Best known for her unforgettable turn in the West End and Broadway hit musical Miss Saigon winning Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1990, as well as the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards in 1991, Lea Salonga began her career at an early age. As a girl of seven, she appeared in Repertory Philippines' production of The King and I, which was later followed by appearances in Annie, The Sound of Music, The Goodbye Girl, Paper Moon, The Fantasticks, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Fiddler On The Roof, and The Rose Tattoo. At ten, Lea began her recording career with her first album Small Voice, which received a gold certification.

Among the musical productions she was part of were Les Miserables, Into the Woods, Grease, and They're Playing Our Song. She also appeared in the movie Redwood Curtain with John Lithgow and Jeff Daniels, and recorded the singing voices of Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin and of the title role in Mulan. In 1993, she recorded more albums, Lea...In Love, which went quintuple platinum, By Heart, which went platinum, and a live concert album. Only last year, she released Inspired. Aside from opening for artists like Stevie Wonder and the late Frank Sinatra in their Manila stints, Lea has had her own concerts in the Philippines, London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. She was selected for the role of Eponine in the Les Miserables 10th Anniversay Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and was part of Hey, Mr. Producer, a special benefit concert held at the Lyceum Theater also featuring Bernadette Peters, Jonathan Pryce and Colm Wilkinson.