Lea Salonga will star in Philippine's biggest play to date-Cinderella

Rogers & Hammerstein’s will produce "Cinderella" the biggest musical production in the Philippines starring Tony award-winning Lea Salonga.
Producer Marc Routh said "Cinderella" will cost about US $ 2 million to produce.

"We do not expect to recover the amount in Manila," Routh said. "But we will be showing it also in other Asian cities, hence, recovering the investment will be possible," Routh added.

Some Filipino talents — musicians — may also be hired to join the band which accompanies "Cinderella" in its Asian tour.

"Cinderella" will be shown at the CCP for several weeks. It is produced by Broadway Asia Entertainment, with Marc Routh as Chief Operating Officer.

And "Cinderella" will be directed by our very own Bobby Garcia! He is the winner of two Aliw Awards. For his credits, Bobby has worked in film, television, stage and live concert entertainment. Among the stage productions he was involved with are "Avenue Q," "The King & I" (Broadway Asia Tour), "Beauty & The Beast," "Dreamgirls," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Rent." Concerts and TV Specials include Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert, Night of the Champions, Lea Salonga: Songs From Home, The Prince of Pop & The Comedy Concert Queen, and Lea Salonga: Home For Christmas.

Lea Salonga, the star of "Cinderella," won the Tony Award for her lead role in "Miss Saigon."

Lea has always been a best-seller in all of her performances, grossing as much as over one million dollars in ticket sales in Los Angeles, and she also drew in audiences to the full capacity of Carnegie Hall on Nov. 7, 2006 in an all-new show directed by Richard JayAlexander.

No other Filipina talent has so far reached her stature as an artist — and truly international. In fact, Lea Salonga is being credited for having opened the recognition of Filipino talents abroad.

Marc Routh, is to his credit, a long, long list of successful stage productions. He is an Adjunct Professor of the Graduate Department of Theatre Studies at Brooklyn College where he has taught "Business Management for the Performing Arts" for the last 12 years. He has lectured at Columbia University, Youngstown University, New York University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the recipient of the Robert Whitehead Award as Outstanding Commercial Theater Producer, and president of The League of OffBroadway Theaters and Producers for 1999 to 2007.

The producer, Broadway Asia Entertainment with offices in New York and Shanghai, is the largest producer of Broadway musicals in Asia, and its founders are the most active commercial producers in the world as well as the largest touring operation throughout the Asia Pacific Region.

BAE co-producers on their Asian touring productions include The Really Useful Group, Nickelodeon Theatricals, Troika Entertainment, Network Productions and Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.
Manila Bulletin