A spellbinding performance

Traffic was at a standstill in the vicinity of the University of St. La Salle last Saturday, the night Lea Salonga held her concert which was organized by Gawad Kalinga to raise funds to build more houses for the poor in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

It was full house at the La Salle Coliseum which was filled to the rafters with a crowd of more than 7,000.

A hush fell over the audience when the 33-piece orchestra under the baton of Lea's brother Gerard, opened the show with a rousing overture from a popular Broadway musical. Suddenly, there she was! Looking slim and girlish in her evening pants attire, Lea was greeted with cheers and applause as she stood onstage, entrancing the crowd with a voice, described by music critics as so translucent and “clear as a bell”. Every familiar song was loudly greeted with applause especially her own version of “Ay, Kalisud” which elicited a delighted response from the Visayan crowd.

Slowly, the talented performer wove her brand of magic and transported us to another world with her rendition of “Memory” from Cats, “I Dreamed the Dream” and “On My Own” from Les Miserables, “I Don't know How to Love Him” from Jesus Christ, Superstar, a song from Flower Drum Song and her Disney hit song, “Reflections” from Mulan.

The audience went wild when Lea sang, “Ikaw” so beautifully. By this time, she had us in the palm of her hands with the crowd responding to her every repartee as she showed her complete mastery of her craft. (Does this girl ever breathe?)

Lea then introduced her guest who she described as “simply awesome”, Jed Madela, a fantastic performer. Jed came on like a ton of bricks as he demolished us all with a bombastic number from Phantom of the Opera. One listened with disbelief: the sound was so unreal, conveying utmost drama while his voice soared with intense brilliance. (By gad, this guy OWNED the stage!). As he ended his song with a flourish, even Gerard, the conductor, applauded his incredible performance. The younger set went into paroxysms of glee when he sang the popular love song, “Tanging Ikaw”. His version of “Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, simply took our breath away.

Amidst approving cheers from the audience, Lea came back onstage wearing a stunning fire engine red gown embellished with glittering crystals on the bodice, a creation by Rajo Laurel. She looked mighty pleased at the audience reaction to her gown.

The two artists sang a duet, “A Whole New World” from Alladin. It was marvelous to watch the audience' intense response to Lea's rendition of, “Anak”, “I Do”, “Hahanapin Ko”, “I'd Give my Life For You”. Her voice was truly magnificent, absolutely world class. As the concert came to a close, the audience gave her a standing ovation asking for an encore. Like the gracious star that she is, Lea once again held us spellbound with her finale number. It was an evening of enchantment. BRAVO!*