Another ‘Lea’ makes splash on musical stage

By Paul John Cana
Philippine Daily Inquirer

IN A COUNTRY like ours that’s always hungry for new idols to look up to and new heroes and heroines to admire, another Filipino deserves to be recognized in a big way.

Like her namesake Lea Salonga, Leah de los Santos, a Filipino theater-actress based in Germany, has been making waves on the international musical-theater scene.

Leah’s most recent project was playing Maria in a production of “West Side Story.”

“It was in a place called Bad Hersfeld. The venue can seat 1,600 people. It’s an open-air theater and they’ve been holding summer shows there since 1951. They did ‘West Side Story’ for the first time and I was lucky enough to have played the role of Maria. It was really fantastic.”

For the last decade or so, Leah has been using her extraordinary singing and acting skills flitting from one stage role to the next.

Besides “West Side Story,” she was also cast in the lead role of Belle in an adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast.” It was quite an achievement for the chinita beauty to make race and background irrelevant to clinch the role in a major production.

“When the auditions for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ started, I said, If I were cast as a spoon or a fork, I would be so grateful. I was doing ‘Les Miserables’ at the time. And they called me in the theater. They said, ‘Hi, Leah, we’d like to have you as Belle.’ I was silent for a minute. And they were like, ‘We’d like to say it again: We’d like to have you as Belle.’ And I was screaming.”

“And people in the theater thought I was crazy, jumping up and down and screaming like that. By the way, that’s actually not very good in contract negotiations, if you show too much joy,” Leah says, laughing.

Her acting credits also include playing Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Cosette in “Les Miserables,” and Lady Marian in “Robin Hood.”

Just for fun

Leah started her musical career where most Filipino talents do: at home. She would perform in front of relatives and friends whenever they would drop by her house, and she was a natural on that Filipino staple, the karaoke.

Her big break came during auditions for “Miss Saigon.” After Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Pinky Amador and all the others showed the world the immense talent pool in the Philippines, the producers naturally came back to Manila to scout for new theater actors for the German and Australian productions of the hit musical.

She was still in Manila at the time. “My mom came home one day and saw this ad in the paper about the auditions, and she said to me, ‘Why don’t you go and try it out?’ And I told her, ‘Yeah, right!’”

But, a couple of days later, Leah changed her mind.

To say that Leah was intimidated at that first audition would be a complete understatement. “When I came in, I saw all of these people vocalizing in the bathroom, singing to high heavens, people learning their choreography. It was such an intimidating place.”

The bathroom singer and choir member said she prepared only one phrase in the song “Movie in My Mind.”

“And nothing else,” she says.

Fortunately, the casting agents saw something in her, and she moved on to the next round of auditions: dancing.

Although she couldn’t dance, “I guess I did quite well because I got called back.”

The next thing Leah knew, she was on a plane to Germany.

In the beginning, Leah thought she would go back to Manila to finish her studies once the year-long contract was up. She was fully aware of the ephemeral nature of the business.

“But then they renewed my contract for another year. And then after that I thought I would go back to school in Manila. But that never happened because I auditioned for other shows and I got into other shows. And that’s how it has been up to this day.”

Pinoy pride

Leah says she feels proud and honored to be representing the success of the global Filipino.

“I’m always very open about who I am. When people ask me where I’m from, I always tell them I’m from the Philippines! I just hope that it gives a kind of hope and inspiration. That if you put your mind into something, you can actually attain what you dream. That dreams do come true. You just have to follow the path that makes you happy. It’s just nice that we can contribute to that Pinoy pride.”

Does she still speak Tagalog?

“Oo naman,” she says. “I came here in 1994, but before that, I was in Manila, and for a while in Guam, where my mom was based.”

Her mother works at the RP embassy in Berlin.

After “West Side Story,” Leah’s next project is a production of “Jekyll and Hyde.” Rehearsals start Sept. 20, and Leah will play the role of Jekyll’s fiancée, Lisa.

She’s been doing it for years but excitement and anticipation are still evident on her face.

“I was talking to my colleague from ‘West Side Story’ about it, and I said, ‘You know, if I actually stopped doing this right now, I would not know what to do.’ Because the only thing I know how to do is to be onstage and sing, dance and act. I’m very happy where I am.”

Check out more of Leah in her website leahdelossantos.com.

E-mail the author at pjcana@gmail.com