Lea's New York cabaret debut March 9

Yes, Lea Salonga will have her New York cabaret debut at the famous Cafe Carlyle in an exclusive three-week engagement for The Journey So Far, from March 9 to 27.

This was confirmed by Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre who said that Cafe Carlyle is where some of the world’s top artists have been performing over the years.

“Having won the Tony Awards and all the top theater honors when she played Kim in the smash hit Miss Saigon,” reported Edmund, “Lea has earned the distinction of being a Broadway royalty.”

According to its website, Café Carlyle is known for headlining incredible talents, including Ute Lemper and Woody Allen who regularly appears to jam with the Eddy Davis New Orleans jazz band. For the past three decades, Café Carlyle has been synonymous with the legendary Bobby Short who thrilled sell-out crowds for 36 years. Café Carlyle, the New York City bastion of classic cabaret entertainment, continues to draw socialites, politicians and magnates into its distinguished and glamorous setting. It remains an exquisitely well-dressed place where guests experience and engage in the lost language of elegance and sophistication.

Erich Steinbock, Cafe Carlyle managing director, is pleased to welcome Lea.

Edmund included the following item on Lea, which came out with the announcement of her Cafe Carlyle stint:

From her beginnings in the recording industry, television and musical theater in her native Philippines, Lea Salonga was catapulted to international stardom with her Olivier and Tony Award-winning turn in Miss Saigon. From Saigon to Les Misérables to the voices of Disney’s Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and the title character in Mulan, for Lea, this is just The Journey So Far.

Her much anticipated debut at the Cafe Carlyle will feature songs that cross the genres of Filipino music, musical theater and the Great American Songbook, including Let’s Fall in Love, On My Own, A Whole New World and The Journey. Ms. Salonga will be supported by a quartet led by her musical director and pianist Larry Yurman. The evening will be directed by Daniel Kutner.

The Journey So Far will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:45 p.m. with an additional show at 10:45 p.m. on Saturdays. Dinner seatings at 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. There is a music charge of $75 (Tuesday-Friday), $85 (Saturday) and $45 at the bar.

The Café Carlyle is located in The Carlyle Hotel at 35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue, and is what Liz Smith calls the “favorite of all New York nightspots.”

Ejay denies getting a girl pregnant

In the two years that he has been in showbiz, Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition winner Ejay Falcon has survived the unsavory initiation male newcomers usually undergo, such as being tagged as a callboy, a macho dancer or the boytoy of a rich gay.

The half-French Mindoro native who helped his adoptive father carry cargo at the pier has sufficiently “exonerated” himself, proven “innocent” beyond reasonable doubt.

When Ejay started appearing in ABS-CBN soaps after taking an acting workshop, he was panned by detractors, calling him a “ham,” which challenged, instead of discouraged, him.

These days, Ejay has found himself the object of an Internet smear campaign accusing him of getting a non-showbiz unnamed and unpictured girl pregnant.

“I was the last to know,” Ejay shrugged off the yarn in a chat with Funfare. “I don’t even have a girlfriend. I broke up with my last girlfriend before I joined PBB. When I came out, I avoided having another girlfriend because I wanted to focus on my showbiz career. Ngayon pang gumaganda na ang career ko, bakit ko naman gagawin ‘yon? Minsan lang dumating ang ganitong pagkakataon, bakit ko naman sasayangin?”

Slowly but surely, Ejay’s acting is improving which is evident in the new ABS-CBN soap Tanging Yaman in which he again co-stars with Erich Gonzales, his leading lady in the just-concluded ABS-CBN soap Katorse (also with Enchong Dee). Unlike Katorse, Tanging Yaman is not a TV version of the Laurice Guillen hit drama. In it, Ejay and Erich play virtual siblings (not blood-related but they grow up in one family) in love.

As good as married

When Ryan Richard Eigenmann and his non-showbiz girlfriend Cathy Bordalba exchange “I do’s” on Sunday, Feb. 28, it will formalize a beautiful romance between soul-mates.

“We’ve been as good as married,” admitted Ryan in a TV interview.

One of the three sons of ex-couple Gina Alajar and Michael de Mesa (the two others are Geoffrey Michael and Andrew James), Ryan has been living-in with Cathy who suffered a miscarriage last year.

“Muntik na akong maging lola,” said Gina. “Sayang.”

Now based in the US with son AJ, Michael has flown home purposely for the wedding. For sure, the movie press will swoop down on him for comments on his rumored relationship with Krista Ranillo (now linked to Manny Pacquiao) who has been indirectly accused by Gina of having been one of the causes of the break-up of her marriage.

Knowing Michael, I doubt if he would say a word about something that happened more than a decade ago when Krista was only 16. He would answer only with an enigmatic smile, so read his lips very carefully.

Briefly noted

• Iya Villania, Chesca Garcia-Kramer and Angel Aquino will reveal the A to Z of fashion in tonight’s edition of Us Girls on Studio 23, including tips on how to give new life and spice to unused fashion items in the closet like deconstructed jeans, furs, exotic bags and gloves. Also, they will share secrets on how to be trendy and healthy when it comes to your face and skin.

• Corrections: In the story about John Lloyd Cruz, KC Concepcion was identified as the cousin of John Loyd’s former girlfriend Ciara Sotto. Actually, Ciara is KC’s aunt. Ciara’s mom, Helen Gamboa, is the sister of Elaine Cuneta, mother of KC’s mom Sharon Cuneta...From Jorge Ballos, CEO/Founder of the Soho International Film Festival held in New York recently: Walang Hanggang Paalam won Best World Showcase Feature and not Best Picture.

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