So I just listened to Lea Salonga's Broadway Concert CD

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 3:31pm

What's with her horrendous intros? I can't decide if they were condescending or just plain pretentious. I'm digitizing the CD right now so I can edit out the talking and burn a CD of her songs only.
Updated On: 7/30/05 at 03:31 PM

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 4:51pm

I just saw her concert in DC on Saturday. She did a quite lengthy spoken intro to every song; I assume the CD she recorded was similiar to what I saw.

I did find some of the intros quite painful to listen to.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 9:01pm

I have a DVD of one of her Manila concerts. I'd never seen anyone talk THAT down to their audience before. Totally off-putting and condescending. Ugh.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 9:48pm

I'm curious; what does she say?

[Derech2]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:07pm

I am too. What kind of down talk would someone do at their concert?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:09pm

It's actually really difficult to write down/type out because so much of it is conveyed in her delivery and body language. She just sounds like a horrible high school substitute teacher thrown into a class full of 2nd graders.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:12pm

Could you go a little more in debth? I'm not really following you.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/30/05 at 11:40pm

I've been to one of her concerts before and didn't find her condescending at all. I thought she was rather open and sweet with her audience.

~Rosalynn

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 12:38am

I have a recording of her singing something, I think it's a Miss Saigon Medley, and the way she introduces it... it's like she's doing the audience some huge favor to sing for them.

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 2:07pm

Nice to know I wasn't the only one totally put off by her intros. For those who haven't heard, Lizzie pretty much described it accurate. Her intro to "Nothing" is awful. She tells the intro as if she was reading a book to a bunch of slow pre-schoolers and describes the drama teacher like he's an evil ogre and even adds in a few "tsks, tsks" for good measure. And don't even get me started on her bizarre Annie intro... It's reminiscent of the descriptions I've heard of Suzanne Somer's If I Only Had a Brain number.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 2:22pm

awww..what a shame..I've been trying to get the dvd on ebay, or amazon used..but I'm waiting to get a good deal...

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 2:36pm

StephanietheStar, just FF through the intros and play the songs only. That way you won't be disappointed. :)

[musicaltheatreman]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 3:21pm

can her concert cd be bought in stores??

[musicaltheatreman]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 3:21pm

can her concert cd be bought in stores??

[JoMarch]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 3:29pm

I haven't seen the CD in store, but Amazon carries it.


Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert Updated On: 7/31/05 at 03:29 PM

[Mister Roberts]

Posted: 7/31/05 at 9:15pm

>>>>>>>Her intro to "Nothing" is awful. She tells the intro as if she was reading a book to a bunch of slow pre-schoolers and describes the drama teacher like he's an evil ogre and even adds in a few "tsks, tsks" for good measure. And don't even get me started on her bizarre Annie intro... It's reminiscent of the descriptions I've heard of Suzanne Somer's If I Only Had a Brain number. <<<<<<<<<<<


Reply:

you all forget the context where she said those things, she was saying it to a FILIPINO AUDIENCE. I mean she's been singing to them since she was 7 years old. there will always be this rapport that could only be understood by her and the Filipino audience.

For the plot introductions she does, it's simply because most (if not all) do not go to broadway every year to watch shows.Is it really insulting if somoene tells you the plot of a movie????
Are we overreacting here??

and lastly the annie speil, it was more like an "in" joke(filipinos find encores very cliche), you probably would never undrstand the humor of it if you're not filipino.

Lea Salonga would not be as beloved here if she doesn't treat her fans well and if she treats them like a bunch of 2 year olds. Just look for local interviews and you'll find that people think that in spite of her success she never changed, she remains down to earth, unassuming, and humble.

[jo]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 9:32am

First, I'm a Filipino and have seen some of Lea's concerts a few times here in Manila...I have seen her perform at the West End and here in stage productions. I've also listened to or watched her DVDs or CDs.

I do find her intros a little wordy, but I think that's because she does it extemporaneously. Or maybe because she has a bad script. Perhaps if she had a better script for her concert patter, intros and post-song comments can flow more smoothly. I do not think she means to condescend - she speaks in a certain way, even when she was still a much younger entertainer here. It may sound a little affected to some, but we forgive her for that ...But she has not really changed -- from the little girl who won our hearts with her rendition of TOMORROW from Annie and the young woman who did us proud when she won the hearts of international theatre audiences in Miss Saigon ...She has matured and if you listen to her in an interview, you will be amazed at how level-headed ( while sounding very intelligent and smart) she continues to be.

She is a joy to listen to - and we always welcome chances to hear her devote a concert for her fans here.

Btw, there are some active repertory companies here which produce some stage musicals ( if it were not too expensive to mount them now, including payment of copyrights, we would be seeing a lot more) here so there is some familiarity with some stage musical hits from Broadway or the West End in the local scene. Please don't forget that Cameron Mackintosh sourced most of his Miss Saigon productions in many parts of the world from local talent here...

Earlier this year, Lea was in a local production of BABY, where she co-starred with David Shannon, a West End star who created the male lead role in The Beautiful Game at the West End and has handled replacement leads for a number of West End hits.

Jo

Updated On: 8/1/05 at 09:32 AM

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 8/1/05 at 9:37am

I adore Lea's voice, but I cannot STAND her patter in between the songs. Aside from sometimes being condescending, she's just so CHEESY.

I saw her in concert a few years ago and couldn't bear it, so I won't be lining up to see her again.

PS- what's with her awful sequined dresses? She looks like she's competing for the Miss Manila crown.