Lea Salonga had no idea how meaningful her song in Tagalog would be one year after taping her Christmas special for PBS.
The show which airs Tuesday, December 12 (check your local PBS listings) features the classic Filipino song, Payapang Daigdig by composer Felipe de Leon.
Salonga says De Leon climbed up to the top of a hill amidst the wreckage and destruction of World War II to actually find a moment of solace and peace. Payapang Daigdig translates into “peaceful world.”
“It is a hope that even in the aftermath of violence and of destruction, that there is a piece that comes afterwards,” said the Tony-award winner in response to a question from AsAmNews. “Given a lot of what has happened in so many years with conflicts and wars and violence in so many different parts of the world, even within the United States, it’s a hope that after all of that, there is a quiet and there is a peace that follows and I don’t think any of us could have anticipated how important a message like that would be given when this is going to be released.”
Salonga (Miss Saigon, Mulan) is this year’s featured guest performer on Season of Light: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir alongside veteran British actor Sir David Suchet (Agatha Christie).
Suchet tells the story of Nicholas Winton who saved Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and helped to find safe passage for 669 refugees.
“Given the timing of all of this, people who get to watch this will feel themselves empowered to help to find ways in which to show kindness to others who are suffering in the same way that these children were experiencing back in 1938- 39,” said Salonga.
Suchet shares that aspiration and believes the message will resonate with the world as Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas and Jews are in the midst of marking Hanukkah.
“When I was in the Tabernacle Square and doing the story of Sir Nicholas Winton, little did I know that it would be airing at a time of this catastrophic situation in the Middle East and how pertinent it is. But as we have been saying, there is also in the human, an area of love and kindness, which will shine through in the end. Our show gives hope of that.”
Salonga recently joined a star-studded cast as both an actress and producer for the Broadway production of Here Lies Love, the story of Imelda Marcos. At the time of this interview, the cancellation of the show had not yet been announced.
Salonga is currently in London starring in a production of Old Friends, a musical tribute to American composer Stephen Sondheim. She says two other productions currently playing in London feature Filipino performers in main roles.
Pacific Overtures stars a predominantly Asian cast, including her friend from the Philippines, Joaquin Pedro Valdes who plays Manjiro. Filipino and Hawaiian actress Nicole Scherzinger is also in London starring in Sunset Boulevard.
“To see more and more Filipino faces here in London, more and more Filipino faces on stage, on film, and on stage in the US, it makes me feel incredibly proud to have been a part of that happening, and I’m hoping that there will be more folks in leadership positions also behind the scenes at some point on this side of the pond as well,” said Salonga. “But these kinds of changes and evolutions take time. But to see it happening makes me feel incredibly proud as a performer and now a producer from the Philippines.”
Season of Light: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir can be seen on both PBS and BYU-TV. It will also be streamed on PBS.org.
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