Aside from being a successful Broadway actress, Lea Salonga has another role which she deems as the most challenging and important: Being a mother to her two-year old daughter Nicole.
In a media junket prepared for the contract signing of Lea's newest endorsement, laundry detergent called Cycles, held at the Tropezz Restaurant, Greenbelt 3 in Makati City last Friday, June 27, the Tony award-winning actress talks about her memorable moments with her daughter.
As a mom, which part does she enjoy most?
"It's just watching this little girl, who is now two, just watching her at something, she does new things. There's always something weird that happens and sometimes that happens when I'm not around," she says while smiling.
Lea shares an incident when Nicole was caught imitating what she was doing in one of her Broadway concerts.
"One day [my mom] called and said, ‘You should see your daughter!' I'm like, ‘Why? What happened?' Of course, I'm thinking, ‘Is she in the hospital? What happened? Did she have an accident? Did she fall down the stairs? What happened to her?'
"She replied, ‘We're watching your Broadway concert on DVD. She gets something—this little thing na parang mallet na she uses for her xylophone—she uses it as her microphone. And she's copying what mommy is doing on the screen.'
"So, she does it now even without the visual aid. You know, she'll get up and get her little microphone or anything that looks like one, and then, she'll walk around and babble. Then, I would be like, ‘Oh, my mother wasn't exaggerating this time.'"
"I WANT HER TO DREAM HER OWN." Although Nicole is showing an interest on her mother's profession, Lea said that unlike other parents, she doesn't want to impose anything on her child.
"I don't have a dream for her. I want her to dream her own," says Lea. "You know, it's been asked with me, ‘Do you want your kid to follow in your footsteps? What do you want you daughter to be?' I want her to be what she wants to be."
The singer-actress adds that whether or not Nicole becomes an international star in the future, she will just support her daughter.
She explains, "You know, I'm her mommy. If she wants to be an actress, then, by all means. You know, if she wanna be in corporate sales, a lawyer, a doctor... I just have to make those dreams come true for her and be there as much as I can for her. I can't impose whatever desires I have for her."
And she goes on calling the attention of other mommies: "Don't impose your dreams upon your children. They have dreams of their own. Let them, just be supportive of them, be by their side, and be encouraging. When you know that there's a real gift for something, you steer them in that direction."
Lea Salonga is currently busy with her rehearsals for
the musical production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. But she makes it clear that despite these rehearsals, she still finds time for her daughter Nicole.
"Time management is the best way of doing it," said Lea. "It's pretty rigid rehearsal schedule so I make sure that I, at least, find some time with my daughter before I head off to rehearsal. Then, I make sure that if I don't have any activities during the day, I go home and spend time with my daughter."
Cinderella will be staged from July 29 to August 24 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.
Tickets are available at all selected major National Book Store branches, selected major Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls, Greenbelt 1, Glorietta 1, and at the TicketWorld office or at their website www.TicketWorld.com.ph.
Ticket prices range from P500 to P7,000. For inquiries and reservations, call 891-9999.