'Boating'-Bound Rubin-Vega Leaves Les Miz, 2/18-4/11

Due to her previously announced casting in the upcoming LAByrinth Theater Company production of Bob Glaudini's Jack Goes Boating, Tony Award-nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega will take a leave of absence from Les Miserables.

Rubin-Vega, who plays the doomed Fantine in the musical, will be out of Les Miz from February 18th through April 11th, 2007.  Jack Goes Boating, directed by Peter Dubois and co-starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, among others, will begin in March (although specific dates have not yet been announced).

Les Miserables opened at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 W. 44th St.) on November 9th.  It also stars Alexander Gemignani (Sweeney Todd, Assassins) as noble on-the-run convict Jean Valjean, Norm Lewis (Chicago, The Wild Party, Side Show) as his persistent adversary Javert, with Tony Award-winner Gary Beach (La Cage aux Folles, The Producers) as Thenardier, Celia Keenan-Bolger (Spelling Bee) as Eponine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier, Aaron Lazar (The Light in the Piazza) as Enjolras, Adam Jacobs as Marius, and Ali Ewoldt as Cosette.

With music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, with original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton, Les Miserables is based on the sprawling novel by Victor Hugo.  Directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, Les Miserables originally ran on Broadway from 1987 through 2003.

Rubin-Vega created the role of Mimi in the original cast of Rent, a role that won her a Theater World Award as well as Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations as Best Actress in a musical. She also received a Tony nomination for her performance in Anna in the Tropics, and has also appeared as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Off-Broadway credits include Everythings Turning Into Beautiful, while film credits include Wild Things and Flawless. 

Visit www.lesmis.com for more information.  Visit www.labtheater.org for more on the LAByrinth Theater Company.