Lea Salonga: She Accepts `Saigon' Fuss

MANILA, Philippines - As she saunters into her hotel suite, Lea Salonga seems even younger than her 19 years - small and vulnerable, no one you'd expect to be the focus of what threatens to be a vitriolic international casting battle.

It is only several hours later, before an enthralled audience at her homecoming concert here, that Salonga blossoms, showing why she is the Philippines' most glamorous musical star. Among her recent accolades: Britain's prestigious Laurence Olivier Award this year for Best Performance in a Musical, won for her portrayal of the Vietnamese bar girl, Kim, in the London production of the hit musical ``Miss Saigon.''

For the former child star, once dubbed ``the Shirley Temple of the Philippines,'' a highly conservative upbringing made the demanding role all the more difficult. At first, she says, the hardest part was ``getting over the shock of wearing skimpy costumes and doing love scenes onstage.''

Now Salonga's career appears to be facing a more trying challenge. She is at the center of a new controversy between the American union, Actors Equity, and ``Miss Saigon's'' British producer, Cameron Mackintosh. The union wants an Asian American to play Kim in the Broadway production of the musical, scheduled to open in April. But Mackintosh last month formally appealed to Actors Equity to approve Salonga, saying he had auditioned 1,200 candidates for the part and found none to match the Filipino star.

With the two sides deadlocked, Mackintosh has asked that an arbitrator decide the case, likely to hinge on the issue of whether Salonga is a ``star of international stature.''

Earlier, Mackintosh and the union fought over his insistence on retaining British actor Jonathan Pryce in a key Asian role in the Broadway production. The dispute was resolved in the producer's favor amid some bad publicity for Actors Equity, an outcome that Salonga's supporters fear may not augur well for her.

There is a perception that the union's opposition to Salonga ``may be a way to get back at Cameron Mackintosh,'' said Armando Alegre, a leading Philippine impresario who helped supply talent for ``Miss Saigon.''

Other Filipinos are attaching much broader implications to the dispute, viewing it as one more American slight in the Philippines' long, often-troubled relationship with its former colonial patron. Top Manila government officials have expressed support for her, at least one senator has proposed a resolution in her favor, and her father has threatened to return an honorary American flag to President Bush if she is rejected for Broadway.

Feliciano Salonga Jr., a retired merchant marine officer, says the flag was given to the family after having been draped over the coffin of his father, who retired from the U.S. Navy in 1947 after 30 years of service spanning two world wars.

``And now the American Equity is trying to keep a U.S. Navy man's granddaughter out of playing on Broadway - because she is a Filipina!'' the incensed father was quoted saying.

``It's sad that some Americans, in a land which has long preached equality of man and equal opportunity, have become such rabid racial bigots,'' wrote Max V. Soliven, one of Manila's leading columnists.

Disarmingly unpretentious, Lea Salonga herself seems to be taking the fuss in stride.

``It's not the end of the world,'' she said in her American-accented English as she sat cross-legged on a stool in the Manila Hotel's presidential suite, where the sponsors of her homecoming concerts are putting her up. ``If Broadway does happen, then fine, it's great. If it doesn't, I'm not going to be a sourpuss. I'll probably go back to school or continue doing Kim in London. It's really up to me what I want to do.''

She leaves no doubt, however, that she wants the part badly - in part, to help showcase her countrymen's musical talent.

Her performing on Broadway ``would mean another chance for the Filipino to get a foot in the door, and hopefully push it open all the way,'' she said.

In the Drury Lane production of ``Miss Saigon'' in London's West End, Filipinos accounted for 15 of the 20 Asian performers, out of a total cast of 42. Among them were Victor ``Cocoy'' Laurel, the son of Philippine Vice President Salvador Laurel, and former Manila rock singer Robert Sena.