Rubin-Vega To Be Out Of 'Les Mis' 7-12 Weeks

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:43am

Just wanted to give everyone the heads up:

Daphne did an interview with Playbill.com that went up today, and in it, she says she will be out of 'Les Mis' for 7-12 weeks from late-January through mid-March or May to do a play called 'Jack Goes Boating' at the Public. Anyone wanting to see the show specifically for her may want to check with the Broadhurst for the official dates of her absence.

Hopefully Nikki Renee Daniels will be on during Rubin-Vega's extended leave. She is utterly fantastic, and will make a great Fantine for sure.

Updated On: 10/13/06 at 11:43 AM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:46am

Why would she do Liz Mes if she was going to miss up to 12 weeks/3 months?? Doesn't make sense.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:48am

Then they really should have gone with someone else, especially since the show is supposedly a limited engagement.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:50am

It's not like it would have been difficult to find someone else.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:52am

This smells funny.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:52am

Exactly, Rath. I'm kind of curious who else was up for the role.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:53am

Same reason why Edward Hibbert would leave Drowsy Chaperone to do Curtains.

Stuff comes up....it's not a hard role to fill.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:56am

Drowsy's a different story. Hibberts probably had right of first refusal from the LA run and Drowsy wasn't planned to open at the time it did, so Hibberts had moved onto Curtains. When they were suddenly scrambling to get the production together and into the Marquis, I'm sure they were ok with Hibberts taking time off.

Les Miz, on the other hand, is a "supposed" limited run and one of its featured stars is going to miss nearly two months or more of that?

[Kev]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:59am

While it'd be nice to see Nikki Daniels promoted, my guess is that TPTB will find her more beneficial as the primary cover and bring in someone for those 7-12 weeks (perhaps a Fantine who has played the role before?)

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:05pm

Kev, I believe if a principal (or ensemble, I guess) is going to be out for more than a week or so, Equity rules require hiring a substitute, rather than having the cover go on.

[myManCape]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:06pm

Im thinking she had the public contract first and Les Miz took her just for her name, in the pre sale. Their hoping that the show catches on (again) and they wont need her by then.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:07pm

"Need" her? For what?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:08pm

They cast her knowing about the conflit: they liked her that much.

LES MIZ is planning on extending, so its not going to be as big a chunk out of her contract as first appears.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:15pm

How about Patti?

Updated On: 10/13/06 at 12:15 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:20pm

Don't toy with me, Magdalene.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:26pm

I may be wrong on this, but, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't come back after the stint at the public. "Vocal Strain"

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:38pm

I think she sounds HORRIBLE in the video rehearsal clip from broadway.com. I questioned her casting as Fantine because it doesn't seem AT ALL like her type of vocal part. Of all the roles I see her more as an Eponine, but even that's not a correct fit. Maybe she'll be vocally fine and the rehearsal was just a bad day.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:40pm

How does she sound horrible? She sings for 3 seconds and you can't even hear it.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:41pm

Yeah, but in those 3 seconds she's straining like hell, and it's not even taxing. And the quality of her voice just doesn't sound right.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:42pm

I'm sorry but I think it's annoying as hell that she's pulling this. You have been contracted to do a show for six months....DO IT.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:43pm

I don't think she's pulling anything. It seems as if she were contracted to do the play before LES MIS.

[friedrichVT]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:52pm

Clearly Cameron Macintosh had a choice in the matter, To either not cast her knowing of the prior commitment, or not granting her the leave in the first place. Either way he wants her in the show (regardless of how people feel about her being cast). For the 1000th time, the limited run is a marketing ploy...that's all. her 2 leave will not put a dent in the long running 'revival'.

[mentaltenant]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:16pm

In many recent interviews Daphne has talked about having to choose between doing "high fidelity" and "les miz" and she says she chose "Les Miz" because they were willing to let her do "Jack Goes Boating" (which was written by a friend of hers and she had already agreed to do a long time ago). Both projects should be very good for her so why should she choose?

and all this mess about her "straining" in the 2 second video clip...once again, she's dying lol. Daphne takes a real approach to things, she's going to act this part instead of just try to sound pretty. That's what she does.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:18pm

And that's why she's a brilliant performer.

I have never seen her in a role she couldn't do.

[gustof777]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:28pm

I know you shouldn't judge from a little clip but I thought she was FEIRCE in what I saw and clearly the cast loves her. I am a huge fan and can't wait to see her in both Les Miz and at the Public.