Lea Salonga is stepping into a new role that audiences may not expect. While the Broadway icon is currently preparing for her latest stage endeavor, Old Friends, Salonga also revealed details about her upcoming guest appearance on the FOX TV series The Cleaning Lady.
“I get to play someone who isn’t very nice,” she told the Asian Journal in a recent interview, sharing insights into her character, Rose Alonto, a woman whose polished exterior hides a cutting demeanor. “She seems nice enough when you meet her, but as the episode keeps going, you see that she really isn’t. Her niceness is put on.”
Rose Alonto is the executive director of the Filipino Center and a former acquaintance of Fiona, played by Martha Millan. Now married into wealth, Rose takes every opportunity to flaunt her status under the guise of generosity. In one scene, she casually mentions heading to a dinner with the mayor—”some charity thing for the underprivileged”—before handing Fiona cash for cleaning services, quipping, “I’m assuming that cash is preferred, no paper trail for the TNT.” When she learns that the cleaning business is legitimate, she scoffs, “The rich get rich because they hire good, cheap labor.”
The Cleaning Lady returns for its fourth season and continues its exploration of the experience of undocumented immigrants and the hurdles they face in this country. The series tells their stories of resourcefulness in the face of institutional adversity and the sacrifices they must make to achieve their American Dream.
Salonga noted that Rose’s character is an all-too-familiar figure in the Filipino diaspora. “People like her exist in the real world,” she said. “Filipinos abroad have definitely met someone like Rose, for darn sure.” Her episode will air next Tuesday, April 1 on FOX at 8-9 PM ET/PT.
Beyond television, Salonga is also making her return to Broadway through Old Friends, which began its previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on March 25 (and opening on April 8). The show features more than three dozen songs from some of Sondheim’s biggest musicals, including “West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “A Little Night Music” and “Into the Woods,” weaving together highlights from his vast repertoire. “There are songs where it’s just one from a show, or two verses from another, but then there are full sections where we do multiple songs from one particular musical. It’s a hybrid of doing a musical and a concert, and I love traversing both of those worlds,” she explained.
Salonga, who recently wrapped a four-week run in Los Angeles, will be performing for another 12 weeks on Broadway. “By the time it’s all said and done, the run will be 16 weeks in total,” she said.
Looking ahead, her schedule remains packed. “After Old Friends, I start working on Into the Woods in Manila. Then I come back to the U.S. for a tour, where I finally get to premiere the show I performed in the UK and Manila, Stages: Everything in Between. I have a very busy last third of 2025,” she said. “But I can’t complain. This is exactly what I wished for.”
While her packed schedule keeps her moving, Salonga still finds joy in the small moments, including a recent viral singing video she filmed in a New York kitchen with Anthony Gargiula and Jonathan Tilkin. “It was just fun,” she said. “I wasn’t overthinking it. We just wanted to enjoy singing and have a good time.”
