"It meant a lot to me."
These were the words of Filipina singer Sophia Laforteza of KATSEYE as she reflected on having Broadway icon Lea Salonga attend the New York leg of The Beautiful Chaos Tour of her group.
In a vlog uploaded on KATSEYE's YouTube channel, Sophia shared that Lea watched the concert on behalf of her parents, who were unable to attend that night.
"So I had my Tita Lea come and watch me when we were in New York. And it meant a lot because that night was the first night [when] most of our family was present for all of KATSEYE, that all the parents were there, that all the moms were there. I didn't get to have my family or my mom or my dad there, so it meant a lot to sort of have Tita Lea be there as my like proxy," she shared.
Sophia went on to express how meaningful the moment was, especially given how much she admires Lea and her legacy. "Especially because she's somebody that I look up to forever. She did so much for the Filipino community in terms of performing arts globally. She's one of those Filipinas who really made a breakthrough in musical theater, and in music, and performing," she highlighted.
Back in November, Sophia's mother, Carla Guevara-Laforteza, expressed her gratitude to Lea for attending the New York leg of KATSEYE's concert tour.
"It meant the WORLD to her to have her tita @msleasalonga in the audience during the New York leg of the @katseyeworld Beautiful Chaos tour!" Carla posted on her Instagram page as she shared the snapshots of Sophia and Lea backstage at the concert.
In another post, she wrote: "#KatseyeMamas and Papas were full force at the NYC leg of @katseyeworld Beautiful Chaos Concert tour. @chefgodfrey_laforteza and I were not able to fly out but soooooo grateful to our @msleasalonga for being @sophia_laforteza ‘s 'mom' for this photo op with the press. THANK YOU MANANG! WE LOVE YOU! 🫶"
It was in July when KATSEYE announced their first concert tour titled Beautiful Chaos which was set to be staged across the US, in Canada, and in Mexico.
The tour kicked off in November. The stops include Minneapolis, Toronto, Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Mexico City, among others.
KATSEYE is composed of six members: Sophia, Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, and Yoonchae.
In an interview with Teen Vogue in January, Sophia shared what it means for her to represent Filipinos on the international stage as part of a global girl group.
The singer remarked that she is proud to showcase her Filipino identity on the global music scene.
"I want to be somebody who will never hide the fact that I'm Filipino," she pointed out. "I want to be loud about it. It means a lot when somebody embraces their culture, especially their Philippine culture and their heritage."
In the same interview, Sophia relayed that she always looked up to her mother Carla who is a theater actress. Sophia shared how her mom helped mold her to be the artist that she is today.
"She's not a teacher, but I tagged along for everything. She would take me to rehearsal. I would just sit there and observe. She trained me to be a visual learner," she recalled.