‘At every stage of my life, there’s a role to play’: Lea Salonga back with third Les Miserables part

The Filipino actress-singer, who previously portrayed Eponine and Fantine, is now Madame Thenardier in The Arena Spectacular show. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE – Filipino actress-singer Lea Salonga has starred in the beloved musical Les Miserables many times.

But Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular World Tour, a concert-style production with screens on both sides of the stage that is playing at Sands Theatre until May 10, marks the first time her current character interacts with one she had previously embodied.

The 55-year-old now portrays thieving innkeeper Madame Thenardier. She played the streetwise but lovelorn Eponine, who is Madame Thenardier’s daughter, in the 1990s; and later factory worker-turned-prostitute Fantine in the 2000s and 2010s.

Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular World Tour’s Eponine is brought to life by London-based actress Nathania Ong, who made headlines in 2022 as the first Singaporean to play the part in Les Miserables’ West End production in London.

In a brief moment in one scene, Salonga gets to look Ong in the eye.

Salonga told The Straits Times in an interview at Sands Theatre on March 25: “I literally have two seconds to give her an instruction.”