Biography:
This is the bio that appears in the Les Miserables Tenth Anniversary Concert programme. Ruthie reprised her role as Fantine for the on night concert, held 8 October, 1995 and could be argued as Ruthie's big break for international recognition.

Ruthie Henshall was born on March 7 in Bromley, the youngest of four daughters to parents David and Gloria. Beginning with ballet classes whilst still at school, Ruthie eventually attended Laine Theatre Arts and was determined to make the stage her career. Pantomime and summer seasons gave her the initial taste, the excitement and the love of entertaining, and she successfully auditioned for the national tour of 'A Chorus Line' in which she played Maggie, followed closely by her first West End show 'Cats'. Then followed by Ellen in 'Miss Saigon', Aphra in 'Children of Eden', a season at Chichester in 'Henry VIII', Moliere's 'Sisterhood' and 'Valentine's Day' based on Shaw's You never Can Tell and Fantine in 'Les Miserables'. She was chosen to play Polly in 'Crazy For You' at the Prince Edward Theatre directed by Mike Ockrent and more recently played Amalia Balash in 'She Loves Me' at the Savoy Theatre, directed by Scott Ellis, for which she won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Concert appearences include the Royal Albert Hall, 'Ruthie Henshall in Concert' at the Royal Festival Hall, a number of appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and recordings of 'Miss Saigon', 'Crazy For You', 'She Loves Me', 'Godspell', 'Children of Eden' and her own debut album 'Love is Here to Stay' - A Celebration of Gershwin. More recently Ruthie led musical stars from the West End in the annual 'National Music Day Singalong' for Radio 2 at the Royal Albert Hall

Fantine’s Arrest