DADO BANATAO: PhilDev is a little bit of an anomaly,
I would say, simply because we took on the challenge of trying
to help the country, the Philippines,
develop itself economically.
While there have been so many foundations
started to help the country, a lot of them
are humanitarian in nature, or charitable.
And that's OK.
I mean, there is instantaneous help to the needy.
But we can tell you, when we started
to do the research for PhilDev we, right or wrong,
concluded that there is not enough wealth
to affect the economy of the country by doing that.
So crazy people from Silicon Valley, we said,
let's do something different and see what happens.
So the route of the theses, or the strategic reason
for PhilDev is that-- and again, this is further research.
Talked to a couple of Nobel laureates.
Had dinner with them myself.
And these are economists that studied
the evolution of developed countries after World War II.
If you look at Japan and Germany,
they were devastated after World War II.
How come immediately after 20 years,
Japan became the number two economy in the world
after the US?
There was something there.
And so they studied that.
And so we adopted the results of their study.
And the one conclusion is that a developing country
must have a global economy if you
want to be a developed country.
Why is that?
Because in a developing country, the economy size
is really, really small.
The global economy, the size of the economy of the world,
is infinity bigger.
And if you think about it, it's kind of intuitive,
that if all you do is work within your economy,
only the rich get richer.
Because they're the ones that have the ability to invest.
The poor stay there.
That's one conclusion.
Now how do you actually tap the global economy?
It's easier said than done.
They also found out that technology
is the key reason how one can tap the global economy,
through technology-based products and services.
EMILY NISHI: Thank you so much, Dado.
[APPLAUSE]
EMILY NISHI: Very inspiring.
I loved how you talked about technology,
and wanted to just extend a huge welcome to you, Lea--
LEA SALONGA: Thank you.
EMILY NISHI: --for being in the heart of Silicon Valley.
LEA SALONGA: I can't believe I'm here.
This is awesome.
This is awesome for us.
Yeah.
EMILY NISHI: So the first question, actually,
is I think everyone in this room has grown up knowing about you,
hearing about you, over the last several years or decades, even,
since you started your career when you were seven.
So you must have been working at this for 10 years now at least.
LEA SALONGA: Well, OK.
Let's just leave it at that.
EMILY NISHI: So this connection that we have with you.
We'd love to hear, what's your connection with technology?
How do you use Google?
Do you Google yourself?
Do you--
LEA SALONGA: Oh, God, no.
No.
I kind of stay away from Googling myself.
But then, there's so much interesting content on YouTube,
that you just can't help but need to go in.
And also, so many videos from the TV
show that I just finished, "The Voice of the Philippines,"
a lot of the content from that TV
show is now available on YouTube.
So for people that have not been able to see the show,
if you're not subscribers to TFC-- I mean,
how many people would not be subscribers to TFC?
I mean, if you're Filipino, chances
are you have TFC in your house, just
to have a connection to home.
But I mean, a lot of the videos, a lot of the performance
videos, at the very least, as well as
my very opinionated comments on performances,
are available for anyone in the world to access.
And that's been great, because I've
been able to then use it as reference
for-- because the uploads are so quick, to be able to look at it
and see what strategies to adopt for the following week,
and to see how the other teams and the other competitors
are performing, and seeing what we can do, and seeing,
OK, that performance was not so great.
We need to improve it for the next time.
And so, I use it a lot for research and information.
And a lot of the material that I've
been learning over the last couple of weeks,
Victor put everything on an Excel spreadsheet.
And here's the YouTube link, so that you can learn that song.
And I'm like, all right.
OK.
There you go.
Oh, OK.
There we go.
And so, YouTube has actually been
helpful in that regard for me as well.
And I love playing video games also.
EMILY NISHI: I heard that you're a bit of a geek.
LEA SALONGA: I'm a bit of-- yeah.
EMILY NISHI: Tell us more about that.
LEA SALONGA: Yes.
I have to put makeup on to hide the dark circles under my eyes.
I've spent many a late night playing
a lot of console video games.
And I mean, it's things like "BioShock," "BioShock 2."
It's the "Assassin Creed" series.
And my favorite's "Assassin Creed 2," only because
of the most charming protagonist ever,
who is Ezio Auditore, if anybody knows who that is.
And if you don't, shame on you.
Because I think it's one of the best video game series ever.
And my husband and I both are huge on video games.
And I think there are certain games where
I advance into the game further than he does.
And basically, it's like a, honey, no spoilers.
Don't tell me what happened.
It's like watching "Breaking Bad."
It's kind of to at that level.
I haven't caught on yet to the phenomenon that
is "Breaking Bad," and he does not let me hear the end of it.
So I promised to catch up on the plane ride home.
So, I'll probably be done with the first season
by the time I hit Manila.
So at least he and I will have something
to talk about when he picks me up from the airport.
So he's sad that it's over.
So there's that.
Both of us have gadgets galore.
And it's kind of funny.
From the time that we met, we've almost always
had identical devices.
I mean, when we first met, it was the exact same Nokia phone,
but in different colors.
It's like, aw.
It was meant to be.
There was that.
And then he adopted the iPhone before I did.
And I held onto a Nokia.
But it was a little bit more advanced.
And he's like, why aren't you hopping onto the iPhone?
I'm like, I'm going to wait until I
can send to unlimited numbers of people by texts.
And there's still limits to that technology.
So, I need to hold off until it can do what I want it to do.
And when it did, and I'm like, all right, I can sign on now.
And so, since then, we've had identical phones.
And yeah.
But we always get it in different colors.
And I always put a case on mine.
Just because you need to protect your investments.
And he's vain about his iPhone, so there's no case on it.
There's no protective layer, because it's so beautiful.
I don't want a shield.
I'm like, you're going to regret that at some point.
And he's dropped it so many times at the gym,
at the office, at home.
And then, I think there was one time before we finally
replaced his 4s s with a 5.
We were at the cemetery visiting his mother.
He had his iPhone in his pocket.
Opened the car door, stepped out,
and it fell onto the pavement, and cracked the glass,
and broke his heart along with it.
And of course in my head, being a wife,
anybody here who's a wife, you know that voice in your head.
I told you.
Don't want to listen to me.
OK, so you deal with that.
So yeah.
He was like, yeah, I'm going to have to get the next one now.
I was like, uh, duh, you think?
Just all these little things that go on in my head.
But yeah, so w were always surrounded by it.
And we have a seven-year-old daughter
who's very tablet-savvy, and smartphone-savvy.
She has an iPad.
An iPad Mini.
She knows what to do with it.
I don't have to teach her anything.
And it's cool that technology has advanced
to the point of being so intuitive that you can give
a two-year-old that bit of technology,
and then they'll be able to navigate even better
than the grownups can, sometimes.
But we have to censor the games, obviously, and the apps
that she is able to use.
Like, can I buy-- no, you cannot have that one.
Can I wa-- no, you cannot watch that movie.
And of course, the parental restrictions are activated.
But yeah, we are in technology I think
on a pretty high-end consumer level.
I mean, we're not dumb-dumbs when
it comes to the stuff that we have,
and the stuff that we use.
And we employ a lot of it.
And I employ a lot of it at work.
Obviously, I listen to music and study music with my phone.
And with the tablet, being able to Xoom music,
and being able to go through lyrics,
and being able to use that for work.
And I no longer get CDs to study music.
There's a television program called
ASAP in the Philippines, which is incredibly popular.
It's a Sunday afternoon variety show.
And whenever I need to appear as a guest performer,
their music department will just send the mp3s for me
to listen to.
And the technology then is also employed by the music director.
They have their own software that they use,
which I know nothing about, which my brother also
gets to use, where they cut the songs,
and change pitches, change keys, attach things together,
so that at least we have some sort of schematic
going into a rehearsal.
And we have an idea of what to do in order to save time.
So it's also been incredibly helpful
with of productivity side of that.
CATHERINE BUAN: Yeah.
Do you think technology has made a big difference in-- well,
I hear that you use it for a lot of inputs, and research,
and rehearsal, and sort of the incoming information
and availability.
But you are such a warm person with a lot of emotion,
and that's such a big deal in the arts.
Do you think that technology has also
gotten to a point where you can actually
share more of that nuance?
LEA SALONGA: Well, I think that it is possible.
And with what Victor has created with "Broadway Live,"
for example, which is able to provide that kind of content.
And the thing about the arts and what I do,
which mostly is like, live performing and performing
on stage, and it's usually a very interactive medium, where
it's people who are maybe just a few feet in front of you
and, there's that kind of energy,
to be able to be savvy enough to try and capture
that kind of a performance-- first,
you need to be in a room full of people in order
to fully represent the experience.
And I mean, for the performer, it's
important that it's a room where there are however many people.
For example, we did a concert at the Allen Room
at Lincoln Center.
And we filled it with friends and members of the theatre
community.
And I did the concert as if I was just performing
for the people in the room.
However, I also had to be conscious of the fact
that this was going to be recorded
and eventually digitally streamed,
which would then bring this experience into someone's
laptop, into somebody's living room.
And I mean now, with the way you're
able to stream stuff from your laptops, or from your phones,
onto a television set, and then the experience
is right there in your living room.
So then, I have to be conscious of, Lea, you
have to look at this particular spot,
because the camera is capturing you from this angle.
And if you look a little too high,
then you look a little weird.
So there's also that.
And he had to be a Nazi about that, which I appreciated.
And then, I'll hear these big sighs
from the back of the room going, ah, yes.
And so, there's that.
So the technology, actually, in the room
was extremely present, with however many cameras,
with a whole big camera set up, and with dollies,
and with cameraman, and a recording console.
And me having to figure out which microphones to use,
and having to test that to create one, the best
sound for me coming through a speaker as possible,
and also for capturing it for preservation.
So I think the technology enables people
to experience what's going on in a concert hall
from their own home.
But there also has to be-- for me,
it's really helpful when there are people in the room
to make it a very interactive experience, and a very
immediate audience-performer experience.
That kind of interaction is very, very unique,
and if the room was empty, I don't
think we would have been able to make that happen.
Not long ago, I saw the iTunes Music Festival performance
of Lady Gaga.
And I mean, it was wonderful.
It was incredible.
And I felt like I was there.
But there needed to be also this full audience that
was interacting with her, and applauding, and laughing,
and crying, and being in the room.
There's something about that.
I mean, it's great when we're able to capture it,
and able to stream it, and make the content available.
But at the same time, for what I do,
I need an audience in a room.
CATHERINE BUAN: So it enhances the [INAUDIBLE].
LEA SALONGA: It does.
CATHERINE BUAN: [INAUDIBLE] substitute.
LEA SALONGA: Right.
It's not a substitute.
I mean, there's nothing like being in a Broadway theater
and watching say, a show like "The Book of Mormon"
and seeing all of these things happening
in the same room as you.
And my husband and I recently went.
Obviously, we did not take our daughter.
That is not a show to take children to.
Absolutely not.
And it was a show that he would have wanted to see.
And we had not really listened to the cast recording
at the time.
So a lot about what was happening on the stage for us
was new.
And there is so much profanity.
If any of you have listened to the cast recording of "Book
of Mormon," it's a bit of a shock initially.
But then after you get over it, it's really, really funny,
and it's genius.
And if you're a fan of "South Park,"
this is right up your alley.
It was just incredible.
I mean, there is no replacing that experience, obviously.
But there is something to be said about making it available.
EMILY NISHI: That's amazing, which shines through
in what you're talking about, and what
you've applied as you've learned how the industry has changed.
It's just the depth of experience
you've had as a performer.
One thing that I think all of us are
familiar with that extensive resume that you have.
I mean, I think many of us remember you from the Disney
movies, from the plays you've done
on Broadway, in London, and elsewhere,
and just the sheer amount of accomplishments.
I tried to print your Wikipedia page
so that I could read about you--
LEA SALONGA: Do not even read that.
EMILY NISHI: And it kept printing and printing.
It was multiple pages.
LEA SALONGA: I need to figure something out.
So, I'm sure there's somebody in this room that
will be able to help me.
No, no, no.
Because I called Wikipedia out on a tweet this morning.
And I was very angry.
And I said, Wikipedia, you suck.
And yeah.
Because there were so many inaccuracies on my page.
And the funny thing is, I tried to correct the Wikipedia entry.
But the thing is-- and I read a "New Yorker" article
about somebody else that tried to do this, and was unable to.
So I put a blurb, which was all of two lines,
Lea Salonga will be editing this entry in the next few days
because of the egregious errors contained
made by well-meaning people who feel that they know
her career better than she does.
Thank you.
And I dated it.
And I think there were some really cool people that
took a screenshot of it before somebody
went in again and edited it out.
So my question is this.
How does a person like myself edit their own Wikipedia entry?
Because it seems to be much more difficult than negotiating
rush hour traffic on the 405 in LA, and probably
10 times more frustrating.
So maybe if somebody from Wikipedia
would be able to give me an answer.
Tweet me at @MsLeaSalonga on Twitter.
You can find me, and it really is me.
And I do get combative and am very opinionated with people.
And the tone that I take makes people say, oh, yeah,
that really definitely is her.
I'm not the nicest person in social media.
I can be a little ornery, and I can be a little bit obnoxious.
But it's definitely me.
And it's me jet-lagged.
That's not nice.
It's not me being nice.
I'm not always diplomatic.
I'm extremely opinionated.
Which regular viewers of "The Voice" would have noticed.
Yeah, but I've never made anybody cry on "The Voice."
EMILY NISHI: Not yet.
LEA SALONGA: No.
I'm not Simon Cowell.
First of all, I'm prettier.
And yeah.
But yeah.
Yeah, so technology has also been
able to help me stay in touch with fans.
It's no longer six degrees or however
many degrees of separation.
There's no more separation.
If somebody decides to say something,
I have all the freedom in the world
to either ignore or engage.
Ricky Martin gave me a piece of advice.
Do not, do not, do not engage.
And he's actually told a story about having
to be physically restrained from his computer
by a friend when, I think, one comment was just
the straw that broke the camel's back.
And he was just like, why you?
And somebody said, no, do not, do not.
And yeah.
Incredibly handsome celebrities like that have a bad day.
EMILY NISHI: I think [INAUDIBLE] some celebrities.
Do you have any good stories for us?
You've worked in multiple Hollywood circles
and Broadway circles, et cetera.
Won multiple Tony Awards.
You've rubbed elbows with a lot of these interesting people.
Any good stories or favorite actors?
LEA SALONGA: Oh, OK.
I have a story about Hugh Jackman.
And this is before his success as Wolverine on "X-men."
Very few people-- when he blew up like crazy on film
as Wolverine on "X-men."
When I saw the trailers, I'm like, wait a minute.
I know this guy.
And I knew him because a few years before the "X-men"
movie came out, there was a concert in London called "Hey,
Mr. Producer," which is available on DVD.
Shameless plug.
Insert here.
And I was invited to be part of the concert
to perform selections from "Miss Saigon,"
as well as selections from "Les Mis,"
and to be part of this big Sondheim section.
And I was only too honored to do it.
One of the girls, one of my girlfriends,
who had done "Miss Saigon" with me,
she said, OK, for the second act,
for the Rodgers and Hammerstein section,
you have to make sure that you are sitting in the house.
And I said, why?
She said, just trust me.
Just do it.
OK.
So I sit in costumes.
Still in whatever costumer I was wearing.
So I'm sitting a few seats away from another actor.
And from out of nowhere, a capella,
you hear this voice just singing, [SINGING]
"There's a bright golden haze on the meadow."
I'm like, who's that?
Who is that?
And it was the kind of a voice that just made you sit up.
And what's going on?
And you felt this anticipation.
And then, here comes this very tall, over 6
foot man, dressed up.
He was about to open two weeks later in "Oklahoma."
And so he came out, this tall, beautiful, rugged Australian
man, and just singing with this big smile on his face,
standing straight and tall, and extremely confident.
And I'm like, oh my God.
And I heard sighs from the other ladies in the audience
at the time going, mm-hmm.
Just looking at him.
And he just continued to sing, just note perfect, and smiling,
and gorgeous.
And I'm like, oh my god.
It's a musical theater man.
And these kind of men were so rare.
OK.
It's rare, because-- OK, I'll have to be completely frank.
Musical theater is often considered as gay man's heaven.
And I have had my share of gay leading men.
And some are able to play straight better than others.
But when I see someone like that,
and you're doing a musical theater, you have no idea.
It's like we get kind of boy crazy at times,
because it's like, they're so rare.
It's like being a member of "National Geographic," sighting
a very rare animal out in the wilderness.
It is of that magnitude.
It's just magical when you finally spot one.
And you have to get your binoculars out, and take
lots and lots of pictures, and take copious notes.
But he just stood there and just sang.
And I could not take my eyes off of him,
because he was beautiful, and magnetic,
and incredibly charming.
And I think the "Oklahoma" film starring him is available.
It's on YouTube.
And you can find it on YouTube.
And you'll understand when you see this.
And it was a charm that could transcend-- once you looked
at his face, your heart just fell into your stomach,
and you were just instantly filled with adoration.
And it's not even a carnal desire, when you look at him.
It's not even about that.
Maybe a little bit about it.
But it's just more of this masculinity.
And I mean, yeah, of course he would be cast as Wolverine.
And I just wonder if on that set,
he ever broke out into musical theatre songs with any other
member of the cast.
And I mean, he was very popular in Australia
as a quite well-known musical theater leading man,
and his success.
Then, moved to the West End and onto Hollywood.
And he's also won his own Tony Award
playing another Aussie in "The Boy from Oz."
And I'm just so happy that he's just
garnered so much incredible success on film and on stage,
and that he's not forgotten his roots.
And I think he actually received--
I don't know if it was management
advice, or representative advice.
You shouldn't be prancing on stage,
singing and doing musical theater.
And I'm glad that he didn't follow that advice,
because his kind of magic, there's something
about him live in a theater, just a few feet away from him.
I saw the films.
I saw the "X-men" films, and I've seen the YouTube clips.
But there's nothing like being a few feet in front of him.
[SIGHS]
Yeah.
There's nothing like that.
I mean, he's pretty darn special live and up close.
CATHERINE BUAN: Lea, speaking of celebrity icons,
having a person like you, here-- I
mean your warmth is tremendous.
And I think oftentimes, when people come to see a celebrity
icon interviewed one on one, it's to see,
who's the real person underneath.
And I have to say, in a moment, we
feel like we all know you already.
But I still have to ask, what do we not know about Lea?
LEA SALONGA: Oh.
And Victor's been one of my best friends.
I mean, he was the gay of honor at my wedding.
And my wedding was a massive production,
and he directed that.
So I mean, what do people not know?
I mean, I don't know.
I mean, my life is pretty much out there.
And what you see is pretty much what you get.
And I pride myself on that.
I mean, my family is that way.
My brother is that way.
My mother, oh, gosh, yeah.
She's very transparent.
Which is great.
I mean, if she has any disdain for someone,
the eyebrow goes up, and you know where you stand with her.
And it's great.
I mean, if you're in a good place with her,
then she is incredibly warm, and incredibly hospitable,
and generous.
But when she starts to shut down,
then it's like, good luck to you.
I will be in the next room if you need me.
But yeah, incredibly emotional woman.
And I think both my brother and I, we got some of that
from her.
But obviously, we are only half her.
And the other half is as our father, who
was very good at keeping things close to the chest,
and at not always letting other people
into what's going on here.
He's actually a mechanical engineer.
So I'm the daughter of an engineer.
[APPLAUSE]
LEA SALONGA: That's something not a lot of people know.
He went to the US Merchant Marine Academy
in Long Island in New York.
I think it's like, Maritime something something.
It's a commercial Maritime.
That's kind of what his concentration was.
And so, he did a lot of that in the Philippines.
And other funny thing is that he said
that, when he was still at the Academy--
his story is about him at the Academy-- he used
to take the train from school to the city
and watch Broadway shows.
And he remembers having seen "South Pacific" on Broadway.
So it's kind of funny then, that his daughter many, many, many,
many years later, would end up on the Great White Way
herself, not just once, but two or three times, or four times.
Which I think makes him very proud.
I would think.
I would hope.
So I think my love for technology
must have come from that.
So it have been a genetic predisposition and curiosity
for that kind of stuff.
EMILY NISHI: Speaking of curiosity,
we'd like to invite the audience to ask Lea questions directly.
Anything you like.
It's not off limits.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Lea.
My name's [INAUDIBLE], and I'm from the YFPA organization.
LEA SALONGA: Hey.
AUDIENCE: Thanks for being here.
My question is, I saw on YouTube when
you were auditioning for "Miss Saigon."
And I think it was like, a documentary.
Can you tell us about that experience?
Because that was probably more than 20 years ago or so?
LEA SALONGA: Oh, my gosh.
That audition was filmed in 1988.
AUDIENCE: Yes.
Yes.
LEA SALONGA: Oh, my gosh.
That was a very, very long time ago.
I was a freshman in college.
And I was actually in pre-med.
So I would have taken a whole completely different path
into the sciences.
So the audition, that is only a few minutes that actually
represented a three day audition process for me.
I mean, the first day wasn't filmed.
The first day was when all professional singers and actors
were called and invited to audition.
Second day was open call.
So I was on the first day, because I
had been a professional singer in the Philippines for,
at the time, 10 years.
So I went in to sing.
And I strategically picked a song
from "Les Mis," having a feeling that it might be possible
that the music from this new musical
would be in a very similar style.
And they kind were not.
But I mean, at least it gave the people auditioning me a hurdle,
that it was something that they were already familiar with.
And then I sang a pop song to give them
a bit of a range as to what I could do.
So the stuff that was captured on film was my call back.
And I had no idea if I was going to be called back after that.
So I then brought the libretto of "Les Mis" with me
and asked them to autograph it.
Because I didn't think I would ever see them again.
So I figured hey, you know, what do I
have to lose at this point?
The experience was very interesting.
I never had a three-day audition process before.
It was something that was very new to me,
and very interesting, and very nerve-wracking.
And I mean, to actually feel my knees literally
knocking against each other while trying to keep yourself
together and singing a song is extremely difficult.
And at the age of 17, it's-- I don't know how many
17-year-olds could go through it.
But there were quite a few teenagers
that were able to get over that.
And there were a few of us, not even 20,
that headed over to London to actually start rehearsals
for that, show which was pretty cool.
AUDIENCE: I guess they just sort of stole my question.
I was going to ask about working with Boublil and Schonberg,
and what that experience was like.
LEA SALONGA: Well, the cool thing
about having worked with Boublil and Schonberg-- I
mean, first of all, they're kind of
legendary in that they created this incredible musical that
still had a life, and was just recently turned
into a film, which again starred Hugh Jackman,
going back to him.
Working with these two, it's actually
like having your fathers at first.
Because you're trying to make sure
that you sing their music right, and that you make them happy.
Many, many years later working with them on other things
after having added to my resume, and after having
added to my body of work, they sort of became equals.
And my mouth got a little more sassy.
And Alain remarked, I don't remember
you being like this when you were 18.
Yeah, we all grow up sooner or later.
But they are incredibly lovely, lovely men to work with.
Incredibly collaborative.
And Claude Michel for me, I will always
have a soft spot in my heart for him, and not only because
of his musical gift, but also for his love for my country,
for the Philippines.
I mean, he set up Sun and Moon Foundation,
which is an orphanage.
And he adopted his elder daughter--
he has two daughters-- his older daughter, Margo,
from the Philippines.
And he comes back at least once or twice a year
to look in on the orphanage, and to make sure
that everything is still running smoothly.
And I don't know of anyone of that kind of stature
to have that kind of consistent commitment
to a cause like that, and to always be able to make time.
And he's brought his wife Charlotte over
to look in on it.
Or if he's unable to make a trip,
then she does on his behalf.
And he's just a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man,
period, as well as an incredible musician,
to get to work alongside on projects.
And it is an ongoing relationship.
AUDIENCE: I appreciate all the time you spend with your fans.
And like, the stuff you do on social media
is really exciting for us.
I had a little self-deprecating story.
I went and heard you four years ago in Louisville, Kentucky,
I guess, at a concert.
And you were doing that thing where you invited audience
members up to sing "Aladdin" with you.
And it was exciting, so I was all psyched to do it.
So I jumped up there, and then I got stage fright,
and had to stop.
And it was sort of a bummer.
Some other guy ran up to the stage.
But then after that, it became this real terrifying thing,
because I thought, wow, I'm always hesitating in my life,
and not making things happen.
I couldn't sleep for two days.
It was so ridiculous.
And then all my friends and I, we
started calling these moments where
you hesitate Lea Salonga moments.
It became a concept in our discourse.
CATHERINE BUAN: There's actually a name now for this.
OK.
AUDIENCE: So, thanks for that, I guess.
It was really exciting year.
LEA SALONGA: That's a dubious honor to have.
AUDIENCE: I had a lot of adventures that year,
sort of trying to make the most.
LEA SALONGA: Aw.
Thanks for sharing that story.
That's awesome.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Hi.
My name is Jeannie.
Nice to meet you, Lea.
I'm in the field of clinical psychology,
so we're in very different fields.
But as a clinician, one thing that's important is self-care.
And so it's a global superstar, how do you practice self-care?
LEA SALONGA: Oh.
Well, the video games actually do help, strangely enough.
It's one way to kind of vent my anger and frustration
without actually taking it out on an actual human being.
So, there's that.
I mean, just taking a wrench and hitting a zombie in the face,
it feels really good to do.
And so, I find that very therapeutic.
Just conversations with my friends.
And I always make sure to have dinner
with a close clutch of friends.
Victor is one of them, and we have
a close clutch of girlfriends and other friends in New York
City.
I'm there so frequently, so there's always
going to be like, a group outing of some sort, where we eat,
and we talk.
And a lot of the time, it's not about theatre.
We talk about relationships.
We talk about children.
And then we talk about the stuff that has absolutely nothing
to do with the outside world.
We talk about what goes on in our own lives.
And sometimes in talking things out,
you're able to then, when you hear yourself say something,
then everybody has input.
Or if somebody else is having a relationship issue,
me being blunt, will not even filter
the thoughts that pop into my mind.
And they reach my mouth before my brain
can tell me to stop talking.
And sometimes, it's appreciated, and sometimes it's,
I wish I didn't hear that.
I mean, there's that.
So it's extremely therapeutic to kind of get back
in touch with the people that know me best,
and with people that know me unfiltered, and uncensored,
and real.
I spend a lot of time with my family.
I spend a lot of time with my daughter, and with my husband.
And I guess part of the self-care
is returning to a very real life of school
pickups, and parent-teacher conferences,
and heading to the grocery, and in doing the stuff
to take care of your house.
And sometimes, I guess, in taking
care of other human beings, you kind of take care of yourself
also.
Because then you have another responsibility
that has absolutely nothing to do with the work.
And sometimes, working as a performer,
and when you have many pairs of eyes looking at you
and trained on you, I mean, there is always a danger
that you turn into this narcissistic, self-centered
monster.
So when the energy then goes from you to something else,
then it kind of balances things out.
CHRISTINE SONGCO LAU: OK.
So we have some questions that we gathered online
before this event to make sure we
had enough representation for people that couldn't make it
here.
And one of the questions we had online
was from Minnie [INAUDIBLE] one of the Googlers here.
She says, you were a freshman at Ateneo during my senior year.
And the biggest news at the time was
that you got the lead role in "Miss Saigon.
If you had not become a successful international
performer, what would have been your second career choice?
LEA SALONGA: I really don't know.
It's not something I really think about now.
I try not to think about what could've been,
because what is is really pretty darn cool.
So, I don't know.
I mean, I don't know that I would have continued
my studies in medicine, because I
didn't have a head for chemistry.
And just thinking about having to go through organic chemistry
really terrified me.
So I'm kind of glad that things worked out
the way that they did.
I don't know.
I probably would have continued on in the arts path,
but still kind of keeping a toehold
on the sciences a little bit, because there
were certain things that did interest me.
But then again, I really don't know.
CHRISTINE SONGCO LAU: OK.
One more question from online, and then we'll
go back to in the room.
Another question we had online from Google Moderator
is from Yao Ching.
Do you sing in the shower?
And if so, what song?
LEA SALONGA: I actually sing in the shower
when I need to study material.
When there's a song that's really wordy,
or a song that's really difficult,
or something that I just need to go
over and over and over again, then I do it in the shower.
And the acoustics in there are actually not bad.
I can hear my voice really clearly and be able to focus.
So yes, I do, but not in the way that people do.
AUDIENCE: I wanted to ask, how do you juggle being a mom,
and then like the global superstar that you are?
You kind of mentioned some stuff about picking up from school.
It's just a curiosity of mine, because I'm a mom too.
LEA SALONGA: Really well thought-out scheduling,
I think.
And also, shared responsibility.
I mean, my husband does the morning drop-offs,
because I cannot do them.
Because I'm a night owl.
And I hate getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning
to do a drop-off.
No.
I'm doing pick-up.
You are doing drop-off.
And he's a morning person anyway,
so it's not inconvenient for him.
I think it's just keeping your priorities straight, and making
sure that I spend most of my time at home with my family.
And when I do travel outside of the country,
the time away is limited, or the time away from my family
is limited, especially now that my daughter's getting older.
And I'm finding that she needs me more and more
now, the older she gets, than when she was much younger.
It's kind of interesting how that's happened.
I do spend a lot of time away from the Philippines
when she's on summer break.
Because that is when I'm able to travel.
That's when I can perform.
And then, she comes with me.
And then we try to find interesting stuff for her
to do.
Museums.
I mean, we took her to the Natural History Museum
in New York City when I was there for a nice, long stay.
And so, she got to actually see dinosaur fossils.
And she's really interested in dinosaurs,
and she wants to be a paleontologist when
she grows up.
And a fashion designer, among other things.
Yeah, so I think it's just a matter of figuring out
what the priorities are, and then scheduling accordingly.
Which was what made "The Voice" the perfect thing, because I
was able to be home and do what I loved to do at the same time.
And because of the reach of TFC and where
ABS-CBN has placed their networking,
I was still seen by an audience worldwide, or at the very
least, in Filipino homes worldwide,
which was pretty cool.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
We watched "The Voice" too, and you were amazing.
LEA SALONGA: Thanks.
Thank you.
And we won.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Hi.
My name's Rex.
I'm with YFPA.
It's funny.
When I got the email invite for this, as I scrolled through it,
the first words that caught my eye were Princess Jasmine.
And growing up, "Aladdin" was my sister and I's favorite movie.
And I was just wondering.
So much of Disney's culture is very magical, sort of
like mysterious.
And you got to work on arguably one of the greatest Disney
movies of all time.
I was just wondering if you could just
shed some light on your experience with Disney,
and how that was.
LEA SALONGA: It's actually pretty magical for us too,
for the people that work.
It's like being in the Emerald City,
and being behind the curtain where the Wizard was.
But it's also magical behind the scenes.
I mean, getting to work with people like Alan Menken and Tim
Rice-- and these are musical theater legends as well.
Alan Menken having done "Little Shop of Horrors,"
and and now he's represented on Broadway in "Newsies,"
and also having done "Beauty and the Beast"
and "The Little Mermaid."
And Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics for "Evita."
So that's part of his resume.
And so when I got to meet him, and I was just this huge fan.
The behind the scenes stuff.
I mean, being cast as a voice actor in a Disney movie,
it's refreshing, because your actual appearance as a human
being has absolutely no bearing on whether or not
you get the job.
You literally can show up in your pajamas, sing a song,
and go home, and it's all great.
But the cool thing about recording "A Whole New World,"
and even "Reflection" in "Mulan,"
is that you do it in a room with 75 other musicians,
and all of you playing in concert with one another.
And for me, that is just an incredibly magical experience,
just singing with an orchestra of that size.
And the caliber of musicians that are in the room,
it's just mind-blowing for me.
And so as a singer, as a musician, and getting
to experience something like that,
and then later on watching it on screen,
there's still the whole, "how do they
do that" feeling when you're watching a magician onstage.
Disney is magical, period, for the people that
work behind the scenes as well.
"A Whole New World" was recorded a few days
before my 21st birthday.
So that was 20 or so years ago.
And like, it still blows my mind that I
got to be part of something that wonderful.
AUDIENCE: That's awesome.
Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
Christine Velasquez with Filipino Networking Association
of Silicon Valley.
First off, it's such a treat and a pleasure
to be in your presence.
I'm sure everyone could agree.
I've heard you sing.
I've heard your name throughout the years.
And to share in this energy today is just such a treat.
And being here and seeing the realness
around the way you carry yourself, how grounded you are,
and how down to earth you are is something
that is so appreciated.
And I wanted to acknowledge that.
So my question was brought up earlier
about kind of more of the, how do you balance all this,
being on the world stage, and work-life balance,
particularly for professionals and those
who are starting their careers and such?
But you answered that in a very nice, thoughtful way.
So I thought that maybe sharing more about your passion
and following your passion, obviously.
What you've done and accomplished
is the epitome of following your passion
and being successful on so many levels.
And if you can share a little bit of insight on that,
and how that has really helped you get you
to where you are today?
LEA SALONGA: OK.
I think every person's passion path is different.
But I guess it's really, try to go as hard as you can,
I guess, when you're in your 20's, when
you have the energy to do it.
And my mother always gave this advice.
Just focus on your career when you're
young and getting into that.
Because when it comes time for you to have your family,
it will happen when it's supposed to happen.
But when you're in your 20's, try to focus on your work,
and establishing your place in the world,
and figuring all that out.
So I think a lot of stuff happened when I was younger.
And then as I got older, then I started
to think about family and children.
And so the work would go, kind of taper it down a little bit.
But then things would then kind of do this.
And so, when I felt my career would be on an upswing,
I felt the need to also still take advantage of it,
but then it also would involve travel and time away.
So I mean, there is still some degree of sacrifice
that needs to be made.
And also, I chose my spouse well,
in the sense that his support for what I do
and for me as a human being is just
something I thank God for every single day.
Because I mean, he says things like this.
He's like, honey, I mean, I would never ever
stop you from doing what you do, because you
are in a unique position to inspire people.
And so, why would I ever take you away from that,
and take that away from you?
So I mean, I will always be behind you,
and I will always support you.
But in the same breath also, it's
like, we need you here at home too though.
So I guess it's just balancing how much time
away, and also figuring out with my family
and with my representatives just what to accept, where to travel
to, where it's OK, and trying to schedule things
where the whole family can come with me.
And it's just that kind of thinking
that always has to be being used up in my mind.
EMILY NISHI: So we're going to wrap it up.
Thank you so much, Lea.
I wanted to ask if you had any parting words, as we start
to close, related to actually being Filipino,
and some of the work you're doing with PhilDev.
We'd love to hear any advice for us
as we try to engage with our community and inspire others
ourselves.
LEA SALONGA: Well, first of all, to everybody here at Google,
thank you for the invitation to come.
I mean, as a nerd and as a bit of a geek,
you have no idea how happy I am to be here right now.
You just don't.
There's that.
And for me to be able to share a little bit of myself with you.
And since it's going to stream on YouTube, hi.
It Is wonderful to align oneself with an organization,
like PhilDev.
And because I'm one who believes more
in the "teach a man to fish" approach
to life than "give a man a fish.
And I learned this firsthand, because I
put my younger brother through music school.
The return of investment is going
to be incredibly high for the rest of his natural life,
for as long as it keeps on creating music,
for as long as he makes this world a better place.
One, he's an incredibly gifted musician.
And the whole family felt recognizing this gift,
we have to invest in his education.
And it is that kind of approach that I guess that PhilDev
is employing that I feel resonates.
And being able to help raise funds for the organization,
and being one to bring awareness to the Filipino community
about this organization, it's incredibly rewarding for me.
So I mean, thanks to PhilDev for the invitation
to be part of Filipino American History Month,
and to help kick it off this weekend.
So, it's pretty awesome.
[APPLAUSE]