Fantine - Leading or Featured Role?

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:23am

I was just wondering whether the role of Fantine in Les Mis is considered a Leading Role or a Featured Role. Patti LuPone won the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (although this was shared with her performance in Cradle Will Rock...)

But I mean if the original Broadway Fantine was nominated for a Tony, would it have been for a Leading Role award for a Featured one?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:26am

THis is a really good question. I would say a featured role. Cosette is the leading role in this show.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:32am

I think all the female parts in Les Miserables would be featured.

[GreeceMusicalPerform]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:40am

First of all- are you crazy? Cosette might be important to the plot, but she has such few songs! And not even a solo!
Eponine is the leading female role, if we go by songs. She has around 12; Cosette has about 7-8 (if you count Little Cosette too).
Frances Ruffele might've gotten the tony for a supporting actress, but still- Eponine sings way more than Cosette.
And yes, Fantine is a leading role, most definitely. It goes like this: Fantine > Eponine > Cosette > Madame T.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:43am

Story wise, Cosette may be leading, but I would say she has less to do then Eponine or Fantine. Fantine is definitely featured though. She is in about 30 minutes of the show. The bulk of that in the beginning of Act 1.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:52am

No GreeceMusicalPerform, for you information I am not crazy. Seriously? As another poster just said, she is in 30 minutes of the show and has one song. That would not be leading.

Updated On: 3/7/11 at 09:52 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 9:59am

Patti LuPone won the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (although this was shared with her performance in Cradle Will Rock...)

And at that point in time, there was no category for Featured (or Supporting) Performance in a Musical at the Olivier Awards. So even if the role was seen as featured, there was no category saying so when LuPone won.

[JRybka]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:03am

Randy Graff was nominated for a supporting Tony. She is very important to the show but she is still supporting (Much like Audra in Ragtime.)

The two LEADS are the men.
Everyone else to me would be considered supporting.

[mallardo]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:06am

For me Jean Valjean is the only leading role in Les Miz. Everyone else is featured, including Javert.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:07am

The only leading roles in Les Mis are Valjean and Javert. Everyone else is featured.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:21am

Whether Javert should be leading or featured could be an interesting discussion. My inclination is that it should be featured.

[GreeceMusicalPerform]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:36am

Javert should be considered leading- but Valjean is the true lead of the story.

[mallardo]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:45am

So you're separating the lead from the "true lead". Haven't you then put him in a different category?

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 10:53am

JRybka, Graff was in fact not nominated for her performance in LES MIZ.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 11:05am

"Graff was in fact not nominated for her performance in LES MIZ"

Obviously the producers considered all the female roles as Supporting in that show. Frances Ruffelle and Judy Kuhn were both nominated in Supporting. But that year was short on Best Actress having only 3 nominees, one of which was Teresa Stratas in Rags, which closed within a week of opening.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 11:48am

Well Valjean and Javert are the protagonist and antagonist respectively, they are the two leads.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 11:56am

Obviously Valjean is the emotional center of the piece, but that doesn't mean Javert is not a leading role.

Interestingly enough, Valjean and Javert are the only two characters in the original staging that did not double as anyone else. Fantine memorably only doubled in one scene, because in London, LuPone managed to be "unavailable" for most of the staging of the ensemble scenes.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 12:22pm

^^^Maybe if she were in more scenes, she wouldn't have been bored backstage and missed her cue, leaving Colm Wilkinson onstage alone.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 12:36pm

^ For 16 bars!

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 1:33pm

Yes, Fantine usually doubles as a student.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 1:54pm

"Well Valjean and Javert are the protagonist and antagonist respectively, they are the two leads."

Certainly, this criteria isn't enough. By that logic, Jud Fry would be a lead in Oklahoma, and he is generally accepted (I think) as a featured role.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 2:00pm

I didn't suggest that that was the reason for them being lead roles, I merely stated those two things.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 3/7/11 at 2:26pm

There are no female leads in Les Mis. They are all featured or supporting roles.