Breaking News: Samantha Hill to Take Over as Cosette for Broadway's New LES MISERABLES

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 8:27am

Awwwww, I wonder what happened to Charlotte. I hope she's okay. I feel so sorry for her, but congrats to Samantha.




Source Updated On: 2/12/14 at 08:27 AM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 9:07am

Stop firing people, Cameron! He is absolutely the worst.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 9:21am

Wow! I didn't get to see Samantha as Christine, but I wish I had. This will do. :)

[thespian geek]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 9:56am

I've heard Samantha is just wonderful as Cosette, so I'm excited for her.

[ILuv2shop531]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:01am

This really must have been sudden, as Charlotte was just tweeting about the marquee being up at the Imperial about four days ago.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:21am

Her age??? I hope someone can elaborate on that, soon. That leaves more questions than answers for me.

[DeNada]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:37am

At a pure guess...

LES MIS has been casting younger and younger in London - frequently the Cosettes and Mariuses of recent years have been straight out of college. Charlotte Maltby would fit this mould at, what, 20? Andy Mientus, however, is 27; Nikki James is 32. If Cosette seems just too young opposite them, presumably they chose to bring back Samantha Hill - presumably about 26? - to make things more age appropriate.

Alternatively, it could be a tactful way of saying she wasn't up to scratch - although if that were the case I assume Charlotte Maltby's agents would have completely forbidden her from saying anything on her Facebook page whatsoever.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:46am

According to her Facebook page, it had to do with her age. She handled herself in a very classy way. Wishing her all the best. A painful but important lesson about the industry.


Whose FB page? I couldn't find a fan page for Charlotte Maltby. Unless it wasn't a FAN PAGE...

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:56am

So her personal FB?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:57am

Also: https://twitter.com/cmalts/status/433615491563667456

[loliveve]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 10:58am

^ I think so-- I just did a search and found it. She said: "There are only so many things you can control in life, but unfortunately your age is not one of them...."


(Edited to omit link... points taken. But I in NO WAY meant to be invasive- I honestly think if she didn't want her FB open to the public, she would have the privacy settings that way.)

Updated On: 2/12/14 at 10:58 AM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:10am

And if you look at the comments of that status, Richard Jay Alexander's pissed!

[DeNada]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:24am

Didn't Richard Jay Alexander run Cameron's US office for about a decade, and generally make his living by directing productions of Les Mis all over the country that just happen to be a bit similar to the ones he used to direct for La Mackintosh?

Perhaps a little on the bitter side.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:38am

I dunno but he sure likes writing EVERY other WORD in capital LETTERS!!!!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:42am

But RJA had also directed Charlotte Maltby in Muny's production of Les Miz, so he's probably just a tad upset since he knows her.

[callitquits]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:46am

I get that if you search, it comes up, but I still feel that directly linking to a 20-year-old's personal Facebook account for the purpose of speculating and gossiping on a message board is pretty gross and invasive.

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:46am

So - Charlotte was too old by a very few years - but we have complete color blind casting for Eponine/Young Eponine (not that I have an issue with that-it just seems very inconsistant).

Me thinks there is something else going on here.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:49am

I'm not sure how age and race are the same thing? Maybe she just couldn't handle the rehearsal process, or the other well-seasoned professionals were showing her up and it showed, or maybe she just stuck out like a sore thumb because she's so much younger.

I honestly don't think 20-30s is that big of a difference, especially on stage.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:49am

"But RJA had also directed Charlotte Maltby in Muny's production of Les Miz, so he's probably just a tad upset since he knows her."

Aye, that too.

And theatregeek, she wasn't considered too old, she was considered too young.

And I'm gonna just get on my soapbox here…if I were in her shoes, I'd be really mad at the director and the producer as well for being given this amazing opportunity and then having it taken away just like that.

Updated On: 2/12/14 at 11:49 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:52am

I get that if you search, it comes up, but I still feel that directly linking to a 20-year-old's personal Facebook account for the purpose of speculating and gossiping on a message board is pretty gross and invasive.


Yeah. It's her personal FB, not a public fan page.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 11:56am

Sorry, but I'm not buying it. There's something else at play here..

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 12:00pm

What ever the reason, I can only imagine how difficult this is for the person on the receiving end, especially being a month into rehearsals.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 12:42pm

theatregeek, not too old. too YOUNG. She is/was a college student. She's around 20. Nikki James is at least 30.

They knew her age when they cast her. Which is why it all feels very strange. And false. Updated On: 2/12/14 at 12:42 PM

[RW3]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 3:46pm

On ensemble member Andrew Kober's twitter page, he tweeted that the cast went through their first complete run through of the show. So, that means there was a rather dramatic switch between Charlotte and Samantha. So interesting, so very interesting...

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 3:58pm

Sounds like what I interpreted it as, which was they decided half-way through rehearsals, "Wait, she's kind of young and inexperienced, isn't she?" Which of course would be a total surprise given that they probably cast her after only one very brief audition...NOT.

This is something they should have considered BEFORE hiring her. I firmly believe in sticking with your casting decisions, unless the person turns out to be a total trainwreck. You can't treat people this way, especially a twenty year-old girl who I'm sure is now totally devastated. But add it to Cameron Mackintosh's casualty list...Mark Campbell, Ben Davis, Lawrence Clayton...who's next? He's out of control.