” (Saturday Night Fever) before talking about iconic soundtracks and moments in movie history and the ability some songs have to be able to transport you to another world before singing a melody of iconic movie songs. Featuring songs from Robin Hood, Arthur, Titanic, and The Breakfast Club, this proved to be a big hit with the audience.
Lea went on to perform songs from the show “That Changed Her Life” Miss Saigon, demonstrating how her voice has matured since playing the role at just 18 years old and giving her backing singers a time to shine performing duets with her and highlighting their incredible vocals altogether. Before ending Act One with a spellbinding rendition of “Being Alive” (Company).
Act two showcased Lea’s incredible talent and iconic status in musical theatre. She paid homage to Disney with a melody of her favourite princess songs and delivered powerful performances of “Edelweiss” and “Skyfall.” The magic continued with her renditions of “Reflection” and “A Whole New World,” bringing these Disney classics to life.
Closing the show was the classics “On My Own” (Les Miserable) and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (Gypsy) Lea was met with a well-deserved standing ovation and you could feel the love and admiration the audience had for her, before coming back on stage for two encores. Performing “Elephant Love Melody” (Moulin Rouge) with Adam whose charm and vocals fit perfectly, proving a fun way to close the show followed by the finale of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” (Wizard of Oz) and a second standing ovation.
This show is a musical theatre fan dream set list with some fun unexpected moments and Lea lives up to the living Disney legend and theatre icon titles. She is a force of nature, and her vocals are effortless. This show displays the versatility she has in her vocal ability and her charming stage presence.
REVIEWER: Suzzi Hirst