Filipino theatre legend Lea Salonga to have own wax figure in Singapore
MANILA: Theatre legend Lea Salonga is finally getting immortalised as a wax figure at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Singapore.

The announcement was made on the Instagram account of Madame Tussauds.

“Shining, Shimmering, Splendid! The legendary Lea Salonga will have her very own wax figure in #MadameTussuadsSG! Are you as excited as we are?” it wrote in the caption.

The post was accompanied by a video of Salonga meeting with a team and getting her measurements done for the figure.

“It’s an absolute honour and a privilege. It’s fantastic,” she said in the clip.

The “Miss Saigon” legend then addressed her supporters, saying, “Hi everybody. I’m super excited to be joining Madame Tussauds with my very own wax figure. Are you ready? “

In the comments section of the announcement, fellow celebrities including Catriona Gray, who also has her own figure in Singapore, Martin Nieverra and Vina Morales extended their congratulations to the award-winning singer-actress.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, who got her wax figure earlier in March, had said in an interview that she hoped Salonga would be the next one to get her own.

“I really think it’s about time that Lea Salonga had a wax figure too. I think she is also very iconic, and she is etched in our hearts as a Filipina who has represented us in film, music and Broadway,” she said at the time.

“She’s a person that, even when I see her in real life, I still get starstruck, and I want to have a photo with her, and it would be nice to have a wax figure of her. Maybe they can play her songs or hear her voice, and I think that would be a really good idea,” added the beauty queen-actress.

Salonga rose to stardom after starring as the original Kim in the musical “Miss Saigon.” She was the first Filipino and Asian to win a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actress for her role in the production.

In 2023, she made her Broadway comeback in the musical “Here Lies Love” as Aurora Aquino, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino’s mother. She also recently starred in “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” in the West End.

Aside from her remarkable theatre work, she was also named a Disney Legend in 2011 after being the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s “Aladdin” and of the titular character in “Mulan.”

Aside from her Filipino movies, the theatre icon joined the cast of “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” in 2021.

Aside from the aforementioned, other Filipino celebrities with wax figures in Singapore are Manny Pacquiao and Anne Curtis. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
Philippines,Lea Salonga,wax,Singapore,Madame Tussauds
MANILA: Theatre legend Lea Salonga is finally getting immortalised as a wax figure at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Singapore.