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January 22, 2026 | 4:58pm
MANILA, Philippines — The excitement in Lea Salonga’s voice when she proclaimed she is not playing a dead girl for her first “Les Miserables” show in Manila was palpable.
The Broadway star portrays Mrs. Thenardier, one half of the villanous duo in the Manila show called “Les Miserables World Tour Spectacular,” currently running at The Theatre in Solaire Parañaque City until March 1. The other half is Red Concepcion, who plays Monsieur Thenardier.
“It's so nice. I don't die and I get to be kind of not the one that, you know, na maaawa kayo sa kanya? No, it's not, that's not it. It was so funny, so nice. It was like living. Thank you,” Lea told the Manila press at yesterday’s media event in Solaire.
Lea’s history with the world-famous musical featuring music by Claude-Michel Schonberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and produced by Cameron Mackintosh dates back to when she was starting her theater career.
Mackintosh, together with GMG Productions and Nick Grace Management, brings “Les Miserables World Tour Spectacular” to Manila.
The multi-awarded Broadway star recalled how she was inspired by it when she was auditioning for “Miss Saigon.”
“My relationship with this show, it's long, as in I picked the song from ‘Les Miserables’ to audition for ‘Miss Saigon,’” Lea shared.
Lea was handpicked among the thousands to play the first Kim in the musical’s debut in London’s West End in 1989.
She admitted that she became obsessed with “Les Miserables” cast recording, calling it “unlike anything I had heard previous to that.”
Her love for it was fanned when Mackintosh treated her to a show.
Thenardier, the unscrupulous middle-class parents of the tragic heroine Eponine, became an interesting subject for Lea.
“My obsession became three dimensional and has continued on throughout my career and throughout my life. I still sing a lot of music in concert, but it's so wonderful to now explore this character, and to be able to focus on this and to try a different sound and dialect and posture, and it's been so much fun and exploring this other woman,” Lea said.
The actress shared that unlike playing Eponine and Fantine decades ago where she was trying to perfect her roles, she is just going to have fun playing Mrs. T.
“I think the older that I've gotten in my relationship with this show, and the older I've gotten with each role, I've taken each role less and less seriously than the previous one,” she quipped.
Prior to playing Mrs. T, Lea was the first Asian actress to play Eponine during her Broadway debut in 1993. Years later, Lea played another tragic character, Fantine, in its Broadway revival in 2007. Lea subsequently portrayed both Eponine and Fantine in other runs of the musical and its anniversary concerts.
For her first “Les Miserable” show in her home country, Lea is quite looking forward to bringing to life one of the show’s iconic characters, and to star with another Filipino theater pride, Rachelle Ann Go, who portrays Fantine in their show.
“I've never done it at home, and I get to do it in front of friends and my family, play with local musicians that have been in concert with me here… This is just a joyous experience, and I'm hoping that the joy travels to the audience,” Lea said.
RELATED: Lea Salonga brings her storied musical theater life to Hong Kong’s MusicalCon
