Jim On Film
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Lea Salonga--After singing for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, Salonga would go on to sing for Mulan as well. Salonga’s sweet and compassionate voice made its debut on Broadway, and while her Broadway work has not been as varied as she deserves, she has made her mark on several recordings.

Salonga created a splash by originating the role of Kim in the long-running musical Miss Saigon in London and on Broadway. Available on a two-disc set, Salonga is still considered the definitive Kim despite the many Kims that followed her (including Deedee Magno, who made her debut on the third installment of The Mickey Mouse Club). Set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Kim is a young Vietnamese woman forced into prostitution by her circumstances. When she meets her first customer, an American soldier named Chris, she falls in love. They marry, but during the chaos of the war, they are separated. Despite never seeing him and giving birth to a son Chris never knew about, Kim holds onto the hope of one day reuniting with him, only to learn that he has remarried an American woman. Much of the music is passionate and moving, particularly when Salonga gets a chance to sing it, and with so much of it preserved on the disc, the story is easy to follow.

Salonga’s second major role was a stint in the stunning Les Miserables. Her performance as the tragic Eponine was preserved on a two-disc 10th Anniversary All-Star Concert recording of the show, which is also available on video and DVD. Salonga’s Eponine sends chills down the spine as she performs the classic "On My Own" and as she dies in the arms of the man for whom she has a one-sided love in "A Little Fall of Rain."

It is also worth noting that a revival of the Rogers and Hammerstein show Flower Drum Song starring Salonga is expected to hit Broadway in the next season, and there will likely be a recording of her performance released around that time. There is also a recording of Salonga as Tuptim from The King and I available which has Julie Andrews as Anna, Ben Kingsley as King, and Peabo Bryson (who sang for the end-title duets of Beauty and the Best and Aladdin) as Lun Tha.

(c) Disney

Susan Egan--Most Disney fans probably know Susan Egan as the hilarious and tuneful Megara from Hercules, but before Meg, Egan was an accomplished musical theatre star. Nominated for a prestigious Tony Award, Egan made a splash as the original Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. A must for any Disney music collection, Egan’s Belle is both tough and tender. Among other treats, Egan gives a powerful performance of the show’s best new song, "Home," sung as Belle faces her first glimpse at life in the castle.

Egan can also be heard on the original Broadway cast recording of the short-lived 1997 musical Triumph of Love. In it, she appears with her Hercules co-star Roger Bart (who sang for young Hercules) as the self-absorbed Princess Leonide who will stop at nothing to manipulate the love of Agis, a student of philosophy, whom she learns, is the true Prince (played by Christopher Sieber who performed as Gaston on Broadway for a time). Much of the music from the show is preserved here, and because it is a largely sung-through show, it is easy to follow the story, including the humor and the drama. Egan is perfect for the complex role of Leonide (who, she said in an interview on Playbill.com, is a mix of Belle, the Beast, and Gaston), and she shines in many of the show’s best numbers including "Anything" where she sings, "I’d do anything for him!/Anything I swear!/Give up food and water!/Shave of all my hair!" Anything includes disguising herself as a man, lying, and making everyone think she has fallen in love with them. The best song in the show is shared with F. Murray Abraham, Betty Buckley, and Christopher Sieber; "Teach Me Not to Love You," is the stirring end to Act 1 in which Leonide realizes that she may never have the man she loves.

Egan can also be heard on the Varese Sarabande release entitled The Musical Adventures of Peter Pan which is a compilation of songs from various incarnations of the story of Peter Pan. On the CD, Egan sings an energetic "You Can Fly/I’m Flying," which is a combination of songs from the Disney movie and the Broadway stage production. The CD also includes two songs performed by Jonathan Freeman (Jafar from Aladdin). Listening to CD makes one hope that Egan will someday take on the Broadway Peter Pan. Egan can also be heard on a similar CD from Varese Sarabande of songs from versions of Cinderella.

It is also worth noting that Egan can be seen Sunday nights on the WB sitcom Nikki.

Chuck Wagner--Wagner appeared in the original Broadway cast of Beauty and the Beast as the understudy of both the Beast and Gaston. He eventually took the role of the Beast, where he performed him both on Broadway and in Toronto. After a five year association with the show, he moved on to other works but has since returned to Disney to perform for the Cruise Line in 2001. With a rich baritone and a large following of self-named "Chukkies," Wagner has starred in a number of popular shows, including Jekyll and Hyde, Les Miserables, and most recently, the tour of the hilarious revival of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which is still playing across the country.

Wagner can be heard as Rapunzel’s Prince in Stephen Sondheim’s odd Into the Woods, where many famous fairy tales meet, and we learn the truth of happily ever after (and it’s nothing like the straight-to-video features!). Wagner gets to partake in one of the show’s best numbers, the hilarious "Agony" where he sings a duet with Cinderella’s Prince (Robert Westenberg) about the dilemmas of being in love with these fairy tale characters. In it, he sings of his passion for Rapunzel, "Agony!/Far more painful than yours/When you know she would go with you/If there only were doors." Besides being heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recording (along with Disney’s television Cinderella’s Bernadette Peters), he can be seen on the video and DVD recording of the stage musical.

Wagner also has a self-titled solo album from Half Pint Productions (available in select stores in New York or through www.colonymusic.com) in which he sings songs he’s performed on stage. Among them is the beautiful "Take Me as I Am," a duet from Jekyll and Hyde with Andrea Rivette (whose solo album is set to be released this summer and will include a beautiful recording of Mulan’s "Reflection;" she can also be seen on the Jekyll and Hyde DVD), "This is the Moment" from the same show, and a host of other great selections. For Disney fans, Wagner powerfully performs "If I Can’t Love Her" from the Broadway Beauty and the Beast. The arrangements on the CD are a fine balance between contemporary and traditional Broadway styles, making this a very listenable and excellent recording, and the songs which are on the CD are the best from a variety of Broadway shows.