To Ms. Lea Salonga, Ms. Monique Wilson, Ms. Isay Alvarez, Ms. Pinky Amador, Ms. Janine Desiderio and the rest of cast if Ms. Saigon, SALUTE! I was only on my 6th grade when I learned about this play. Now that I am 40, I become more interested to know the depth of these BTS (behind-the-scenes) of this phenomenal Ms. Saigon.
Lea was the singer who can act. Monique was the actress who can sing. Both great artists. Both groundbreaking. I'm still at awe how talented they were at the twilight of their teenage years and clinching the world encompassing search for the role of Kim. Thank you for posting this gem of a video. I don't care about the quality. The content is still inspiring to this date.
miss Saigon producer and director made a great choice to chose Lea salonga. she's one of the legend of musicals and even Disney.. right decision that time.m
@@loretagutierrez3523 pinoy ka nga. Lahat issue. Sign of being ignorant. Sa ibang bansa they dont care. Basta importante naintindihan. Kaya ka nga nag comment. Ok na yon. Wag masyado demanding. Im not from england. Hiyang hiya naman kami sayo
Lea and Monique became the shining light of Philippine Theater and Music. They are both very intelligent, excellently talented and extraordinary performers.
The long search for Kim ended in Manila, Philippines, after a gruelling auditions in London, England, U.S.A. cities and other parts of Asia. Lea Salonga was chosen as Kim; she perfectly fit the coveted role. Monique was also offered the role of Mimi(a bar girl) and understudy for Kim. Other Filipino artists were also tapped.
I know Monique Wilson is talented but when Lea Salonga sings, there's a magical presence there. Her voice is so beautiful and clearly superior to Ms. Wilson's.
@@ciociosan can't act ? you cannot win a tony & olivier by singing only..you need to be excellent at both !!!!...lea was also nominated for best child and later as lead actress locally.
Always have been as a child but sad to say that my older Gen X peers preferred Sharon Cuneta and other singers who were not even as good as Regine then. My sister was a big Lea fan but she was the only one in her batch LOL. That was why Lea only had a gold record when she was young. Good thing she was discovered because she is not really for the Filipino masses with her more Westernized upbringing as an entertainer.
Thanks for posting this clip…historical indeed. I remember how the country shared the excitement not only of Lea and Monique but all the Filipino artists included in the original cast. With pride I watched their Farewell Concert before departure for London…talent was overflowing. We all followed their Miss Saigon stories thereafter and cheered all their successes!!
Love to reminisce how the Talented Pinoys romped with so many Casting roles during the Initial Ms.Saigon!! The Theatre World was stupified with how immensely talented Pinoys are!!
Monique and Lea look like sisters... Just like what Karen Davila said on an interview with Ms. Wilson, "I guess a lot of people have said that you have a striking resemblance to Lea Salonga" and Monique blushed and said smiling "Yeah, a lot of people have said that. I guess that's why they cast us in Miss Saigon."
I don't see any resemblance at all even in my youth in the 80s. I don't know why people say that when Monique obviously has a more Westernized face being a mestiza. Lea has a different look that is not the native pinay since she also has fair skin but not the mestiza type. We have seen her in person and she is more like Gina Alajar if people still remember her or Lorna Tolentino in skin tone and eyes.
Hays. There's just something innocent about Lea and Monique when they were chosen as the Kim's. But I'm not sure about those who just auditioned. Can't seem to find the innocence and simplicity found in these two gals more than 20 years ago.
the show was just breaking ground back then, so both lea and monique were its very first protagonists. no pressure nor expectation back then. nothing to compare to beforehand. no longer the same as now that the show is almost 2 decades old. potential role players for kim already have the preconceived notions as to how to go about the character. that freshness of the show and with the very first cast can never be replicated--ever
Because back in the 90s most Filipino girls are virgins even at 18, virgins with no boyfriend since birth status. Today, 15 or 16 y.o. girls already went through 5 boyfriends that's why you can't find that kind of innocent faces anymore.
I love this episode of the probe team. I hope someone has a copy of the Inside Story's "Tales of 2 Kim" wherein Lea and Monique were interviewed by Loren Legarda.
It's Tina Agoncillo. As far as I can remember, she was also a TV personality. Someone kindly correct me if I'm wrong. But was she part of the youth oriented program "That's Entertainment" hosted by Kuya Germs (German Moreno). I used to read articles of Saigon back in college. From what I've read, only 4 girls made it to the cut to play "Kim". They were Lea, Monique, Jenine and Tina. The rest were part of the chorus. But at the last minute, Tina Agoncillo back out. Not sure of the reason though..
The reason for Tina Agoncillo not joining the original London cast, as quoted from the book, 'The Story of Miss Saigon' by Edward Behr and Mark Steyn: "There was one unforeseen defection: a few weeks before the Filipino contingent was due to leave for London, Tina Agoncillo, a highly talented singer, attended a retreat organized by a fundamentalist 'born-again' Christian sect, became an instant convert and dropped out: her group refused to allow her to come to London."
To Ms. Lea Salonga, Ms. Monique Wilson, Ms. Isay Alvarez, Ms. Pinky Amador, Ms. Janine Desiderio and the rest of cast if Ms. Saigon, SALUTE!
I was only on my 6th grade when I learned about this play. Now that I am 40, I become more interested to know the depth of these BTS (behind-the-scenes) of this phenomenal Ms. Saigon.
She's smart. And that innocent face. Lea you are truly Kim!
Lea sang On my Own for her audition, years later, she becomes Eponine. Wow! 😭😭😭😍😍😍
Philippines stage is too small for Lea's bright, shining, magnificent and enormous star!!! Still watching this year 2019!!! :D
Lea has an angelic voice and her face reflects true Filipina beauty, innocence, purity, and sweetness.
Dyan ako nakukulangan kay Eva. She's got the Voice pero yung ibang characteristics..
Lea sipping water from a Coleman jug -- priceless. Haha!
Lea was the singer who can act. Monique was the actress who can sing. Both great artists. Both groundbreaking. I'm still at awe how talented they were at the twilight of their teenage years and clinching the world encompassing search for the role of Kim. Thank you for posting this gem of a video. I don't care about the quality. The content is still inspiring to this date.
This clip is history!!! Finding Lea and Monique will only happen once in a lifetime!!!
So wonderful that they are both pinoys....
Then and now, Lea IS PERFECTION!
miss Saigon producer and director made a great choice to chose Lea salonga. she's one of the legend of musicals and even Disney.. right decision that time.m
AnastasiA Tagalugin na lang natin puhlease
@@loretagutierrez3523 pinoy ka nga. Lahat issue. Sign of being ignorant. Sa ibang bansa they dont care. Basta importante naintindihan. Kaya ka nga nag comment. Ok na yon. Wag masyado demanding. Im not from england. Hiyang hiya naman kami sayo
Lea and Monique became the shining light of Philippine Theater and Music. They are both very intelligent, excellently talented and extraordinary performers.
The long search for Kim ended in Manila, Philippines, after a gruelling auditions in London, England, U.S.A. cities and other parts of Asia. Lea Salonga was chosen as Kim; she perfectly fit the coveted role. Monique was also offered the role of Mimi(a bar girl) and understudy for Kim. Other Filipino artists were also tapped.
I remembered watching the Probe Team every Friday because of their Miss Saigon specials.
Wow Lea's face is so pretty, a true Filipina beauty, cute she looks like 8 yrs old♥️ love it
2020 still watching this . Love u Mis Lea
2021 🤍
@@janlibanan : Ditto! 😊
ganda ni Lea kahit walang make-up.
I know Monique Wilson is talented but when Lea Salonga sings, there's a magical presence there. Her voice is so beautiful and clearly superior to Ms. Wilson's.
Why do you have to compare them
Monique is an actress who can sing while Lea is a singer who can't act. It's not fair to compare an apple to an orange.
ciociosan lea won best actress awards for the role. Maybe, you should have said that Monique was a better actress.
@@ciociosan thats not true that lea cant act, she wont be able to win a Tony award is she cannot act
@@ciociosan can't act ? you cannot win a tony & olivier by singing only..you need to be excellent at both !!!!...lea was also nominated for best child and later as lead actress locally.
Lea Salonga was already a brilliant singer back then!
Always have been as a child but sad to say that my older Gen X peers preferred Sharon Cuneta and other singers who were not even as good as Regine then. My sister was a big Lea fan but she was the only one in her batch LOL. That was why Lea only had a gold record when she was young. Good thing she was discovered because she is not really for the Filipino masses with her more Westernized upbringing as an entertainer.
Lea was only yrs old this time,shes beauty was a truly a Filipina with angelic voice😘😘😘❤❤❤
Lea is pretty kahit walang make up. Galing pa!
Louisa Ruga n
and then years later.... Lea played Eponine. :)
and fantine
Thanks for posting this clip…historical indeed. I remember how the country shared the excitement not only of Lea and Monique but all the Filipino artists included in the original cast. With pride I watched their Farewell Concert before departure for London…talent was overflowing. We all followed their Miss Saigon stories thereafter and cheered all their successes!!
I chanced on the video while searching for the behind the scenes of Miss Saigon. Also a viewer of The Probe Team. Too bad they wrapped up production.
Oh my.. how siked was Lea when she was eventually asked to play Eponine! Lea, your life, it's beautiful!
Lea really has a pretty face
Lea was already 18yo here but she looks like 12yo. Such an angelic, innocent face....
And now the 17-year-old who's singing in the Phil is Daniel Padilla. What a fucking downgrade.
😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
True.
They look so innocent... :-)
#TeamLea
lea is so beautiful here.
Love to reminisce how the Talented Pinoys romped with so many Casting roles during the Initial Ms.Saigon!!
The Theatre World was stupified with how immensely talented Pinoys are!!
Monique and Lea look like sisters... Just like what Karen Davila said on an interview with Ms. Wilson, "I guess a lot of people have said that you have a striking resemblance to Lea Salonga" and Monique blushed and said smiling "Yeah, a lot of people have said that. I guess that's why they cast us in Miss Saigon."
I don't see any resemblance at all even in my youth in the 80s. I don't know why people say that when Monique obviously has a more Westernized face being a mestiza. Lea has a different look that is not the native pinay since she also has fair skin but not the mestiza type. We have seen her in person and she is more like Gina Alajar if people still remember her or Lorna Tolentino in skin tone and eyes.
Both of them are great artists!
Talent, just pure talent. What can you say?
2019 and still watching this.
Oh please, Lea's the obvious choice! No brainer...
Lea is Kim,Eponine and Fantine :)
lara nuque singing voice of mulan and princess jasmine
Princess Jasmine and Mulan too.
Lea sang On My Own? Good God, she is Eponine.
Iba talagang humagod ng song si Lea.Superb!
I like how lea doesn't have the filipino accent when she's speaking english .
missaznsaywhaa aaaffluent rich upper class is primary English while Tagalog is secondary.
I was just in elementary during those time but so proud when Lea and Monique made this headline as Miss Saigon
They r all superstar! Amazing GOD-given talent.. thank GOD from whom all blessings flow esp for these young people... i SALUTE them...🥰
Oooh! Nicole Chien!!! I saw Nicole's future here.
and Mulan, Jasmine and only god knows what's next for Lea... :)
Hays. There's just something innocent about Lea and Monique when they were chosen as the Kim's. But I'm not sure about those who just auditioned. Can't seem to find the innocence and simplicity found in these two gals more than 20 years ago.
the show was just breaking ground back then, so both lea and monique were its very first protagonists. no pressure nor expectation back then. nothing to compare to beforehand. no longer the same as now that the show is almost 2 decades old. potential role players for kim already have the preconceived notions as to how to go about the character. that freshness of the show and with the very first cast can never be replicated--ever
Because back in the 90s most Filipino girls are virgins even at 18, virgins with no boyfriend since birth status. Today, 15 or 16 y.o. girls already went through 5 boyfriends that's why you can't find that kind of innocent faces anymore.
Simply beautiful and brain lea,,
monique has such a sweet voice! love them both.
Agree
Thank you for posting
Can't believe I was able to meet Monique a couple of days ago. I hope someday I get to meet Lea as well! :)
Mas gusto ko ang personality ni Monique kaysa kay Lea.
@@baltazarmelchor451 Hmm monique was quite standoffish so idk about that
cameron is good looking actually 😀
2020? Anyone?
wow! Lea and Monique....so very young talents...
Thanks for uploading :)
I love this episode of the probe team. I hope someone has a copy of the Inside Story's "Tales of 2 Kim" wherein Lea and Monique were interviewed by Loren Legarda.
OMG! I Found this interview by the probe team.
Kaganda nilaaaaa! 😍😍😍
Cheche Lazaro is one of the best in Philippine journalism
2020..and still watching
Theyre both great singers
Oh how I love u Lea 😍
2019 anyone? hahaha!
I think Monique was super sweet and she made a perfect understudy for Kim.
Oo nga, ang sweet niya, girl na girl siya rito. Walang hint ng kabadingan.😅
january 8, 2021 and still watching this ❤️
What a journey she had, to fulfill her dream roles in Les Mis.
wow she was so young back then
sueannsy 17 years old when they auditioned
Wow 😀✅ thanks for uploading
Shes so eloquent.
Lea is soo cute. Love her turban lol
Thank you for sharing this :)
On My Own from Les Miz and I Still Believe from Miss Saigon
Both girls are very pretty even without makeup
Nakikinig lang ako ng A whole New world kung saan saan na ko napupunta😅😅
ako din eh hahaha pati mulan sya pala kumanta now ko lang nalaman haha napanood ko na iba nyang kanta ngayon lang haha
It's Tina Agoncillo. As far as I can remember, she was also a TV personality. Someone kindly correct me if I'm wrong. But was she part of the youth oriented program "That's Entertainment" hosted by Kuya Germs (German Moreno). I used to read articles of Saigon back in college. From what I've read, only 4 girls made it to the cut to play "Kim". They were Lea, Monique, Jenine and Tina. The rest were part of the chorus. But at the last minute, Tina Agoncillo back out. Not sure of the reason though..
8:15 that's Jon Jon Briones who sooner played the engineer and for me the Best engineer portrayal..
In what year did the miss saigon had audition? in 1989?
You have the full programme?
Girl na girl si Monique dito, walang hint ng kabadingan!😊😂
and years and years more... Lea became Fantine! Coz she can be eponine no more! LOL!
This is love!
Wow Probe... Takes me back
3:00 SOO easily came out of her mouth, so perfect gawd LEA
Hay Coleman. Bakit ang mahal mahal mo na ngayon?
Nanuod lang ako ng bad boy 2 ni robin padilla sa pbo napunta kaagad ako rito sa youtube.
The reason for Tina Agoncillo not joining the original London cast, as quoted from the book, 'The Story of Miss Saigon' by Edward Behr and Mark Steyn:
"There was one unforeseen defection: a few weeks before the Filipino contingent was due to leave for London, Tina Agoncillo, a highly talented singer, attended a retreat organized by a fundamentalist 'born-again' Christian sect, became an instant convert and dropped out: her group refused to allow her to come to London."
Kaya di natanggap si Karylle kasi feeling niya pasok na pasok na siya. Di pa naman ganon kaganda ang boses. Stay ka nalang sa pop/ballad sis
Hoping for a better quality of the video.
Will they make a Miss Saigon the movie the version of the Musical.
What songs did they sing hr?
You find it in the last place you look.
Interesting that at 8:13, there is Jon Jon Briones, the later Engineer!
Lea ❤🤗
2021...06😁💕
lea michele should be shy to her =)
8:47 so cute
why am I not hearing anything??
Totoo ba nag audition din si Regine Velasquez?....
6/1/2019
When did Filipinos start using English?
Well americans taught our forefathers years ago when they drove off the japanese army
when the americans invaded our country I think.
@@leberino5583
Your history is way off. Ww2 is 1940s. The americans were here since 1898.
@@whatslavender moron
It’s the medium of instruction in both private and public schools for more than a century, and even spoken in homes.
When monique sang, i felt nothing.
shut up! LOL
Kamuka ni Babes Lea si Kisses Delavin dito ganda e fresh na fresh
IGotMyPride TheRainbowPride elel mo po
Monique has a touch of Downs?