Glimpses of Pam: Lea Salonga at the Dubai Opera

Back in March, as soon as I heard the news that Lea Salonga was going to visit the Middle East and perform at the Dubai Opera, I knew I had to watch her live. After all, watching her on stage was on my bucket list. And besides, she's the Ms. Lea Salonga: two-time Disney Princess, Olivier and Theatre World Awardee, and the first Asian woman to win a Tony! Add this to the fact that it would be the first time ever a Filipino would perform at the Dubai Opera. I simply couldn't pass the chance.

Which is why, even though they weren't cheap, I immediately bought tickets for Hubby and me with seats at the VIP area. I decided that if we really wanted to enjoy the show, we should sit as close as possible for the best view. And anyway, knowing the level and quality of how the original Kim of Miss Saigon performs, I knew it would be totally worth it.

Fast forward to the 23rd of September, the second night of Lea's show.

As you might have guessed, it was absolutely AMAZING! We were seated at the third row from the front, almost smack in the middle of the row, so we enjoyed a great view of the entire performance. Of course you can't expect anything less than perfect from a global singing sensation like Lea. Singing a wide variety of songs, she belted them out flawlessly regardless of genre. Her voice, pitch, facial expressions, and the clarity of how she sang each word (I understood her more than most of the original versions!)...INCREDIBLE! It really is no wonder she's a musical theatre legend.

As she often does at her concerts, she invited a fan from the audience to sing with her the popular duet from Aladdin, "A Whole New World." And the lucky guy who shared the stage with the world class performer from the Philippines that night was a kabayan who was actually really good! As Lea remarked after their duet, Fermel was proof of the popular belief that "All Filipinos can sing." ☺

But I have to say that the part I really liked was early during the show when she sang "The Journey." This is a personal favorite because it's one of the songs I sang to my girls to make them sleep when they were still babies. Even until now, there are nights when Caila and Sophie ask me to sing it or we sing together. Plus, the message is simple, yet meaningful and very positive. Anyway, as soon as Lea started to sing it, I felt my tears falling. Ang ganda kasi! You could really feel and hear the beauty of the song. And then as she sang the chorus the second time, she looked at me and smiled. Whether dahil natutuwa or natatawa sya sa hitsura ko, I didn't care. That was simply the best moment! It was a good thing Hubby was the one taking the video (you can watch it here) because I was literally crying from happiness and I was busy wiping my tears with tissue ☺

Of course I also didn't want to pass up the chance to get her autograph on a merchandise, so I bought one of her CDs. Her "Blurred Lines" album had already sold out so I bought "The Journey So Far." It was quite a long queue and unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture with her, but hey, at least I got a remembrance from one of the singers I really admire, right? ☺