Lea Salonga keeps daughter Nicole free to choose own path

Lea Salonga and Nicole Chien. Images: Instagram/@msleasalonga

MANILA, Philippines — It is no secret that Lea Salonga’s daughter Nicole Chien has excellent vocals and a keen interest in musicals, but the Broadway icon said she wouldn’t tell her what she should pursue.

Chien had sung with Salonga during her concerts and the latter bared the 13-year-old do ask to take part in it.

“She enjoys it and she’s quite happy to do it. And when she knows I have a concert, she asks if she can be a part of it,” Salonga said Thursday in an interview at an event of a detergent brand she is endorsing.

Chien made her theater debut in 2017 when she played the role of Alice in “Matilda the Musical” produced by the Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group.

But Salonga admitted she is not sure if her daughter has the same drive to pursue music as her, but said Chien has been expressing herself in different art forms.

“I don’t know if she has this same drive where you just wanna sing like almost every day which I have. If I know that my voice is feeling good I’ll be singing in my house,” she said.

“She draws all the time, she illustrates, she now has become inspired to write. It’s like her creative outlets are finding different ways of expression and it’s fun to see how it manifests,” she added.

The Tony award-winning actress, however, chooses to let Chien figure what she wants to pursue in the future on her own.

“But I have to step back and let her figure it our on her own. I’m not gonna tell her what to do. Because she’s one of those kids that intuitively knows what she likes,” Salonga said.

The mom and daughter tandem are set to perform together on stage anew at Salonga’s two-day concert “Perfect 10” on August 30 and 31.