lea salonga: a true filipino heroine

why is lea salonga such an inspiration to millions of filipinos? ok, i can't speak for those millions, but i'll tell you why she's an inspiration to ME (not that anybody would read this). as i write this, i'm eating pizza and listening to lea's live concert on youtube singing disney songs =)

while i was browsing through youtube videos i could watch to pass the time months ago, i stumbled upon the making of the musical miss saigon. for a music-loving filipino, this is considered gold =) it's an 8-part series on the said website, and it recounts how Alain Boublil and Claude-Michael Schönberg went on a quest to find their kim - the 17-year old vietnamese girl forced to prostitute herself to G.I.'s during the vietnam war. i didn't realize that they conducted a worldwide search for this role - that just makes me extra proud of lea's accomplishment; that she nabbed this once in a lifetime role from hundreds, if not thousands of aspiring girls from all over.


when miss saigon hit it big in london and then had subsequent showings in broadway and eventually won her the laurence olivier award and tony award for best actress, she never looked back. i remember watching snippets of the show on channel 4 when i was a kid, then seeing her sing the national anthem for a farewell show with corazon aquino. this was a big deal for us, the first ever filipina who was not a politician nor had scandal to her name be recognized as a TALENT and a national treasure for all to see.

the very first time i went to new york city was 1992, miss saigon was playing and my aunt who lived in flushing took me to see it. i can still smell the biting cold wind while we walked from her house to broadway. the warmth of the theater, the excitement i felt while being seated in one of the balcony seats. i looked on feverishly from the top looking down below to the people anticipating a great show. then the piano starts and the show begins. it wasn't lea salonga who was kim in this matinee show, but i loved every single moment. the whole time i thought this was what she was living - the american dream.

the years that lea spent abroad were years of despondency in the local singing and acting industries. but whenever she'd come back to promote an album or invite people to a concert she'd staged for a benefit or otherwise, she's always been regarded with the utmost respect and adoration.

her wedding was televised - i cried when her husband cried, i cried when she cried. good times =) i guess having lived a life in the spotlight doesn't really mean you can shy away from it either. but i love the fact that she's been able to stay out of scandals; always being the prim and proper lady that i've known her to be.

some people say she's arrogant; i say she's just confident. who wouldn't be if you're that smart? her intelligence and wit may intimidate people, but i'm inspired by it. i try to be the same, and though i'm failing miserably, i still look up to her, i still think "what would lea do?" when i'm faced with tough decisions in my life.

her defining moment may have been miss saigon, but i'll always remember her as just lea. thank you, miss, for being a true inspiration!

quote of the day

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security."

– Gail Sheehy

do the (RED) thing

www.one.org

yet another reason why i love JT!

tom welling magic

his smile is my favorite about him!

something to make you laugh

The Best of Barney Stinson !

i LOVE Neil Patrick Harris!!!

Mother Teresa's prayer

got this from an email...

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
... Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
... Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
... Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
... Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
... Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
... Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
... Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
... Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

We can do no great things - only small things with great love.

- Mother Teresa

tim burton's alice in wonderland

saw alice in wonderland yesterday with my cousin... i have to say i had some trepidation in seeing this movie because i've heard so many bad things about it. critics were bashing it on twitter and i didn't want to be a part of that so i stopped. johnny depp, that's how much i love and adore you.

going back... i didn't get to start the movie because we came in late... my cousin NEEDED to smoke... whatever. so the part i actually got to watch was when the dad was talking to little alice in her room and when she and mother were going to the "party".

from there, i loved every single second of it all = from the time the white rabbit started pointing to his watch to the ending = this movie stayed true to the alice in wonderland i grew up knowing.

mia wasikowska stole the show. she plays the title character and i was just so taken by her, it was quite unexpected. i loved anne hathaway as the white queen, as always ~ she was perfection. her comedic timing is impeccable =) her gagging faces are genius! LOL helena bonham-carter was her usual amazing self as the red queen. the voice i recognized first was alan rickman's - it's unmistakable. he played absolom, the blue caterpillar. couldn't figure out who played the cheshire, though. but according to imdb.com, it was stephen fry = he was in v for vendetta and harry potter. apparently, they hired a lot of actors who appeared in the harry potter movies.

then there was johnny. mr. depp was superb as the mad hatter ~ his accent was perfect, the acting too. the green contacts bothered me though ~ i wonder how he got to act in those? it must've been horrible! they were bigger than his irises! i guess that goes to show how professional and wonderful he really is. i found myself fidgeting in my seat when 10-15 minutes into the movie, i still hadn't seen the hatter... then cheshire says he's going to lead alice to the hatter - and i was in heaven!

watching mr. depp, i couldn't help but think how he felt and what he thought while doing a lot of the acting on his own. the rabbit and the mouse were obviously CGI - even alice in some instances, when she's really tiny and really big.

because i'm currently strapped for cash, i was only able to watch this in the regular cinema ~ been wondering what it'd be like in 3D.

at the end of the day, i'd still recommend this to everybody ~ perfect for children =) and maybe, it'll get them to start (if they hadn't already) to read =) after all, this WAS conceptualized first in a book and re-imagined in film. one of tim burton's finest =)