Cerritos singer Lucy Acuña makes Hollywood Bowl debut
Lucy Acuña performs “On My Own” from Les Misérables during The Best of Broadway opening night gala at the Hollywood Bowl on June 20. (Courtesy photo)
Twenty-two-year-old Lucy Acuña of Cerritos is the 2026 Hollywood Bowl Spotlight Award winner.
She made her official Hollywood Bowl debut by joining a cast of Broadway legends and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, delivering a powerhouse performance of “On My Own” from Les Misérables during this season’s opening night at the Bowl, The Best of Broadway gala, on Saturday, June 20.
Downey residents will remember the LA Phil’s highly successful free concert last December at the Downey Theatre.
Acuña was introduced onstage at the Hollywood Bowl by Lea Salonga.
Salonga is a Filipina actress and singer who has headlined Broadway and West End productions and appeared in television and film. She earned critical acclaim for her performances in Miss Saigon, Les Misérables and Flower Drum Song, along with providing singing voices in Aladdin, Mulan and Mulan II.
“I didn't know she was introducing me until the day of the show. I think it was kind of meant to be a surprise. I think everyone knew how much I admire her. I love Lea Salonga. I grew up listening to her music and watching her performances on YouTube as a kid. She's one of my icons. One of my role models. She’s Filipino and I'm Filipino and so she just made me feel like I could sing.”
Acuña’s performance of “On My Own” from Les Misérables earned tremendous applause and the evening's only mid-show standing ovation from the crowd.
A Filipina American nonprofessional musical theater performer, educator and producer, Acuña was excited when she received a phone call saying that, out of 500 people who submitted audition tapes, she had been invited to a final audition with five other finalists at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“Twenty minutes after the auditions Linda Diaz, from the LA Philharmonic, came to tell me I was selected. She took me to the judges in the choral room. There was five minutes of congratulations and then we got right to work. I had an hour of coaching with the music director, Kevin Stites and the pianist. That was my first rehearsal. It was all very quick.”
“Friday was the second rehearsal. We had a sitzprobe rehearsal with the orchestra playing the music for the first time, where the singers without costumes are seated on stage at Walt Disney Concert Hall. That was incredible.”
“Then Saturday was the third and final rehearsal with the full company onstage at the Hollywood Bowl.”
Following her solo performance, Acuña joined a lineup of Broadway luminaries for the grand finale performance of “One” from A Chorus Line.
With nearly 12,000 people in attendance, the opening night event raised more than $2.3 million to fund the LA Phil’s Learning and Community Programs, including YOLA, the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, and free community performances such as the one at the Downey Theatre.
YOLA provides free instruments, intensive after-school music instruction and academic support to more than 1,700 students ages 6 to 18 from historically under-resourced neighborhoods.
Acuña was thrilled to share the stage with legendary artists who are among her heroes.
“To get to come out, bow and sing together with these legends, those incredible dancers, the choir, as well and orchestra. It was just a really cool way to end the night.”
The Best of Broadway performers included Billy Crystal, host; Halle Bailey, screen star and vocalist; Darren Criss, Tony Award-winning vocalist; Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony Award-winning vocalist; Brian Stokes Mitchell, Tony Award-winning vocalist; Lea Salonga, Tony Award-winning vocalist; and Thomas Wilkins, conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
Acuña is a 2021 graduate of Whitney High School in Cerritos, a STEM school that also has a strong theater program.
She earned her BFA in Musical Theatre in 2025 from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. CCM accepts only 2% of applicants and is a highly respected musical theater program. In the 2024-25 season, at least 40 alumni performed on Broadway, ranking CCM No. 7 nationwide and ahead of institutions such as the Juilliard School in the number of alumni on Broadway.
In June and July, Acuña returned to the Whitney High School Foundation’s Musical Theatre Summer Camp in Cerritos as musical director. She first participated in the camp in 2013, when she was in fourth grade and the Musical Theatre Summer Camp began.
She loves teaching. She is part of a team that includes her former elementary and middle school musical theater teachers Linda Bon and Jodi Improta, along with Ariel Improta, the director and daughter of Acuña’s high school musical theater teacher.
“It’s a wonderful experience for everyone. But it’s incredibly fast. We have 14 days to put on the musical.”
Tuition for the special summer program is $400. It is open to incoming third- through 10th-graders from inside and outside ABCUSD. A total of 120 students registered and were divided into morning and afternoon casts of 60 for rehearsals that culminated in four public performances of the musical Seussical Jr. on Thursday, July 9, at 4 and 7 pm, and Friday, July 10, at 4 and 7 pm.
It’s been a full-circle journey for Lucy Acuña. Straight out of Cerritos and the Filipino community, she is a trailblazer in so many ways.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from her.
You can see Lucy Acuña’s performance of “On My Own” at the Hollywood Bowl here: