"Q: I know you had been offered the role of Fantine in the Les Miz revival. Was it difficult to choose the L.A. company of Wicked over that?
Espinosa: Actually, the offer for the L.A. company of Wicked came in later, so it wasn't a deciding [factor] between the two jobs. I knew it was a possibility, but it wasn't [definite]. Les Miz is my dream show — it still is to this day. To be offered Fantine, a role that I wasn't even originally going in for — I was going in for Eponine and Cosette. Then, at that moment [I was asked], "Do you know 'I Dreamed a Dream'? We want to hear your Fantine." I cried when they called me and told me I got it.
Q: Why didn't you end up doing the role?
Espinosa: It just didn't work out. It was a hard [decision], but I just feel you learn more about yourself every day, and I figure I'm 28. Most people who play Fantine are older, and I'll have another chance to do it hopefully. It's an amazing role, and I really hope one day I get to sink my teeth into those 45 minutes. [Laughs.]"
BroomstickBoy-
I think what really rubs me the wrong way is sort of the undertones I get from those two answers. She calls Les Miz her dream show, but never explains why she chose not to do it. Which could be for personal reasons... but then she says, "I really hope one day I can sink my teeth into those 45 minutes" and laughs... and it just seems to me like she's really snubbing the role, saying it's not big enough for her. I could be wrong. We can't hear her tone and we don't REALLY know why she turned it down. But there are rumors that she wasn't offered enough money... I mean, why did it just "not work out" exactly? And the fact that she cried when she got the role. For some reason, I just get the feeling she cried because she didn't get her way. Again, I could be wrong. But I just am under the impression that because she didn't get what she wanted, she wouldn't take anything. And part of me is like, who do you think you are? I feel like the attention she has gotten for playing Elphaba may have gone to her head. I can see how that would happen- with thousands of young girls obsessed with you just for standing by in Idina Menzel's part, I could see how someone would build up a LOT of confidence right away- to almost a dangerous extent.
Anyway, that's just the impression I am under. I realize that I am making some assumptions, but those two answers just don't give me a very good vibe.
"You know, a little orphan girl once told me that the sun would come out tomorrow. Her adopted father was a powerful billionaire, so I supressed the urge to laugh in her face. But now, by gum, I think she might have been on to something!"
--Reefer Madness
