Lea Salonga has spent decades giving some of Disney’s best-known heroines their singing voices. On Friday, Hollywood finally put her own name in the pavement, with several performers who understood exactly how far that voice had traveled standing beside her.
Salonga received the 2,855th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, becoming the first Filipina to receive the honor. Her star was dedicated in the Live Performance category outside the Pantages Theatre, where Brandy, Ming-Na Wen and Darren Criss joined her for the ceremony, according to BroadwayWorld. H.E.R. was also among those in attendance.
Brandy connected Salonga’s Broadway career to the millions who first knew her as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in Mulan. “There are singers who reach notes. Lea reaches hearts and souls,” she told the crowd, later describing Salonga as someone who had “left the doorway open” for the artists who followed.
Salonga looked toward the next person instead. Recalling the little girl in the Philippines who simply loved to perform, she said she hopes a young Filipino child eventually finds her star in Hollywood and thinks, “Oh, maybe I can get here too.”
Brandy Says Salonga ‘Left the Doorway Open’
Brandy’s tribute centered on what Salonga’s voice represented before many young viewers even knew the name of the performer behind it. Through Jasmine and Mulan, she said, Salonga gave children who had felt outside the fairy tale a way into it.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Brandy framed Salonga’s career around the artists and audiences who came after her. Salonga’s list of firsts is long, Brandy said, but the more interesting question was who could dream, enter and keep going because she had already made the journey.
The two women also had a fresh Disney connection of their own. On August 13, Brandy and Salonga performed “A Whole New World” together during Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration at Disney California Adventure. Brandy starred as Cinderella in the landmark 1997 television adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, while Salonga was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work as Jasmine and Mulan.
Ming-Na Wen Shared Mulan With Salonga
Ming-Na Wen knew Salonga’s contribution to Mulan more directly than almost anyone onstage. Wen provided the character’s speaking voice in Disney’s 1998 animated film, while Salonga took over when Mulan sang.
Wen praised Salonga as fierce, determined and someone whose voice could reach straight into an audience. The arrangement gave Mulan two performers without asking viewers to think about the handoff: Wen carried the dialogue, Salonga delivered songs including “Reflection,” and together their performances became one character.
Salonga had already supplied Princess Jasmine’s singing voice six years earlier in Aladdin, including “A Whole New World.” Those Disney credits came after the stage role that first made her an international star.
Darren Criss Remembers Becoming Salonga’s Friend
Darren Criss approached his tribute from the perspective of a Filipino American performer who first knew Salonga as someone far ahead of him in the business. He called her an “unmatched force to be reckoned with” and became emotional while describing what it was like to eventually know her as a friend.
That friendship has included late nights at New York piano bars, where Criss recalled singing songs from Les Misérables with Salonga and, inevitably, finding their way back to “A Whole New World.” It is difficult to spend that much time near a Disney Legend and completely avoid Agrabah.
Salonga originated the role of Kim in the London production of Miss Saigon and won the 1991 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical when she reprised the role on Broadway, becoming the first Asian woman to win a Tony. In 1993, she became the first Asian actress to play Éponine on Broadway in Les Misérables, later returning to the musical as Fantine. Her Broadway credits also include Flower Drum Song, Allegiance, Once on This Island, Here Lies Love and Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends.
Salonga Hopes Another Filipino Kid Finds Her Star
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Salonga greeted the actual unveiling with considerably less ceremony than her résumé might suggest. She joked that she had walked over plenty of famous names during previous trips down Hollywood Boulevard and now other people were free to return the favor.
Her speech returned to what the star might look like to someone much younger. Salonga said she began working as a child without a grand plan for where performing would take her. Forty-five years later, the career has carried her through Broadway, Disney, film, television and concert stages around the world.
Now her name is permanently part of the same Hollywood sidewalk she once walked as a visitor. Salonga’s hope for what happens next was more specific than another award: someday, a Filipino child sees the star, looks down at her name and decides the same destination might be possible for them too.