www.leasalonga.com
Her new comeback International cd "The Journey So Far" is now available in iTunes and will drop in stores August 9, 2011.
On November 7, 2005 she sold out Carnegie Hall in an all new show directed by Richard Jay-Alexander (Bette Midler’s Kiss My Brass tour; Barbra Streisand Timeless Farewell tour) and, just prior to that, launched her first major U.S. city concert tour with performances in San Francisco, Atlantic City, Honolulu, Maui, Chicago, Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, grossing over one million dollars in ticket sales.
Salonga gained international stardom for her award-winning lead role as Kim on Broadway in the 1991 production of Miss Saigon. She not only won a Tony Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Leading Actress in a Musical,” but also the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Laurence Olivier Award (in London where Miss Saigon originated). Her vast array of theater credits also include Les Miserables as Eponine, the Witch in Into The Woods, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, The Goodbye Girl, They’re Playing Our Song, Grease, The Fantasticks, Paper Moon, The Bad Seed, The Sound of Music and Annie.
In Fall 2002, Salonga made another splash on Broadway starring in the hit revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammersteins’s Flower Drum Song, with a re-imagined book by David Henry Hwang, earning her another Tony nomination as Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical.
In March 2007, Lea returned to Broadway to star as Fantine in the 2006 revival of Les Miserables and in July 08 she’ll embark on a 39-week tour of Asia and the Philippines starring in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
A bona fide “Disney Princess”, Salonga can be heard on screen as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s blockbuster smash Aladdin. In a recent article in Southwest Magazine entitled the “50 Greatest Movie Soundtracks,” Aladdin was ranked #17 with specific note made of Miss Salonga’s version of “A Whole New World.” She is also the singing voice of Mulan in Mulan and Mulan 2.
She can be heard on the original cast recordings of Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song (Broadway Revival), The King and I (with Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley), The Nutcracker, Hey, Mr. Producer! and the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. Lea has recorded over a dozen solo CD’s including Lea Salonga, Lea…In Love, By Heart, Songs from the Screen, Songs From Home, Lea…Live!, Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert and, most recently Inspired.
Salonga has also made several notable appearances on such television shows as ER, As The World Turns, Hey, Mr. Producer and Russell Watson: The Voice for PBS and the PBS special Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert.
Lea is originally from the Philippines and she currently maintains residences in New York, Los Angeles and Manila. Her proudest production to date is her daughter Nicole, born in May 06.
Reflection
Lea Salonga Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part
Now I see, that if I were truly to be myself
I would break my family's heart
Staring straight back at me
Why is my reflection someone I don't know
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am, though I've tried
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
How I pray, that a time will come
I can free myself and meet their expectations
On that day, I'll discover someway to be myself
And to make my family proud
They want a docile lamb
No one knows who I am
Must there be a secret me
I'm forced to hide
Must I pretend that I am someone else for all time
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
In Lea Salonga's "Reflection," the lyrics describe the struggle of the singer Mulan to fit into the traditional gender roles and expectations of her family and society. The song starts with her acknowledging that she will never be the "perfect bride" or "perfect daughter" as she questions if she is even meant to play that part. She then muses about being herself, but also acknowledges that doing so would "break" her family's heart. This central conflict is the heart of the song - the need to conform to traditional gender and familial duties versus the desire to be true to oneself.
This internal struggle is mirrored in the chorus when she asks, "Who is that girl I see / Staring straight back at me / Why is my reflection someone I don't know?" The reflection symbolizes the internal conflict that Mulan is grappling with - the person she sees in the mirror doesn't match who she feels inside. She tries to hide her true self and conform to societal expectations, but ultimately fails as "Somehow I cannot hide / Who I am, though I've tried." The song ends with her yearning for the day when she can be free to be herself and make her family proud, hoping that one day her reflection will show who she is inside.
Overall, the song reflects the themes of gender roles, societal expectations, and the struggle to be true to oneself. The emotions of the singer are emphasized through the music, with the soaring notes emphasizing the hope and yearning in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at me
Pay attention to who I am as a person
I will never pass for a perfect bride
I do not conform to society's idea of a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
I also do not conform to society's idea of a perfect daughter
Can it be, I'm not meant to play this part
Perhaps my life is meant to be different from what others expect
Now I see, that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart
But if I were to be true to myself, it would go against my family's wishes and disappoint them
Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me
I do not recognize the person I see in the mirror because she is not who others want me to be
Why is my reflection someone I don't know
I am not familiar with this version of myself that conforms to societal expectations
Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I've tried
I have tried to conform, but it is difficult to suppress who I truly am
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
I want to be able to express my true self to others, rather than continuing to hide it
How I pray, that a time will come, I can free myself and meet their expectations
I hope that one day I can find a way to balance being true to myself while also meeting my family's expectations
On that day, I'll discover someway to be myself, and to make my family proud
If I can achieve this balance, I will not only be able to be true to myself, but also make my family proud
They want a docile lamb
They want someone who is obedient and submissive
No one knows who I am
No one truly knows or understands the real me
Must there be a secret me, I'm forced to hide
I am forced to keep a part of who I am hidden in secrecy
Must I pretend that I am someone else for all time
Am I destined to always pretend to be someone I am not?
When will my reflection show, who I am inside
Again, I long for the time when I can express my true self to others and not have to keep it hidden
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: David Zippel, Matthew Wilder
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind