The concert? Brava to Lea, her guests, the orchestra, and the production team. Let me list her repertoire with my personal comments, if I may:
ACT 1
OVERTURE - Miss Saigon theme " This is the Hour" - I wasn't expecting this overture. Blew me away with the thunderous symphony. Quite dramatic.
Lea entered from stage right in a classic Filipino designer black tuxedo pant suit.
ANOTHER HUNDRED PEOPLE - Company - Got to admit, Sondheim songs are just too difficult to sing. She did it well.
WHEN OCTOBER GOES - Barry Manilow - THE BEST remake of a song...let me tell you...with this song, she immediately captured the audience. Sung with so much passion and emotion, it just brought the huge hall to a stand still.
NOTHING - A Chorus Line - This song was just funny, and sad at the end. She took the audience to that scene in Chorus Line. Good touch by using "Salonga" instead of "Morales" in the song, quite effective. She also added "Manila" to the song instead of having "bobsleds in San Juan." Funny and talented!
TOMORROW - Annie - Not the standard stage version but more of the symphonic melodic version. The 28-piece orchestra sounded so colorful in that vast hall and with this version made the song sound even better. This was the time when she introduced Andrea McArdle. They did a duet of this song towards the end. Great voice and harmonization. 10 fingers and 10 toes up!
EVERYBODY SAYS DON'T - Andrea McArdle's solo...voice was powerful!
DANCING QUEEN - by ABBA - Lea did a snippet of this song...fun!
CARPENTERS medley - I wasn't sure how this medley would blend in, but it did. The introduction was good. Great rendition.
TRUE COLORS - Ok, this song just brought me to tears...wow! The symphonic melodic version was just amazing. Sorry Cindi Lauper.
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME - Lea accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Wow...good break for upcoming powerful songs. I thought it was a little too intimate for the venue. Still done well.
IT HAD TO BE YOU - I guess the Gershwin song above was a good intro for this song.
MARRIED - from Cabaret - awesome rendition and she talked about her marriage...great job!
HAHANAPIN KO - an original Filipino song sung in her native language (Tagalog). Symphonic, harmonious, glorious, cathedral-like and emotion-filled music flowed through the Hall. All mouths were opened, drool and all. BTW - the acoustics at Carnegie was surprisingly bad!
THE STORY GOES ON - this Hamlisch song from "Baby" was probably the best rendition bec. it was sung with the original "Baby" lead...Liz Callaway. Duet started towards the end...let me tell you....wow! Perfect song since Lea is also pregnant. Liz couldn't help but shed a tear at the end. It was that good.
I STILL BELIEVE - from Miss Saigon - both Lea and Liz just went into character as soon as the symphony introduced the notes. Amazing...we all stood up afterwards and some people with tears!!! I couldn't hear them say thank you bec. of the screams and the "bravas."
MEADOWLARK - solo from LIZ CALLAWAY - great song. Can't believe how amazing her voice is, and sounds even better now.
I'LL GIVE MY LIFE FOR YOU - Miss Saigon - great song, brings me back to the tony-award winning performance in 91.
INTERMISSION - went to the bar and people were just raving.
ACT 2 - Lea walked-in in a Carmen Marc Valvo black cocktail dress....vavavoom!
I ENJOY BEING A GIRL - from Flower Drum Song - very cute.
LOVE LOOK AWAY - from Flower Drum Song - such an emotional song...still flawless.
REFLECTION - extended version of signature song from Disney's Mulan, wow, can the next song be much better than this?
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM - from Jesus Christ Superstar - not a big fan of the play but, she did it quite amazingly well.
PEOPLE - from FUNNY GIRL - can't believe I heard a live version of the original Broadway orchestration never performed before until the show. Babra, can you hear her?
OLIVER! MEDLEY - WHERE IS LOVE?/AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME- I think this is the song she sung at Ovations IV. Yes, it deserved the ovation she got at Ovations. Too bad, people at the Hall were just too mesmerized with Oliver and Nancy and forgot to stand up :)
ON MY OWN - from Les Miserables - Sniff....I was speechless. Such betrayal, stupid Marius! :) We gave her a thunderous applause.
Paolo Montalban walked in.....
A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN - from Les Miserables - great song, Paolo's voice was fine...he just didn't have the "big" presence that the other 3 ladies had. Is it me because but I didn't him connect to Lea. He must be nervous. Dang...Lea just went into character. She actually, maybe unconsciouslly, did exact blocking from the Les Miz concert. Was Paolo uneasy with that, bec. he looked like he frozed.
MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE - solo from Paolo Montalban - good voice.
POPULAR - from WICKED - I thought I was listening to Kristin...why is this girl not doing Wicked!?? It was perfect, cute, and flawless.
DEFYING GRAVITY - from Wicked - we know this song is tough to sing. She even prayed before she sang it but, she did it quite well. Tough notes but smooth chest and head voice transition. Not a pure belt at the higher octaves but still worked. Hey, what do you expect...she is pregnant and you need the abs to reach the notes, right? Overall, it deserved the thunderous standing ovation it got at the end...correction, it was an "extended" applause. I thought we were never going to stop.
1st Encore: I HONESTLY LOVE YOU from BOY FROM OZ - not bad...not a big Newton John fan here, but still a good song. I don't think this selection was good at this part of the show. How can any song top Defying Gravity anyway. She's still awesome. Maybe, Defying Gravity should have been the Encore song.
2nd Encore - A WHOLE NEW WORLD from Aladdin - a duet with an audience member, not staged or planned, he volunteered since Lea ran out of songs to sing for the encore. Not expected at all. With all due respect to Mr. Danny, the courageous student, the song was not bad. Who cannot be nervous on stage, singing the song with Lea, at Carnegie, and being recorded too!!! Good job, Danny. The Lea fans adore you now.
Do I hear a part 2 of this concert?
Did I hear a cd recording too...watch out!
Diverse City producers did a very successful job in making this happen. Victor Lirio and Liz Casasola are the best and they should pursue another concert.
Party afterwards - wow, Carmen Marc Valvo, same design but in bright fire engine red....(see Broadwayworld.com article for pics)...I thought I was in Hollywood for a big film or award bash. Lea is one flawless singer and a beautiful Broadway diva (the good diva) who should be constantly getting great projects. I recommend to all posters here to not miss any of her projects.
Concert - best I've seen at Carnegie.
PS. Check out Ms. Beautiful at the Nov. 2nd Glamour Mag. Woman of the Year award.
Woman of the Year - Red Carpet Shot
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
Updated On: 11/10/05 at 04:05 PM