Broadway's Lea Salonga Headlines Lone Tree Arts Center This Weekend

This weekend, Lone Tree Arts Center will be presenting Broadway icon Lea Salonga's Human Heart tour, featuring just two performances on May 18-19.

Known across the world for her powerful voice and perfect pitch, Salonga is a singer and actress who is best known for her Tony Award winning role in Miss Saigon. In addition to the Tony, she has won the Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, in the field of musical theatre.

She was also the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway and returned to the beloved show as Fantine in the 2006 revival. Most recently, she appeared in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Once On This Island as well as George Takei's Allegiance in 2015.

Salonga says her concert will feature a mix of musical theatre and pop music with some acoustic stuff. Fans can expect to hear musical theatre songs from Dear Evan Hansen, Beautiful and Hamilton...but also pop hits from One Direction, Aha and Robin Thicke.

She says she chooses what she performs the same way you might choose ice cream-if she likes the flavor, she'll gravitate toward it.

"If it's something I'm enthusiastic about," Salonga said, "I'll throw it into the program."

Salonga, who first appeared in Miss Saigon in 1989, returned to the role 10 years later to close the London production as well as in 2001 to close Broadway. She said playing the role of Kim as an older adult allowed her to approach with more emotional maturity.

Salonga still performs the Saigon classic "I'd Give My Live For You" in concerts, which Kim sings to her child, but she didn't become a mother until a few years after her last performance.

"Because I'm a mother of 13-year-old, there is definitely so much more to mind now than when I was performing in the show," she says.

Lea Salonga: The Human Heart Tour will play the Lone Tree Arts Center on Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, at 7 p.m. For ticket availability, visit LoneTreeArtsCenter.org.

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