At the mere mention of her name, everyone already knows what a true global icon Lea Salonga is. Long after breaking into the international theater scene at just 18 years old as the original “Kim” in Miss Saigon on the West End, she has built a career spanning over 40 years, and counting. As 2024 winds down, Salonga is at her busiest, yet manages to adds another feather to her cap in one of the coolest ways possible – a newly minted wax figure at the famed Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Singapore. When the figure was unveiled in an exclusive event in Manila, her enthusiastic response of “Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh,” was nothing short of priceless.
Much like everyone in the room, Salonga was in awe of the completed work as she gingerly approached it –“It’s like I’m looking at myself! It’s me. It’s like she’s about to move!” Her initial reaction to being asked? “I totally screamed! I told my manager, of course, we’re absolutely doing this!” In a process that took over six months, Salonga recalls sitting for hours and hours with Iwan Rees, the Madame Tussaud’s London-based Filipino sculptor working on Salonga’s wax figure, made sure he got every detail just right. She further enthused, “I had no notes. They really know what they are doing over there,” when she saw the early renders in clay and plaster. The likeness was so uncanny, from her pierced ears down to her hands, that her brother Gerard exclaimed, “The hands. Those are your hands!” based on just photographs.
“We wanted to ensure that the wax figure captures her spirit and charisma,” says Elaine Quek, head of Sales and Marketing at Madame Tussaud’s Singapore. “Together with Lea, we chose a pose that exudes her magnetic presence on stage, where her talent and personality shine through.” Or as Salonga puts it, “We chose one that is kinetic, so it looks like she just might come and talk to us.”
The blue gown worn by Salonga’s wax figure is a special one, pulled from her very own closet – literally. Created for the actress by designer Rajo Laurel, the dress is a favorite that she has worn in several concerts. It was shipped to London from her New York apartment, and “it may still have a bit of cat hair on it,” she says jokingly. Laurel, who has been designing for the actress for over three decades, was immensely grateful when he heard the news. “She just called me to say ‘I’m giving
Madame Tussaud’s my dress. Can you just make me another one just like it?’” he relates. “This dress is quintessential Lea. Now it will be immortalized and iconic. It’s nice to be part of this journey with her in this way.”
Having her wax figure now on display in Madame Tussaud’s in Singapore is a full circle moment for Salonga. During a visit to the London museum at age 12, she remembers standing in front of a likeness of Liza Minnelli, in her tuxedo and pixie haircut, when her mom, Ligaya Salonga, said to her, “You never know. That could be you.” Forty-odd years later, “this was a manifestation of something. Of me as a 12 year old thinking one day this could happen. I think she is extremely happy, and in disbelief,” shares Salonga. “I think I’m always going to be in a little bit of disbelief even after having seen it, and being part of the whole process.”
It is in achievements like these that we are reminded of what a true gem and source of Pinoy pride Salonga is. And probably always will be. Theater artists Gab Pangilinan and Topper Fabregas agree that it’s “kinda crazy, unreal, and amazing that such a global icon who grew up here, and is a part of this little theater community is representing us in this way.” Her support for the industry and its artists locally, as “the loudest, proudest and most genuine audience,” has been a source of inspiration for many like them. “It feels like a reunion backstage. She is so down-to-earth that we sometimes forget what a global icon she is,” adds Fabregas. “Then something like this – a wax figure of her – happens,” says Pangilinan.
If there is one message that is made immensely clear with Salonga’s wax figure on display in such a prestigious institution, it is that Filipinos are definitively putting their stamp on the international scene. A journey that she played a pivotal role when she got on that plane to London over 30 years ago. After all, it is the first one of a Filipino to be displayed at Madame Tussaud’s Singapore branch. And more are being recognized by the day. “It makes me so happy that the world is getting more and more acquainted with who we are. Not just as performing artists, but also in culinary, fashion filmmaking,” Salonga shares. “It’s nice to not be the only person that is doing this.”
Now, when visiting the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Singapore and checking out her lookalike wax figure, there is one thing Lea Salonga wants you to know — “She’s far more approachable. She’s much nicer too.”