No more selfies with Lea

If Lea Salonga turns down your request for a photo op, don’t lose heart. The Tony awardee doesn’t mean to hurt your feelings. And her “no” is not final and executory.

She’s just protecting her security in these uncertain times when a celebrity’s life can be snuffed at the hands of those who adore them most — the fans. Sometimes, the perpetrator is a total stranger.

It happened to Selena, whom the founder of her fan club — Yolanda Saldivar —- shot and killed her one shocking day.

Former The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie was felled by a bullet aimed at her by a man during a meet-and-greet in Orlando, Florida.

“In their efforts to be generous with fans, a few artists end up six feet under the ground. I don’t want that, and chances are, it will never happen to me,” explains Lea.

The original Kim of Miss Saigon is understandably scared. So she’s selective about who to pose for photos with. She’s also forever on her toes.

“I can’t be ebullient,” she points out. “I’ll be measured in my reactions.”

Lea, after all, is as human as you and me. The mere suspicion of danger scares her.

But fans, don’t give up. If at first you fail, you can always try again. Lea herself says you can.

And don’t ever think your idol doesn’t like you.

Speaking of faraway places, Miss Saigon recently reopened to mixed reviews in Broadway. Lea’s heart goes out to the producer, Cameron Mackintosh, and the cast, some of whom — like Jon Jon Briones, Rachelle Ann Go and Eva Noblezada — are Filipino.

Lea wants the new Miss Saigon to succeed just like the first one, because it will be a feather in the original production’s cap.

“You’re carrying a legacy. If it gets raves, the entire family celebrates. If you get a pan, I get knots in my stomach. I have so many friends in that production.”

Lea thinks longevity, not what critics say, is the measure of a theater production’s success.

“If the company is happy, and the audience keeps on coming, that’s your last laugh. The best revenge is longevity.”

She cites the case of Les Miserablés. The musical was widely panned through the years. Yet it’s celebrating its 30th year in London’s West End.

Besides, she adds, a review is subjective. The opinion could be the critic’s alone.

Lea’s opinion about the contestants on ABS-CBN’s new show, The Voice Teens, however, agrees with her fellow coaches Sharon Cuneta, Sarah Geronimo and Bamboo.

This early, Lea found herself turning her chair often — a sign that she likes the way the teen contestant sings, during the blind auditions. She even admits getting goosebumps when she heard the young artists.

If this is the way things are going, she adds, viewers at home are in for an exciting season.

“It’s a staggering amount of talent. We’ve got instrumentalists, throaty singers and those who lean toward acoustic. It’s wonderful!”Lea gushes.

She’s happy to report that the teen singers she’s seen so far know what they want, even before they go on stage. And coming as she does from a coaching stint in the defunct The Voice Kids, Lea’s powers of perception tell her teen contestants are different from their kiddie counterparts.

“We’re getting much more emotional reactions from teens. I don’t know if it’s hormonal instability. Kids are so cute and happy. But for teens, there’s a little more at stake.”

These young people, she notes, are “putting a little more pressure on themselves.”

As for her, Lea refuses to give in to the pressure of producing another winner in the mold of Mitoy Yonting and Joshua Oliveros, The Voice winners whom she herself coached.

She’s aiming at long-term friendships with these talents instead. Lea enjoys nurturing promising singers, the way she did with The Voice Kids finalist Esang de Torres, who was cast as Little Cossette in Les Miserablés production in Singapore.

It was Lea who coached Esang in The Voice Kids, and trained the girl before she auditioned for Les Miserablés.

“I like artists I can keep nurturing after it’s (the show) over. And there are a few we’ve remained friends with, years after the competition,” she says.

Lea the coach is just as passionate as Lea the performer.

No wonder she succeeds both ways.