Lea Salonga was feeling underneath the climate earlier this month.
“I needed to miss exhibits, which is unlucky,” she stated earlier than certainly one of her last performances within the Broadway disco musical “Right here Lies Love.” “However I used to be nonetheless in a position to stand over a range and prepare dinner this soup that had plenty of garlic and plenty of ginger,” she recalled throughout a cellphone interview from her Manhattan house. “It’s known as tinola, which is a Filipino rooster soup. It’s what could be cooked each time I used to be sick at house.”
That connection to the Philippines — the place Salonga was born and raised — is one she additionally feels with “Right here Lies Love,” which recounts the rise and fall of the nation’s ousted chief and first girl, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
“Usually, if I’m watching a theater piece, I might simply really feel no matter emotions there are, or that the present desires me to really feel,” stated Salonga, 52, who on Saturday finishes her visitor run as Aurora Aquino, the mom of Benigno Aquino Jr., Ferdinand’s political rival. “However with one thing like this, the place there’s precise historical past of my nation entwined within the story, my mind didn’t know what to do.”
Although Salonga has had an extended and distinguished Broadway profession, profitable a Tony Award in 1991 for her efficiency in “Miss Saigon” because the doomed Vietnamese mom Kim, “Right here Lies Love” is the primary time she has performed a Filipino onstage and the primary time she has served as a producer.
Salonga, who subsequent heads to London to start rehearsals for the West Finish musical revue “Stephen Sondheim’s Previous Mates,” mentioned 10 of her cultural necessities, together with her shock love affair with BTS and the way Alex Newell turned her world the wrong way up in “Shucked.” These are edited excerpts.
1
PlayStation 5
It’s a good way for me to flee after a present, to type of cleanse my thoughts, particularly if I’m doing a present that’s exhausting mentally and emotionally. These days I’ve been taking part in Horizon Forbidden West; I nonetheless have to complete the downloadable content material.
2
BTS
About six months into the pandemic, I noticed “Dynamite.” I can’t bear in mind how I stumbled onto it, however I couldn’t transfer and I used to be like, “I’ve to complete this now.” The dancing and the synchronization and the attraction — clearly, they’re stunning folks. It was a good way to search out pleasure and one thing to look ahead to after I wakened for the day within the midst of the world falling aside.
3
Leche Flan
After I was rising up within the Philippines, my grandma would make leche flan, which was all the time so creamy and so scrumptious. So over the pandemic, after I was dwelling within the Philippines, I discovered make it. I’d ship samples of it over to my mom’s home to taste-test, and she or he would say, “No, that’s too candy, are you able to convey down the sugar content material?” After I lastly received it proper, I had to ensure I had written the recipe down!
4
Important Oils
They assist make me really feel relaxed and grounded. You possibly can select completely different ones relying on what you’re feeling you want — generally I want a bit of respiratory assist, so there are particular oils I’ll both diffuse or therapeutic massage or rub onto my physique, which calm my thoughts. I gifted everybody within the firm of “Right here Lies Love” with a bit of vial of one thing to remind everybody to simply breathe.
5
Cute Pajamas
Generally I don’t actually need to gown in a pair of denims and a shirt to go down and choose one thing up from the communal pantry in a lodge. If I’m carrying cute pajamas, I can throw on a hoodie or a jacket, and I’ll nonetheless look presentable. My cousin gifted me “Household Man” pajamas — a Stewie T-shirt and matching pants.
6
Moveable Peripherals
I convey a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to make use of after I’m touring, which make it a lot simpler to sort. As a result of I textual content bilingually generally, a voice memo is just not in a position to seize the whole lot.
7
Over-the-Ear Headphones
As a lot as I really like the portability of my earbuds, my ears are likely to get irritated after prolonged use. I’ve the Apple AirPods Max in gentle inexperienced, that are over-the-ear, Bluetooth-enabled and cozy. I like that there’s a button you may simply push so you may hear what’s happening round you.
8
‘Forensic Information’
I discover issues like chromatography and DNA evaluation fascinating. But in addition, Peter Thomas’s voice has lulled me to sleep extra instances than I can depend.
9
‘Steven Universe’
I simply adore it for its themes of queer acceptance and lady energy. To not point out the variety of musical theater people that voice characters on it, together with Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole.
10
Alex Newell in ‘Shucked’
Expensive God, Alex Newell is each single factor. That may be a cultural reset to see what it’s like when this famous person stops the present and instructions a standing ovation in the course of the primary half. But it surely’s Alex Newell — after all the present’s going to cease!
