Photo Coverage: Lea Salonga at Carnegie Hall

Tony-Winner Lea Salonga wowed a SOLD OUT crowd at Carnegie Hall on Monday night, November 7, to benefit the Diverse City Theatre Group. The benefit was in extremely good hands with the uber-talented Salonga - led by director Richard Jay-Alexander and music director/conducter Kevin Stites. Joining her on stage during the evening were three very special guests, including her first “musical theatre God” Andrea McArdle for a duet of ANNIE's ‘Tomorrow,’ former MISS SAIGON co-star Liz Callaway, who duetted with Lea on an extremely emotional ‘The Story Goes On’ from BABY (after Salonga announced that she is pregnant), and ‘I Still Believe’ from MISS SAIGON. Richard Maltby, Jr. of BABY and MISS SAIGON fame, had to pick his jaw up off the floor at the end of ACT 1. Also, fellow Filipino, and Cinderella star Paolo Montalban, took up Marius duties for ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ from Les Miz.

During the two-act, glamour filled show, they traversed the worlds of Broadway, Jazz, Filipino music and several pop hits. Some of the night’s many showstopping moments included ‘We’ve Only Just Begun,’ ‘True Colors,’ ‘I Enjoy Being A Girl,’ ‘Love Look Away,’ ‘People (with the original 1964 Broadway orchestration!), ‘On My Own’, ‘Where is Love? / As Long as He Needs Me,’ ‘Reflection,’ ‘Popular,’ and a ‘Defying Gravity’ - which was performed like no one else has sung it yet! The night was full of standing ovations, and anyone who was there to witness the physically and vocally ravishing Salonga, will never forget this powerhouse night at Carnegie Hall.

Some party pictures from after the show at PROVIDENCE, 311 West 57th Street. (Ben Strothmann)

Lea Salonga - the star of the night.

Lea Salonga and husband Rob Chien







Richard Jay-Alexander and Lea Salonga

Liz Callaway, Lea Salonga and Andrea McArdle

Liz Callaway and Nancy Opel

Paolo Montalban

A parting shot of the night's star!

Andrea McArdle and husband Edd Kalehoff


Miss Saigon co-star Liz Callaway

Lea Salonga and Diverse City Theater Company's Victor Lirio

A Chorus Line Reunion: Priscilla Lopez and Kelly Bishop

Salonga and Friends Wow Carnegie Hall

When Lea Salonga made her Broadway debut in Miss Saigon in 1991, she instantly established herself as a big theater star. Since then, Salonga has moved on, appearing on television and in other theater shows (including Les Miserables and Flower Drum Song on Broadway) and touring around the world. On November 7, Salonga stopped her tour at Carnegie Hall, making her solo concert debut on the renowned stage. Her big show, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, featured special guests Liz Callaway, Andrea McArdle and Paolo Montalban. We caught up with Salonga and some friends at a celebratory party at Providence. (Photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com)


Lea Salonga and one of her onstage guests, Paolo Montalban.

Daniel Berlin, who came onstage to sing "A Whole New World" with Salonga, and the star after the show.

Original A Chorus Line stars Priscilla Lopez and Kelly Bishop were on hand to chear on Lea Salonga.

Lea Salonga and her joyous mother.

Lea Salonga and friend Victor Lirio, who is producing director of the Diverse City Theatre Company.

Musical director Kevin Stites (Oprah's The Color Purple) and Lea Salonga.

The woman of the night (w/ pinoy on board her tummy)

Richard Jay-Alexander poses with two of Salonga's Miss Saigon friends, Liz Callaway and Richard Maltby, Jr..

Robert Chien show his pride for his wife, Lea Salonga.

Guest artists Liz Callaway and Andrea McArdle flank the star.

Richard Jay-Alexander, who directed the concert, and Lea Salonga.

Actor Chris Gunn and stage manager Charlene Steyerer.

Imeda Marcos Gems Set for Auction

Those with an interest in fine jewelry are wondering what treasures will be discovered when experts from Christie’s and Sotheby’s head to the Phillipines to assign a value to the jewelry seized by the government from former first lady Imelda Marcos and Demetrio Roumeliotes, a Greek citizen. The government plans to select one of the auction houses to sell the jewelry and are looking at November and May dates. The auction will be held in Geneva. The Philippine Star reports that this is the third time the auction houses have reviewed the pieces but that the last time was in 1994. No details on what the jewelry might fetch have been revealed but it is worth at least $10 million. Given the extravagant tastes of Imelda Marcos, it could be quite amazing and given the level of competition between the two auction houses, the most interesting battles could be occuring behind the scenes.

When October Goes

And when October goes
The snow begins to fly
Above the smokey roofs
I watch the planes go by

The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky
Oh, for the fun of them
When I was one of them

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years

I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go

I should be over it now I know
It doesn't matter much
How old I grow
I hate to see October go

Dating

WHITE WOMEN:
First date: You get to kiss her goodnight.
Second date: You get to grope all over and make out a bit.
Third date: You get to have sex but only in the missionary position.

IRISH WOMEN:
First Date: You both get blind drunk and have sex.
Second Date: You both get blind drunk and have sex.
20th Anniversary: You both get blind drunk and have sex.

ITALIAN WOMEN:
First Date: You take her to a play and an expensive restaurant.
Second Date: You meet her parents and her Mom makes spaghetti with meatballs.
Third Date: You have sex, she wants to marry you & insists on a 3-carat ring.
5th Anniversary: You already have 5 kids together & hate the thought of having sex.
6th Anniversary: You find yourself a Mistress.

JEWISH WOMEN:
First Date: You get terrific head.
Second Date: You get even more great head.
Third Date: You tell her you'll marry her and never get head again.

CHINESE WOMEN:
First date: You get to buy her an expensive dinner but nothing happens.
Second date: You buy her an even more expensive dinner. Nothing happens again.
Third date: You don't even get to the third date and you've already realized nothing is ever going to happen.

INDIAN WOMEN:
First date: Meet her parents.
Second date: Set the date of the wedding.
Third date: Wedding night.

BLACK WOMEN:
First Date: You get to buy her a real expensive dinner.
Second Date: You get to buy her and her girlfriends a real expensive dinner.
Third Date: You get to pay her rent.
enth Date: She's pregnant by someone other than you.

MEXICAN WOMEN:
First Date: You buy her an expensive dinner, get drunk on Tequila, and have sex in the back of her car.
Second Date: She's pregnant.
Third Date: She moves in. One week later, her mother, father, his girlfriend, her two sisters, her brother, all of their kids, her grandma, her father's girlfriend's mother, her two cousins, her sister's boyfriend and his three kids move in and you live on rice and beans for the rest of your life in your home that used to be nice, but now looks like a home along the Tijuanastrip.

ARAB WOMEN:
First Date: Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Friends and entire Arab community finds out.
Second Date: Guy is shot dead.
No third date.

Dear Abby

NEIGHBOR CAN'T CLOSE HIS EYES TO NUDE GARDENER NEXT DOOR

DEAR ABBY,

I am 76, my wife is 65. Our neighbor "Roy" is retired, but probably less than 60 years old. The fence between Roy's property and ours is 6 feet tall, but the wood has shrunk and there are gaps of about half an inch or more between the boards.

Abby, Roy likes to work nude in his back yard and has told my wife he does this. Otherwise, he seems like a decent fellow. He has given my wife nectarines from over the fence, which is as close as I want his naked presence to my wife. Roy insists he has the "right" to go naked in his own back yard. Unfortunately, my wife agrees, and tells me she's not looking. I have asked her not to accept any more gifts over the fence from Roy and to keep her contact with him to a minimum. Am I being foolish? How would you recommend I handle this?

-- TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT IN CALIF.

Dear Abby

ok, since i always have this column on my personalized "my yahoo" homepage, i decided to share this "dear abby" letters on a regular basis. you may want to post your comment of whatever thoughts you wanna share...otherwise this section in my blog is for reading pleasure.

Les Miserables Pictures (Canon Theater, Toronto)

Finale


Leslie Henstock (Cosette) & Jean Valjean (Randal Keith) "Valjean's Death"


Adam Jacobs (Marius) Melissa Lyons (Eponine) & Leslie Henstock (Cosette)

JVJ and Cosette in "Rue Plummet"

Cosette and Marius "A Heart Full Of Love"

Les Miserables

saw 'les miserables' at canon theater last night here in toronto. ticket for this play is a bit pricey but its so worth it. been wanting to see this for a long time and i won't let this opportunity to pass by without seeing this play. i am not 100% familiar with the story but im pretty much acquianted with the songs. as a matter of fact we have the video of the 10th year anniversary in london, england. so here's my piece of review with the play and the actors (sorry, need to compare it with various recordings i've listened to - OLC, OBC, 10th anniversary):

randal keith as jean valjean - 3.5/5 - good acting but vocal wise, he failed to impress me especially with the song 'who am i?'

robert hunt as javert - 4.5/5 - yay! im so impressed with his solid voice and good acting. he could have played the JVJ.

joanne almedilla as fantine - 4.5/5 - i was complaining why she's casted as fantine coz the role is kinda short for her talent. now i know coz among the female cast, she's the one that can belt it out. her 'i dream a dream' is smooth, emotional with a belting kick at the end.

adam jacob as marius - 4.0/5 - not comparable to michael ball but his voice is charming enough as marius. his voice gets shaky and sounds funny in some of his songs with cosette but i guess that was his style.

melissa lyons as eponine - 4.0/5 - as a well loved character of the play, she gets to sing the popular stirring ballad 'on my own'. spunky and street smart, melissa acted the role very well. although she sounded 'lea-ish' (lea salonga) sometimes, her rendition of eponine songs are different from the past eponine (shimada, ruffelle, gibson, salonga, etc).

leslie henstock as cossette 3.5/5 - i've been listening to leslie's songs from her latest album. guess her cossette is ok. can't really say much, i think her cossette is boring...

Shopping at Bay Street

holt renfrew at bay street. fave shopping area of the stars. 

Side Street Art

street road art along yonge and bloor, downtown toronto. 

The Bay

"the bay" one of the truly canadian retail store. this store is located at the heart of downtown area, yonge and bloor. 

My Room

It's pretty shitty outside. Been raining the past few days and temperature dropped to 1 deg C the other day.


Cold days are here again... 

Box Is Almost Done

yesterday was my lucky day at dominion. yay! i found a 'nescafe' (200 g) for $2.99! i took 9 jars right away.. LOL.. i know, this balikbayan box thing makes me feel so ghetto. but who cares, momma will be happy. besides, its my 1st time to send one. also, the other day i bought chocolates at zellers. what else will i buy to my dollars worth... but i guess enough after this weekend. all i need now is that merrel shoes my brother wants and maybe a purse for my mom. after that.. balikbayan box craziness is over!

later this afternoon, i will go to york U straight from work. i have midterm exam for my micro and i need to study. yea i know it sucks... i don't like exams.

Lea Salonga is seven weeks pregnant

THE award-winning actress Lea Salonga is seven weeks pregnant, her publicist announced Friday.

Salonga, who is married to Robert Charles Chein, a Singaporean, was told by her obstetrician of her condition last week but he had advised her not to make any official announcement and wait for further confirmation.

“It was during her last consultation with the OB this week when they heard the heartbeat of the baby for the first time,” the publicist Shirley Pizarro told The Times.

Pizzaro said Salonga would continue her professional commitments for the remainder of the year. She and her husband had just left for New York, where Salonga is set to headline a concert at the Carnegie Hall. The couple will return to Manila in November. She’s scheduled to star in a major concert in December.

Salonga, 34, married Chein in January 2004. This will be the couple’s first child. She first gained national prominence when she starred in a local production of the musical Annie in the early eighties. A decade later, she gained international stardom when she was chosen to play the title role in the blockbuster musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Laurence Olivier and Antoinette Perry (Tony) awards for Best Actress in a Musical.

More pics of JM & Jomar

My brother emailed me more pics of JM & Jomar:

This pic reminds me of the pic my bro and I when we were at this age.

I swear... JM looks like my brother when he was this age.



JM is making a kung-fu moves...