Broadway singer Lea Salonga cancels Singapore stop on world tour due to broken leg

Tony Award-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga cancelled her two-night concert in Singapore due to a leg injury. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/ MSLEASALONGA

SINGAPORE - Tony Award-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga has cancelled her two-night concert in Singapore, originally scheduled to take place on Feb 13 and 14 at the Esplanade Concert Hall, due to a leg injury.

Ticketing service provider Sistic informed customers of the cancellation on Monday (Jan 21) via email. An official statement was also uploaded on Salonga's official Twitter account on the same day.

The 47-year-old said: "It is with a heavy heart that I must cancel my upcoming tour dates in Hong Kong and Singapore. As many of you know, during a recent ski trip in Japan I took a fall and broke my leg.

"While we initially hoped to be able to keep the appearances on the calendar, the injury is going to take longer than expected to heal and my doctors have given me strict instructions not to travel for the next several weeks."

Salonga had posted a video on her Instagram account earlier in the month from Hokkaido, where she and her family had been on a ski vacation, explaining that she had broken her tibia going down a ski slope.

She had reassured fans then that she would be able to go through with her music tour - titled The Human Heart - which would have also brought her to Hong Kong on Feb 8, 9 and 10. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1991 for her role as a Vietnamese bargirl in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon and is also known as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from Aladdin (1992) and Fa Mulan for Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004).

Tickets to see the Filipino singer here ranged from $48 to $248 in price. Those who have already purchased tickets to the show will receive a full refund via Sistic.

Those who paid using credit card will receive automatic refunds in about two weeks. Those who paid using cash or via Nets are advised to go to the Esplanade with their tickets to receive a full refund from the Esplanade Box Office (mezzanine level, operating hours are noon to 8.30pm daily, including Sundays and public holidays).

The refund process began on Jan 22 and will continue until Feb 4. Those who are unable to collect refunds personally may call Sistic at 6828-8377 to make arrangements.

But there is hope yet for fans of Salonga who want to catch her live in Singapore.

She said on Twitter: "Disappointing fans is the last thing I would ever want to do, but I must take this time to get back into top shape. We're working on rescheduling these shows and I can't wait to see you all very soon!"

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