Frances Ruffelle stuck it to AEA for all the hassle they gave her about reprising her role on Broadway when she got the Tony. Colm, as well was fantastic. But the cast as a whole didn't hold a candle to the OLC.
I didn't get to see the OBC, but I much prefer the OBCR to the OLCR, even though I heard the latter first. Most people seem to prefer the London recording, but I find the Broadway recording better sung and acted (especially from the ensemble - the smaller roles like the Bishop, Foreman, Whores, Students, et al.), better paced, and has more life in it. I even prefer Randy Graff's Fantine to Patti's. The one exception is Michael Ball's Marius, which is much better than David Bryant on the OBC.
I do understand what Emma White is saying, but in all fairness to Frances Ruffelle, Victor Hugo describes Eponine's voice as raspy and sounding like an old man (NOT that Frances's voice is such), so to have a non-traditional sounding voice, to me, makes sense, and I appreciate her take on the character.
From what I've seen of her (not much), she actually seems to be a very good actress and she does seem to understand the part. I own both the OLC and OBC recordings and I have to skip through her songs.