Lea Salonga in Pechanga

Temecula, CA – Lea Salonga is back on tour here in California and we were privileged to be able to see her in Pechanga Resort and Casino last October 2, 2009.

The concert: From the time Lea stepped up on stage and sang her first song, up until the last encore, there was never a dull moment throughout the hour and a half show. Lea prepared a repertoire of her best hits from Broadway musicals, to popular song revivals, a Disney hits and famous tagalong songs. Lea was very interactive with the audience including fans being on stage singing with Lea towards the end of the show. The voice, the band, the lights and sounds was perfect.

Some of the highlights of the concert were her rendition of songs from Les’ Miserables and Miss Saigon. The wedding song “Two Words” was touching and her version of a Filipino classic, “Hahanapin Ko” was flawless. She also sang the original and long version of Mulan’s Reflection which according to her, Disney recalled her to re-record the song and make it a shorter version which Lea did not took it kindly. So whenever there’s a concert, Lea would pull out the original and longer version of the song. Her popular tagalog song, “Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal” was sang beautifully. This song was a theme song from her movie with Aga Mulach back in the Philippines and Leas shared of the possibility of doing a movie again with Aga Mulach. Disney’s “A Whole New World” was performed with her fans up on stage. Three male fans sang the male part of the song and Lea together with 2 young women and 2 kids sang the female part of this Disney classic. Lea finished the night with an encore from Annie’s Tomorrow. Truly it was one of the perfect concerts we’ve seen so far and to see Lea Salonga sing live is simply phenomenal. It was like listening to a CD all throughout the show. But the night with Lea isn’t finish for us. Adobo County Magazine was granted a short interview with Lea Salonga after the show. The opportunity of not just being able to see her perform but to meet and greet with her is the best part of the night. Details of the interview will be posted later in this blog.

Overall, the concert was a success. She will continue touring as she performs live in Cerritos for a benefit dinner and show this coming October 18 and another Southern California show in Cabazon, California on November 1st. Lea also expressed her feelings regarding the typhoon tragedy in the Philippines. nicheGrafix and Adobo County would like to acknowledge David Belenzon, Lea Salonga’s Manager for the opportunity to interview her, Dina and Odie Manignas, Pechanga’s Elroy Best for the warm reception and to all those who worked hard to the show a success. Congratulations for a job well done.

Photos by Ken Tadena of nicheGrafix