The reason they don't want her is because...
When she signed her contract to do the London production, there was a clause in it that said if/when the show went to Broadway, she would get to transfer and reprise her role in NY. As the London production got more successful and the plans to move it to Broadway became more concrete, conflict arose.
The producers told Laura they wanted her to stay in the show in London right up until rehearsels for the Broadway production started. She, on the other hand, didn't want to re-new her contract because she wanted a bit of a lengthy break between doing the show there and doing it here. Last summer, right after this started going on, her understudy started doing all the public appearences and promotion for the show that she normally did, and I even think she might have missed a few shows.
Not suprisingly, shortly after at some point during the summer, it was announced that she would indeed by leaving, and at the end of October, she exited the production. It is expected that the producers will buy out her option to come to Broadway and go with someone else, which is a shame because, from what I have heard, she is brilliant in the role.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
