In a masterclass with drama and theater design students, the two actors talked about what they learned from international productions.
“Drama belongs on the stage,” film and theater actress Dolly De Leon boldly declares towards the end of a very engaging conversation on life in the theater with her co-star Lea Salonga, during the recent “Exclusive Masterclass with Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon.”
The two multi-awarded thespians are gearing up to go into rehearsals for their upcoming show, Request sa Radyo, which goes on a limited run from October 10 to 20, 2024 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater.
The audience, comprised mostly of drama and theater design students, stage actors and directors, and media, cheered loudly as the two actresses walked into the JZA Hall of the Samsung Performing Arts Center. Everyone in the room was eager to learn from these icons about what it takes to live a life extraordinary while chasing creative pursuits.
Award-winning set designer Clint Ramos, who is doing scenography for the show, joined the ladies to facilitate the conversation. He also shared some of his own experiences of what it was like breaking into the Broadway as an Asian-American, leading to six Tony nominations, and one win for Eclipsed.
You always want to put your best foot forward. Don’t be late. Be prepared. It ripples. You don’t want people to say, ‘Don’t hire Filipinos’ because of your bad example,” says Lea Salonga.
It was interesting to see the parallels between how both actresses found their beginnings deeply rooted in theater. For Salonga, it began in her days with Repertory Philippines, recalling a performance in CCP where “…the microphone rose to just my height, and I recited my speech into the mic. I didn’t feel any fear, even if there were a lot of people.” It wasn’t until years later that the “theater bug” actually bit. “I didn’t make the decision that this would be my life until I joined Miss Saigon. I was still in Ateneo, so as far as I knew, I would do this, and then go back to that.”
Clearly fate had other plans. Accompanying her mom to Mass, the priest’s sermon was about how “we are all given gifts by God. Use the gifts God gave you,” Salonga adds. “That was my sign, and my confirmation that this is what I am supposed to do. I have not looked back since.”
As for De Leon, she fell in love with the theater while she was still a student at the University of the Philippines, working on her Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts. She was the costume mistress for Rene Villanueva’s play Isang Dulang Panaginip. “I was backstage and crying. ‘I want to do that. Why am I here?’”
She finally got her moment in the spotlight when she was cast alongside Tony Mabesa in a show written by Floy Quintos. She had one line, but it was enough for De Leon to know that acting was going to be her life’s work. “To this day, I still remember that one line because it was so incredible for me to be acting for the first time in a school production,” she enthused. “It was just three words—‘Tigang ka talaga!’…ang sarap to hear people reacting to you in real time. I knew this is really what I want to do.”
When she transitioned from theater to TV and film, De Leon admits it was a bit of a struggle for her, saying “the first time I did film, ang laki ng acting ko, nakakahiya. I had to learn to hold back and trust the eyes to do the job. Theater is very external—you have to feel it, and bring it out. In film, you just have to feel it and the camera, supposedly, will pick it up.” She professes that her love for theater stems from being able to “really feel the arc of what your character is going through. You are immersed 100 percent. If magkakamali ka, magkakamali ka. You only have yourself to rely on, especially in this (Request sa Radyo) case!”
Seasoned thespians
Fast forward to decades later, and both ladies are accomplished actresses in their own right. After her award-winning turn in Miss Saigon, Salonga became one of Broadway and The West End’s biggest stars, appearing in Les Misérables, Here Lies Love, Allegiance, and the Once On This Island revival in 2018 among many others.
Of all her roles, she considers playing Mrs. Lovett, in Atlantis Productions’ 2019 production of Sweeney Todd, as among the more difficult ones she’s had to play. “It was Incredibly rewarding and very freeing…But the challenges were multi-level. First was the timeline, and I get very OC about making sure everything is right,” she explains. “And then I can’t pull off a Cockney accent out of thin air! I had to make sure it was correct, and intelligible. I also gave myself anxiety over the songs.” Going through the songs as a speed exercise before a performance was a trick she gleaned from a conversation with no less than Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter, who just happened to have also won a Tony Award this year.
You show respect, you don’t complain. Be friendly. The celebrity part is the real job. The going to set, the acting, that’s the fun part,” says Dolly de Leon.
Early in 2024, Salonga and fellow musical theater great Bernadette Peters were part of the Cameron Mackintosh-production Old Friends, a revue of Stephen Sondheim’s work. She will reprise her role when the show opens on Broadway in 2025.
De Leon is currently on a stellar career path, both locally and internationally. She is the first Filipina to have been nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her role in the Swedish arthouse film Triangle of Sadness. In 2023, she had a banner year, as she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and was part of the season 2 cast of the Nicole Kidman-starrer Nine Perfect Strangers.
Locally, she appeared alongside Kathryn Bernardo in A Very Good Girl, and won an award for her performance in the Cinemalaya entry Iti Mapukpukaw. Just recently, De Leon shared some stills and the poster of her latest Hollywood film, Jackpot, which features Awkwafina and John Cena.
Dealing with success
One of the most interesting points of the evening’s discussion revolved around the learnings they picked up from working on international productions. Salonga recalls how in Miss Saigon, “…my input was actively encouraged. After being a young person so used to being told what to do… All of a sudden you’re in an environment where you’re asked questions, I was like, ‘ang sarap ng feeling.’”
Salonga does offer this reminder to those aspiring to pursue the craft overseas. “You always want to put your best foot forward. Don’t be late. Be prepared. It ripples. You don’t want people to say, ‘Don’t hire Filipinos’ because of your bad example.”
De Leon echoed the same sentiment by way of an experience from a show she just wrapped up abroad, where “my co-workers were talking about having to wait two hours, eh sa Pilipinas nga, you wait for 18 hours. You show respect, you don’t complain. Be friendly. The celebrity part is the real job. The going to set, the acting, that’s the fun part.”
Return to the stage
Request sa Radyo, an adaptation of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s Wunschkonzert, takes the two actresses off the beaten path in their return to the stage. To be directed by Bobby Garcia, Salonga and De Leon alternate in the role of a woman going through her nightly routine with her favorite program playing in the background.
The play explores themes of solitude versus isolation, profound loneliness, and the need for human connection. It poses to the audience the question of how these states of mind and emotion impact the human condition. RsR marks Garcia’s return to directing in Manila after four years away. His last production, The Band’s Visit, never made it to opening night because of the pandemic.
Request sa Radyo sets itself up to be a unique audience experience, blurring the lines between performance art and theater in its exploration of deeply personal and deeply human themes.
For De Leon, she is excited that such a timely play like Request sa Radyo marks her return to the stage after five long years. With such a challenging premise, she says she is “going to trust the material, and the director. Everything else will take care of itself. And tell the story as truthfully as possible.”
Her connection to the character is drawn from time spent away from her family during film shoots abroad, much like the story of OFWs all over the world. For Salonga, she was drawn to the opportunity to tell a probable and possible story that will resonate with a lot of people, especially those who are suffering from feelings of isolation and loneliness. On a lighter note, there was one thing she was very excited about. “Hindi ako kakanta? Yay!” she quipped! The two ladies do admit that they are feeling the pressure to discover ways to keep the audience engaged throughout the 75-minute performance despite the absence of words.
Request sa Radyo sets itself up to be a unique audience experience, blurring the lines between performance art and theater in its exploration of deeply personal and deeply human themes. Salonga and De Leon dare the viewer to reexamine their own lives, as they navigate the day-to-day alongside the “what happens now.”
Whether you are a fan of the theater, or are just in the mood for a show that is thought-provoking, then this would be worth adding to your schedule. Request sa Radyo, presented by Ayala Land, GMG Productions, John B. Echauz and Joanna Silayan-Echauz, Bobby Garcia and Clint Ramos, will only run for 20 shows, so better get those tickets over at Ticketworld now.
