With all the hooplah surrounding the casting of Taylor Swift (who has yet to be officially announced) in the upcoming big screen adaptation of Les Miserables, it seemed like the perfect time to show off a Youtube treasure of the original Tony-winning Eponine, Frances Ruffelle. In the video, Rufelle sings the street urchin's anthem, 'On My Own.' Click below to check it out!
Ruffelle's first West End appearance was as Louisa in Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince. In 1984, she took on the principal role of Dinah in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express in the original London cast. A year later, she had left Starlight and joined the original London cast of Les Misérables as Éponine. Her subsequent work on stage included the Ian Dury musical Apples in 1989 and Stephen Schwartz's Children of Eden in 1990, featuring on the cast albums of both. She has also starred as the female lead Roxie Hart in Chicago, as well as appearing in Lucky Stiff, and, more recently, in Schwartz Stories. She is currently starring in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Pippin, which runs through February 25.
Casting for the upcoming film adaptation of LES MISÉRABLES is just about complete, with Hugh Jackman taking on the role of Jean Valjean and Russell Crowe squaring off as Javert. Also announced in recent weeks have been Sacha Baron Cohen as Thernardier, Eddie Redmayne as Marius, Aaron Tveit as Enjolras, Anne Hathaway as Fantine and Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier. The opera-trained Mamma Mia! film star Amanda Seyfried will play Cosette.
Les Miserables originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on 3 April 2004. When LES MISÉRABLES celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World's Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by "Cats" in London's West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating its historic 10,000th performance.
The film will begin filming in March under the direction of Tom Hooper. All cast members will be singing live on film and the release date is currently set for December 7, 2012.
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