When she first made her debut on London’s West End in 1989 playing the lead role of Kim in Miss Saigon, Lea Salonga was only 18 years old. Her co-star was British actor Simon Bowman who played Chris, an American soldier who falls in love with Kim during the Vietnam war.

According to a report by ABS-CBN News Online, Bowman recently visited the country for the first time as one of the special guests at Lea’s 40th anniversary concert held at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center held last week.

Lea shared kind words about Bowman as seen in a YouTube video of their performance. uploaded by Tim Chen. “I will always be grateful to him. He will always have a very special place in my heart.”

With their ten-year age gap, Lea shared how grateful she was to her co-performer over three decades ago. “He was a gentleman, patient with me in our scenes, and hands down one of the best actors I’ve ever gotten to work with. He’s definitely one of the best voices that I’ve ever sung with, and he’s only gotten better with age,” Lea shared.

The two sang a Miss Saigon medley which included iconic songs like “Sun and Moon” and “The Last Night of the World.”