Frances Ruffelle

Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and recording artist. From bursting into the public consciousness playing Éponine in Les Miserables, Frances Ruffelle’s distinctive sound has continued to delight her fans and captivate new audiences. She created the role of Éponine in Les Miserables at the RSC and in London’s West End transferring to Broadway where she recreated the role on Broadway for which she won the coveted Tony award, Helen Hayes award, Theatre World award and Outer Circle Critics award for her performance. Frances hit the West End for the first time in Terence Rattigan’s play The Sleeping Prince, (with Omar Sharif). She then took part in the original workshop of Starlight Express and subsequently played the role of Dinah for Trevor Nunn in the show’s first ever cast. She also created the role of Yonah in the original West End production of Children of Eden directed by John Caird. Although Frances is known for her performances on the stage she is also a film and TV actress. Her latest films are Devil’s Tower internationally released June 2013 and Les Miserables released January 2013 Further stage adventures have ranged from appearing with Ian Dury in Apples at the Royal Court in London to playing Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago. Next year Frances is very much looking forward to playing the title role in Pam Gems play Piaf opening February at the Curve Theatre Leicester. Frances will also be touring the UK and the USA with her 5 star show Beneath the Dress. Dates to be announced. Her multi-faceted career has also included four solo album Fragile, Frances Ruffelle, Showgirl and her latest solo album Imperfectly Me, which is imbued with her trademark sense of earthy realism rather than airbrushed perfection.