BANTACULO, MILES JAN ANDREW D.
ART APPRECIATION
CRITIQUE PAPER
As a multiple award-winning Filipina singer and actress, Lea Salonga is renown across the world
for her powerful voice and perfect pitch while portraying her roles in musical theatre. She supplied the
singing voice of Princess Jasmine from the original Aladdin and also Fa Mulan of Mulan. Walt Disney
Company even bestowed Lea Salonga as the “Disney Legend” for her legendary portrayal of these beloved
princesses. She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables, portraying Fantine
on its 2006 revival. At the age of 18, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre
World Awards, in the field of musical theatre. But best known for her lead role Kim in the musical Miss
Saigon earning her a Tony award. Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boubil,
the lyrics were composed by Boubil and Richard Maltby Jr. Miss Saigon tells the tragic romance of an Asian
Woman unwillingly abandoned by her American lover. The play was set during the 1970s at Ho Chi Minh
City (Saigon) during the Vietnam War. It had thousands of performances before the musical was closed.
Unable to find the perfect East Asian actress/singer in the United Kingdom, the producers of Miss
Saigon scoured other countries for the lead role. Lea was only eighteen years old when she originated the
role of Kim in Miss Saigon but seventeen years old when she auditioned. On her audition, she sang “On
My Own” from Alan Boublil and Claude Michel Schonberg’s musical, Les Misérables. And as for the
callback audition, where people assigned to the roles need to come back and be evaluated to secure the
role, she sang “Sun and Moon”, “The Movie in my Mind”, “ I’d give my life for you”, “Too much for one
heart”, “Kim’s Nightmare”, “Overture”, “This money’s yours”, and “This is the hour”, these are all songs
from the show, earning her the lead role of Kim. Miss Saigon tells the story of an Asian woman and an
American soldier during the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
The audition was very unveiling. At the age of seventeen, Lea is already gifted and poised. One of
the clips of her audition showed how courageous Lea is by asking a Broadway Legend’s autograph. It is
surreal how she’s not overdoing it and sings every note effortlessly yet perfectly. Lea has this innocent
face but projects a very powerful voice. You can also see in the video that the audience watching her were
enthralled by her skills and talent. The training she had must have been wearisome.
In her journey to being one of the best actresses in broadways, Miss Saigon has given her mean
to shine and made duets with her co-theatre actors and actresses. A lot of majestic songs have been
presented such as Sun and Moon, a duet between Kim (Lea Salonga) and Chris (Will Chase), as they
proclaim their freshly discovered love for one another. This was one of the songs that impressed the
audition panel and secured Lea’s role as Kim. The song talks about how destiny united them regardless of
originating from clashing foundations. Lea and Will Chase showed a performance that delivers all the
emotions in portraying the song “Sun and Moon”. The lyrics sound and fits perfectly in the story, they
were naïve. Their performance for this song is also so pure and makes the audience feel as if they were
really in love. It is just sad that in reality and as also shown in the play, the sun and moon aren’t supposed
to be together. They were tragically separated during the Fall of Saigon. Eclipse was made for the Sun and
Moon to meet briefly and create a beautiful event but yet, they can never be together for long. The love
story or romance plotted for Miss Saigon is sad because there’s no one to blame. They were all casualties
of the war. Aside from the message of the song, Lea Salonga and Will Chase made everyone feel emotional
and attached to the character of Kim and Chris.
Last Night of the World is the duet between Kim and Chris after their wedding and before they
were separated by the war. After their wedding, Kim and Chris promised each other to remain together
amidst the uncertainties because of the war. There is a mixture of sadness, love, and hope in this song. It
is also one of the songs that represented the whole musical play. Chris made a rash decision to marry Kim
after weeks of knowing her because no matter how wonderful everything may seem, nobody has an idea
of what will happen in the future. It is very uncertain about how the future will go because life is very
harsh and cruel. Not only to Will Chase where she had a duet to, but also to Lisa Capps. I Still Believe is a
duet between Kim and Chris' new wife, Ellen. The song is all about Kim believing that Chris would return
to her amidst the loneliness she went through while Ellen worries about her husband having the
nightmares and his past haunting him wishing that Chris would open up and let her inside. They were all
victims of the war, but it is so heartbreaking to learn that Kim still lives only because she’s believing that
Chris would come back. Kim believes that she can’t give her son the ‘best life’ with her around so she
decided to kill herself. Others might think that Kim was selfish but when a person is battling with herself
and is feeling hopeless, their thinking is distorted. They do not see the reality the way they would when
they are not in suicidal thoughts. She thought that it would be best for Tam if she leaves him to his father.
Suicide is very stigmatized and misunderstood.
A solo was given to her as well as the lead actress. “I'd Give My Life for You” is a solo sung by Kim,
unearthing her affection to her son, Tam. Aside from Lea’s great and expressive voice, varied emotions
can be seen all over her face. It’s an amazing song to express her love for her son. She wanted to protect
him because she brought him to this world. He should not live in war and terrible pain. Kim is willing to
give her life for him without hesitating if that’s what it takes for him to be happy. Knowing the ending of
the musical, she indeed gave her life for her son. It’s just both tragic and beautiful. Lea portrayed the song
very well, she captured the true beauty of being a woman and a mother who loves her family.
In the interview, Ms. Lea Salonga talked about Miss Saigon and her journey to becoming the lead
role of Kim. Lea is very well-spoken and intelligent in answering those questions. It’s very prodigious of
Lea because she had a lot of love scenes but she has never fallen in love before. Yet, she did very well in
the entire play. She managed to be humble and truthful at the same time. In the video, there were a lot
of comments on her accent because she’s an Asian. We can’t ignore how racism became a decease to
humanity. Despite people criticizing her, she persisted with her dreams and became successful. Lea also
showed proof of how flexible Filipino’s are in adapting a language, versatile, plus she was trained young
in musical theatre. She spoke with the listeners’ accents so it would be easy for them to understand. Lea
was only twenty years old when she received the Best Leading Actress in a musical title from Tony Awards.
She is one great performer. As the first Asian woman to ever win a Tony Award, she is one of those who
pushed the Filipino image to emerge on the world stage. Despite being one of the legends in the music
and theatrical industry, Lea has always been humble and sophisticated. Everyone probably loved her
speech also because she first thanked God and ended with God. It is not just the Philippines but the whole
of Asia must be proud of her. Her journey started while she was still young and all her hardship was paid
off for receiving an amazing international award. We can see her heart through her speech, grateful for
what she has, and to have in her future endeavors.