PDI: LEA SALONGA ENGAGED: 'Miss Saigon' soon to be Mrs. Chien
Zee Brain
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LEA SALONGA ENGAGED
'Miss Saigon' soon
to be Mrs. Chien
Posted: 0:49 AM (Manila Time) | Jul. 30, 2002
By Leah Salterio
Inquirer News Service
AS in a romantic play, he serenaded her, got down on his knees, gave
her a ring, proposed marriage – and she accepted.
Lea Salonga's Japanese-Chinese-American boyfriend Robert Chien popped
the question in Los Angeles Sunday night (Monday afternoon in Manila),
according to Lea's mother Ligaya.
The couple, both 31, will get married in Honolulu on Dec. 6, 2003
– a date chosen based on Chinese numerology, Ligaya said.
"Besides," she added, "Lea has to finish so many commitments until
next year, so they can't get married earlier than that."
Lea, who first made waves in London as "Miss Saigon" and went on to
conquer the international theater circuit, phoned her mother Monday to
break the happy news.
"She told me, 'Guess what?'" Ligaya said. "It's not that I didn't know
what I was supposed to guess. I already knew about it because Rob told
me the last time he was here that he was going to give her an
engagement ring."
Indeed, Ligaya was "expecting it to happen."
"The guy is very serious about her," the mother said. "But up to now,
it hasn't really sunk in yet in my mind. But I'm happy for her."
Even Lea knew the marriage proposal was "just a matter of time,"
Ligaya said. "She's also happy about his choice of ring. She told me
it was a 'good-looking' ring."
Ligaya described her daughter's intended husband, a customer relations
technology expert, as "really a good boy".
"Initially, I was just taking him at face value," she said. "I had not
known him that long. We just met on certain occasions. But when it's
Lea who's talking about a certain person, you'd be convinced how good
he really is."
Honolulu is where Rob's parents are based. "It will also be nearer for
me when I travel there," Ligaya said.
She said Lea's younger brother Gerard was also happy about the
engagement.
Ligaya said it was actually Gerard, whose education at the Berklee
College of Music in Boston Lea had financed, who first met Rob in Los
Angeles.
The future lovebirds met there last November, while Lea was playing
Mei-Li in the musical "Flower Drum Song". Rob's cousin Chris, a member
of the cast, introduced them.
This was how Lea recalled meeting Rob in an earlier interview with the
Inquirer:
"When I was no longer in a relationship and we started technical
rehearsals in LA, Chris heard about it and she said, 'You should go
out with my cousin.' I told her, 'I don't know.'
"Then the opportunity presented itself. At a party, she made sure Rob
and I sat beside each other and talked. She encouraged things. Rob and
I just got along. Then we exchanged phone numbers."
Their first conversation on the phone lasted two hours.
"I couldn't believe it," Lea said. "It's been a long time since I had
a conversation that long with anyone. Then we talked again the next
day and we started talking every day, and every conversation was
always so wonderful."
He invited her to dinner at a Korean restaurant. "When we finally went
out, it was like we knew each other pretty well and we had a good
time," she said.
It didn't take long for Lea to get into a serious involvement with
Rob, who was her escort at the Tony Awards in New York last May.
It has apparently helped that he is not an actor, unlike her previous
boyfriend, Korean-American Michael Lee, with whom she performed in the
play "They're Playing Our Song" in Manila.
Lea said that when she first got to know Rob, "I told myself, 'This is
the embodiment of everything I ever fell in love with and every guy I
ever had a relationship with.' That's hard to find."
In January, Rob came to Manila for the first time to watch Lea in
"Proof" and the first staging of her Broadway concert at the
Philippine International Convention Center. He and Gerard got to play
golf during his stay.
Rob came back last month for the repeat of Lea's Broadway concert at
the same venue.
Lea is scheduled to return to the Broadway stage in October for the
revival of "Flower Drum Song." After its 10-month run, she will go on
a performance tour with shows planned in New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Honolulu.
Roderick270
woo hoo!!!! chicago is on the list!!!!
>Lea is scheduled to return to the Broadway stage in October for the
>revival of "Flower Drum Song." After its 10-month run, she will go on
>a performance tour with shows planned in New York, Chicago, San
>Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Honolulu.
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Ricky
"Deep breaths... deep cleansing breaths... people like that aren't worth
hyperventilating over" LS