Fil-Am actor to reunite with Lea Salonga for concert

Filipino-American theater actor Adam Jacobs is looking forward to reuniting with world-renowned actress and Tony award winner Lea Salonga for a one-night benefit concert in November this year. The concert will be staged at the Alice Tully Hall of New York City’s Lincoln Center on November 7 for the benefit of the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev), a non-profit organization that has previously arranged concerts for disaster aid.

Aside from Salonga and Jacobs, the benefit concert will feature 30 other Filipino-American Broadway talents such as:

Ali Ewoldt (Les Miserable);

Teresa Victoria "T.V." Carpio (Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark)

Catherine Ricafort (Mamma Mia), and

Angel Desai (Law and Order). Jacobs is currently playing his dream role as "Simba" in Broadway's "The Lion King." Salonga shared the stage with Jacobs and Ewoldt for the national tour and Broadway versions of the musical "Les Miserables" (translated from the French as "The Miserable Ones"). Jacobs said he “can’t wait" for his reunion with former co-cast members. “To be able to sing with her (Ewoldt) a love song and reignite those flames on-stage is going to be fantastic for me. And also to get to sing with Lea again," Jacobs said, adding that he is excited “to laugh and have fun, create and share" with the all-Filipino cast. PhilDev celebrates Broadway In the November concert “PhilDev Celebrates Broadway: Suites by Sondheim," Jacobs will sing from the collection of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim in the concert "I've never done a Sondheim show myself, but I've loved every show that I've seen of his. His work is brilliant, he's like no other," Jacobs said. He said he is very excited to hear Sondheim’s amazing work through the rendition of “some of the best Filipino Broadway actors out there" —some of whom came from Broadway staples such as Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, and Spiderman. “I can’t wait to start working on that because it’s a bunch of my friends, all Filipino-Americans coming together to do this show for a one-night-only event. That never happens," said Jacobs, who grew up in California’s Bay Area but now resides in the New York district of Queens. Jacobs' Filipino roots Even though Jacobs' maternal grandfather hails from Pangasinan, Jacobs has not yet visited the Philippines. He said it is high on his list — should work finally allow him. “Luckily I’ve had work, but I wanted to go this year and I didn’t get to go," he said. He joked that he was “so mad" at his Mom because she never taught him Tagalog. He said willing to pay for a tutor, “if anybody wants to come over," he added. Asked what his budget would be for a tutor, Jacobs said, “$100 an hour—that’d probably get me the best one." Long way to ‘Simba’ Aside from his stint in "The Lion King," Jacobs’ resume also boasts the lead role in Aladdin and Mamma Mia. Before taking over as Simba at the famed Minskoff Theater about two weeks ago, Jacobs had toured around the United States with "The Lion King" for 10 months. Jacobs admits the lead did not just fall out of the sky— it required much persistence over the course of eight years, which began in a college production of “Songs for a New World" at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. “He (music director Joe Church) pointed to me after the show and said, ‘Come here.’ He said, ‘I think you should come and audition for Simba, I think you’d be good,’" he recalled. Jacobs—whose wife, Kelly, is currently working on Mary Poppins—said he “was blown away" with Church’s praise, which prompted him to audition. “At first it didn’t go very well, but Mark Brandon (of Binder Casting) gave me some notes and things to work on," he shared, adding that he auditioned “maybe four to five times" before he aced the role. “I got better each time and I sort of grew into it. It was something that I wanted for eight years that when it finally came through, I was just amazed," Jacobs said. - RJMD/VVP, GMA News