Disney Legend Lea Salonga on Her New Film “Yellow Rose,” Her Idea for a Filipina Princess, and Being the Singing Voice Behind Mulan and Jasmine
May 3, 2019
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Most Disney fans have heard Lea Salonga, but haven’t necessarily seen her. Her voice breathed life into two of the most iconic, most empowered Disney princesses of all time, singing “A Whole New World” as Jasmine in Aladdin(1992), and “Reflection” as Mulan in Mulan (1998). And since then, the artist has been rightfully named an official Disney legend.
But beyond, and even before her work with Disney, Salonga has made a name for herself on the stage with her iconic Tony Award-winning Broadway performance as Kim in 1989’s Miss Saigon and being the first Asian performer to play both Éponine and Fantine in Les Misérables (in the musical’s 10th and 25th anniversary concerts in London, respectively). Most recently, she also played the Goddess of Love Erzulie in the 2018 revival of Once on This Island. And in addition to all this, she has sold out concerts all over the world, from the Sydney Opera House to the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Now, aside from embarking on another sold-out tour, the living legend takes her talents to the silver screen for the first time in 24 years. Salonga opens the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival with Diane Paragas’s independent feature film Yellow Rose. It tells the story of a 17-year-old Filipino-American girl named Rose (Eva Noblezada) from a small Texas town who dreams of becoming a big country music star but is hindered by the threat of deportation after her mom gets picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Salonga plays Gail, Rose’s aunt who is also dealing with her own issues as a Filipino in America.
