ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA??WE HEARD this rumor that she was going to come and be Grizabella and we couldn?t believe it? we were all saying, ?No way that?s going to happen!? We are honored that she did sign on.?

John O?Hara, one of the lead actors in the production of ?Cats? that is currently touring Australia, says the cast and creative team are looking forward to working with Filipino international theater luminary Lea Salonga.

?She will steal the show,? O?Hara adds, seemingly unmindful of the fact that his character, the playful rock-star-sexy Rum Tum Tugger, is the show?s built-in scene stealer.

The actor continues: ?We in the cast all know who Lea is, though none has actually met her, on account of what she has achieved, on a global scale, as a theater performer. We?ve watched a lot of YouTube clips of her. I?m sure she?ll be beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful.?

Nine lives

?Cats,? described in a local theater guide as ?the musical with nine lives,? has sold out every performance at the Adelaide Festival Centre since Dec. 31 (the run ends Jan. 24).

In Manila, where the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on ?Old Possum?s book of Practical Cats? by T. S. Eliot premieres in July at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, ticket sales are off to a brisk start, according to Robert Sewell, president of Ticket World.

The Adelaide cast is performing in the Philippine staging promoted by MTV Philippines (with Concertus Marketing) and presented by Citibank, except for the actress Delia Hannah, who plays Grizabella. Lea plays the pivotal character, who performs the 29-year-old musical?s best known song, ?Memory.?

Stand-out piece

Sharyn Winney, resident director, stresses that although Grizabella, an outcast seeking re-acceptance, is a short role?under 20 minutes??Grizabella ties the whole piece together. The very important spiritual aspect of the story is told through her.?

?The song ?Memory? is so strong, that it tends to wipe the rest of the score out for some people,? notes Paul White, musical director. ?It?s not a love song, but it?s romantic in the 19th-century sense?romantic-tragic. It?s emotionally powerful, and that?s what people crave from music, emotional impact. ?Memory? is the musical?s stand-out piece everywhere.?

White says he worked with Lea on ?Miss Saigon? in Manila. ?She is delightful, a wonderful singer and actress,? recalls White. ?We often had lunch at the CCP cafeteria.?

The musical director expects to start meetings with the Philippine star ?a few weeks before the Manila season,? while the company is in Sydney for several performances.