Ni LITO MAÑAGO

BAHAGI ng pagdiriwang ng Lytham Festival 2017 sa Lancashire, England ang Broadway star na si Lea Salonga nitong nakaraang Linggo.

Sa poster na nakita namin sa social media, nangunguna ang pangalan ni Lea sa performer ng “West End Proms Take Two” kasama ang iba pang big names sa West End theaters katulad nina Ramin Karimloo, Lucie-Mae Summer, Jodie Prenger, Ruthie Henshall, Claire Sweeney at grupong Collabro na grand winner ng 2014 British Got Talent.

Ang Lytham Proms Festival ay itinuturing na biggest live music event sa buong Inglatera.

At dahil nasa England na rin ang multi-awarded theater actress, sinamantala na rin niya ang pagkakataong mapanood ang Miss Saigon na kasalukuyang on tour ngayon sa buong UK at Ireland.

Nasa second leg na ang grupo ng Miss Saigon at nagpe-perform sa Birmingham Hippodrome as main cast ang pawang Pinoy stars na pinangungunahan nina Red Concepcion (The Engineer), Gerald Santos (Thuy) at Joreen Bautista (alternate Kim).

Sa kanyang official at verified Instagram account, ipinost ni Lea ang cast board na nilagyan niya ng caption na, “The Engineer, Kim and Thuy are all Pinoy! Made me feel very proud to see this. Certainly not the first time it’s happened, and it won’t be the last. @misssaigonuk.”

May post din ang The Voice PH resident coach sa kanyang Twitter account. Sabi niya, “Just saw Miss Saigon in Birmingham. I was so proud to see a completely Pinoy principal lineup! Congrats to the entire company! Be proud!”

Hindi rin naman makapaniwala ang former Pinoy Pop Superstar grand winner na nasa audience ang original Kim ng Miss Saigon.

Shoutout ni Gerald sa kanyang Twitter account, “So the original Kim watched us last night! Such a pump knowing @MsLeaSalonga was watching us! Thank you Madam! #MissSaigonUK #TheHeatIsOn.”

“Thank you @MsLeaSalonga!!! You really are an inspiration,” hirit pa ni Gerald.

Tatlong red heart emoticon naman ang sagot ni Joreen sa Twitter post ni Lea.

Nagpaabot din ng pasasalamat ang Irish actor na si Vinny Coyle, ang 1st Cover Chris, sa pagdalo ni Lea sa kanilang performance at sabi nito, “What an absolute priviledge to play ‘Chris’ @MissSaigonUK in front of @MsLeaSalonga tonight. A memory which will never be forgotten!”

Si Lea ang nagbukas ng pintuan para sa Pinoy actors sa international theater at kauna-unahang Pinay at Asian actress na nag-uwi ng karangalan bilang Best Actress in a Musical sa Laurence Olivier Awards (London) at Tony Awards (New York City, USA).