With ingenue roles behind her, Lea Salonga loving the new opportunities coming her way

Lea Salonga has always played ingenues in the characters she’s most known for. So it’s easy for anyone to imagine the Tony-winning actress-singer playing the tragic heroine Kim in “Miss Saigon” or singing “A Whole New World” and “Reflection” in Disney’s “Aladdin” and “Mulan,” respectively.

In recent seasons, we’ve been impressed by the roles Lea has been pursuing to stretch her wings as a performer—from getting deliciously cast against type as Aunt Gail Garcia in the acclaimed indie film “Yellow Rose” to bringing the murderous, meat pie-baking Mrs. Lovett in the musical “Sweeney Todd” to life.

HBO Go’s “Pretty Little Liars,” which wraps up Season 1 with a three-epis…

Keep on reading: With ingenue roles behind her, Lea Salonga loving the new opportunities coming her way