Rufelle's lonely voice is what made me fall in love with Les Miserable. Wilkinson's voice is a reminder of altruism and Michael Ball, love.

@chiralityraven337

5 жыл бұрын

Same. It was her singing this song that made me love Les Mis

Francis Rufelle is so talented and she will always be known as Eponine!!!

@Len1977gt

3 жыл бұрын

Is that who played her? I remember watching a performance near where I live in New York USA back in 1990.

@Broadwayriah

2 жыл бұрын

@@wyattdegrasse121 Lea didn’t even originate Eponine in any production, and she’s better known for playing Fantine than Epoinine

I saw Les Mis with my grandmother when it opened in London - one of the greatest shows ever.

@caleb1413

2 ай бұрын

I’m jealous!

I have no idea how human beings can possess such incredible voices as those of the original London cast....

i loved Frances Ruffelle's voice for Eponine. It seemed like her voice was more fit for 80s pop music than Broadway, very sultry and breathy. It always sounded like she was about to cry. And that's basically where Eponine's at during the whole show so it fits.

@ForgottenArmy1944

3 жыл бұрын

80s pop music vibe for sure. So special and great to listen to

@taketothehill5975

Жыл бұрын

Frances is easily my favourite Eponine. Lea Salonga is a better technical singer but I think that detracts a little from the performance. The enunciation is so precise that I feel it loses touch with the actual character. Eponine in the novel is far more complex. She is somewhat broken from a life of trauma and is on the edges of sanity. I feel that come through far more clearly in Frances Ruffelle’s version. The lost child who is slightly unhinged. It’s brilliant.

@billny33

Жыл бұрын

@@taketothehill5975 I wholeheartedly agree. I wish Frances had been in the dream cast but Lea is also so talented that it would be wrong of me to say she doesn't deserve it. However, Frances also originated the role like so many others in there.

@BrendanJSmith

Жыл бұрын

Linzi Hateley had a very similar sound in her version of On My Own.

@jmw939

6 ай бұрын

Her voice sounds a bit like Eponine’s voice as described in book. Only prettier of course.

well I met Frances and she is beatiful and can sing. she was the orignal characterin London and broadway and has made history for the character. Her voice was raw and didn't need training like others. She did a fantastic Job and won the first Tony for the role. when people listen to the song on my own ( real singers) go to the orignal song because it's sung correctly.

Michael Ball, Frances Ruffelle, Colm Wilkinson - adore them!

No matter how many Eponines come and go, Frances will be the sweetest and greatest of them of all. The Original London is indeed EPIC.

Colm + Patti + Michael + Frances = awesomeness.

I saw them in New York in the 80s when I was about 8 years old, and they were perfection. As an adult, I can hear the flaws in Frances' voice, but she's still my favorite Eponine. She played her with such passion and pain and it doesn't matter whether her singing had technical issues. She embodied Eponine's sorrow and hope perfectly.

From the novel: "It was a dull, broken, hoarse, strangled voice, the voice of an old man, roughened with brandy and liquor." "And she hummed scraps of vaudevilles, as though she had been alone, frolicsome refrains which her hoarse and guttural voice rendered lugubrious.An indescribable constraint, weariness, and humiliation were perceptible beneath this hardihood. Effrontery is a disgrace."

Colm always stirs emotion in me. Michael, Francis.... classic cast!!

Frances will always be the Eponine of my heart

I've just had the pleasure of seeing Frances Ruffelle playing Edith Piaf in the play 'Piaf'. She was well suited to the character and her acting and singing were PERFECTION! pretty hot too!

Les Mis is not just a musical. It is... one of the biggest loves of my life.

frances' version is by far the best i have heard! lea salonga is good but frances sings like an angel! beautiful song :)

Les Mis came to Broadway just a couple months before I was born. I've literally grown up with this musical my entire life - my sisters listened to a couple different recordings of it all the time when I was small, first on tape and later on CD, and I developed a love for it at a very early age. I have a special fondness for the Original London Cast - they just knock it out of the park. Michael Ball just makes me swoon - I love seeing him so young here, with that long curly hair. What a hottie!

I do believe that the first person you see play a part is usually the one that you end up preferring. Not always, of course. Stephanie Lawrence was by far my favourite Evita but she was the third one I saw. With Frances though - as with all of the OLC of Les Mis - she (and they) will always be the benchmark for me. I had seen her in Starlight Express prior to Les Mis anyway and she was adorable in that.

Something about Frances Ruffelle always reminded me of Edith Piaf. She had such pluck and singular character.

@freesiaoriental

3 жыл бұрын

That's exactly what the creators had in mind when they cast her for the role, actually. She supposed to sound like a street singer. Fits the character better

It made my day to see Michael Ball and Frances Ruffelle singing One Day More!

Going through Les Miz vids and comments: I'll never understand why people expect perfection. Frances was everything Eponine was supposed to be. She wasn't the beauty who won hearts, she was the street rat, still very much a child, with a raspy voice from a hard life who fell in love with someone above her station. Good grief, she was a Thenardier! She's not supposed to be the standout, she's supposed to be someone we can relate to and have sympathy for...unlike Cossette, who is quite dull IMO.

@holden6104

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I personally think Lea Salonga was a horrible casting decision for all the reasons you've stated in support of Frances. The original London cast was flawless.

@bookemdano7567

4 жыл бұрын

And Thank You! I always felt that I am in the minority about Lea Salonga as Eponine. She has a great voice and is wonderful as Kim, but, she’s just not Eponine to me ( and she’s even worse as Fantine) She’s too “perfect” with no emotion. She tries to show emotion with her face, but, it comes off fake to me. Frances IS Eponine. She has so much emotion in every single word she sings. And her voice is unique, where as other Eponine’s are a dime a dozen. There was a time, back, in the first 5 years or so of the show, that every girl playing Eponine would try to imitate Frances. Now it’s sad that On My Own and many other songs from Les Mis are sung as power ballads like they are auditioning for American Idol. The youth of today feel that if you aren’t belting/ yelling to the rafters, you’re not a good singer.

@melizmatea

4 жыл бұрын

I agree, except I think she was a stand-out! She was so adorable, and really evoked pathos.I gotta say, I think she was beautiful - I don't know how anyone could say otherwise - almost too beautiful for Eponine - much prettier than Cosette.

@chinatipodeesamer2776

4 жыл бұрын

Nathan Topik You shut up.

@mikekaraoke

Жыл бұрын

Kamwrites you said: Frances was everything Eponine was supposed to be. She wasn't the beauty who won hearts! I hope you are joking but if not, I totally disagree with you Frances to me and many many others think she rather pretty.

frances is beautiful both apperance and voice

I was in New York at one of the original showings, it was amazing!!! After the play they auctioned off a white robe which they wear in between scenes which I bought and have to this day! I also had the opportunity to meet some of that amazing cast at that time as well. Amazing!! Can't wait till Christmas Day to see the movie.

Frances Ruffelle is the original and will always be Eponine! Haters shut up!

Oh I absolutely love David Burt (OLC Enjolras). I first saw him as Magaldi in Evita, then Munkustrap in Cats. Michael Maguire was awesome and very good looking (and tall) but Burty will always be my absolute favourite :)

That Eponine's voice is perfect. As an 11 year old I wanted to sing like her. As a 35 year old I want the same thing. Frances Ruffelle is perfection in my opinion just like her counterpoint, Michael Ball. No one can even come close to his Marius.

love love love colm's voice

MAN!!!! To be able to see THAT cast would be a dream come true. The best and original cast EVER for that play would be sooooo amazing!!!!

In awe. What I'd give to see a full recording of the original production!

I totally agree. Roger Allam is my favorite Javert. But it is so hard to find earlier video footage of Roger Allam as Javert. It's so frustrating!

i love frances voice for the role of eponine. Frances really did gave justice to the song and to the role of eponine. It's perfect because she sounds and acts like a naive girl...

I think it's nice that a few members of this particular cast are getting cameos in the film version (Colm Wilkinson as The Bishop, Frances Ruffelle as one of the "Lovely Ladies")

Three members of the original cast of Les Miserables took part in Eurovision! Two for the UK and one for Ireland.

Ahhhh the decade of the Mega Musicals. love the 80's! Others comes to mind like: Cats, Starlight Express, Mutiny, Dave Clark's "Time", Chess, Miss Saigon....etc + ones that were not Mega Musicals which were/are hits from the 80's like: Blood Brothers, Little Shop of Horrors, Bugsy Malone, Sunday in the Park with George.....etc

Eponine

his jewel headband and les mis sweatshirt outfit was also amazing.

Frances was the best Eponine, I don't care with anyone else says!

COOOOOOOOOLM colm colm colm colm (he is literally the best ^.^)

I love it!!! Frances, Lea and Samantha for me are the BEST EPONINE that I've ever hear in Les Miz

amazing Colm Wilkinson :o

After watching clips from the upcoming film of the musical which I've waited my entire life for and being disappointed in the singing, I am relieved to be able to come here and find this which I have never seen on YT before. Thank you for posting it.

I like the original london cast.

i like eponine on the symphonic recording best and that has been the best recording so far also the second look down is now called paris and has word changes when gavroche sings plus some songs where rushed

Oh my gosh, I went to see Les Mis on the west end two years ago, it still rotates now! x

What I want to see is a performance where there's a Eponine like Frances Ruffelle and a Cosette like Katie Hall. Both these actresses took the characters to a new level; Frances completely played Eponine like the miserable street urchin she is, and Katie plays Cosette as a love-struck teenager, rather than a stiff, perfect child.

@321rayofsunshine123 As I recall it's: - Drink With Me with Peter Polycarpou - On My Own - Frances Ruffelle - Bring Him Home - Colm Wilkinson in Broadway rehearsal - One Day More - Michael Ball and cast from London

Colm looks SO young!

No film nor skating can do justice to one of the greatest classic novels like the Les Miz the musical can. Thanks MUCH for this video 'cause I've always wanted to watch the original cast performing this epic musical and wasn't able to find it until now.

Colm is fucking awesome.

I love this cast.

Never gets old. Amazing.

Completely agree. She is the best.

Drink with me to days gone by.....and yet Les Mis has yet to die

Thank you so much for not judging me. It means a lot.

I wish i saw them live! but i didnt :O so i guess your right because it matters in live more..

That was a good video!

its Frances Ruffelle, the girl in this video. She was the best too.

Colm and Michael ....still the best!!

Best Version Ever!! Nothing like the original!!

This is magical.

actually i jst saw the movie and it was so good! i loved it! i ♥ the song "castle on the clouds" :)

Oh Colm Wilkinson bow to The Lord of Jean ValJean!

I love that Colm's wearing Les mis jumper :)

Me too!!!! Such a wonderful character. :')

Awesome!

shame on anyone who says lea michele does the best on my own. she has a fantastic voice but in no way compares to the pain and sorrow in frances' voice. frances is eponine. lea salonga and samantha barks (i adore both) will always have to live in that shadow

I really love "Les Mis"

I still do want to see it... :)

I enjoyed the movie interpretation on its own terms; but I agree that there is a raw magic to the stage version that can't be duplicated. Also loved the revolving turntable stage (which they dispensed with in the 25th anniversary tour, sadly) and the innovative use of it to great effect.

The biggest dream of my life is to play Eponine. Even on a small stage

Roger Allam is such an underrated Javert

@mjjago

5 жыл бұрын

Kate Girdlestone Agreed. Cliver Carter in the video here though.

i know everyone is saying the movie cast are the perfect cast but to me the origional cast were always the best cast

Michael Ball IS older in some videos cos he was filmed years later.

Despite the title it's actually not too miserable

@sav1472

5 жыл бұрын

amy clarke Eponine was Miserable

Colm

Colm is god. I'm a big fan of Lea Salonga and I will never diss her, but I just don't understand why Frances Ruffelle was not chosen to do the 10th Anniversary Concert. She was 30 I realize so maybe she was just too old for the role? Lea nailed it anyway, but I feel it was somehow wrong that Frances, who won every award that could be won for her portrayal of Eponine, was not a part of the 10 Annivesary Concert which is my fave version of Les Misérables

@AdAsh650

2 жыл бұрын

I think age was of a factor.

I like how Eponine goes high on *pretending* rather than what they do now

Well, as far as casting for something based on the book, it was perfect. Eponine's voice in the book was supposed to be that way. It isn't perfect, it isn't always pretty, and that's good because she isn't perfect or pretty. I believe they probably had that in mind in casting Frances as the first 'Ponine. Personally, she's my favorite for that very reason.

1:44 OMG, she is so cute *-*

OMG sh is lik Edith Piaf how very canny and yet wonderful she is lovely.....

On the other hand I think Miss Saigon could make a great movie. It's filmable. All they have to do is cast it well and film it competently.

Incredible! Couldn't DISAGREE WITH YOU MORE. (Lynn Ross).

You are right. The original performers are somehow the bests because they put a part of them in their characters. However, I have to say that I prefer the originals Enjolras and Javert from Broadway. And I think both Rebecca Caine and Judy Kuhn are amazing Cosettes.

i love the guy, who i think plays marius, hair.

I have a soundboard recording of the Original Broadway Cast that is quite amazing. It is better than the cast recording!

I used to have this fantasy Les Mis cast with Stevie Nicks as Eponine. After seeing Frances, I wish that had really happened.

I like Frances Ruffelle...

Can anybody give me the order of songs and singers?? PLEASE?!?!?!

Really? Cool! :3 I want to see that for my birthday... :3 I wish I could go to london though.

I’m just tryna see the original gavroche man why is it so hard to find it

Colm. Wilkinson...Enough said.

I think sam and frances are pretty equal. No other eponines capture their magic. But Frances is forever my fav... So happy Sam is in the movie and Frances will be in lovely ladies. yay!

My favourite Eponine ever is Nancy Sullivan, but Frances is absolutely amazing! She's got quite a unique voice that doesn't sound 'pretty' and it also sounds rather childish, but that's why they cast her. Eponine was only supposed to be 15 and her voice in the book was certainly not described as pleasing or nice. Frances really brought the character to life in my opinion. Also, Colm = best Valjean ever

@AdAsh650

2 жыл бұрын

And yet Frances’s voice is incredibly pleasing.

i love the song red and black

wow.. michael ball look so....YOUNG here heehee

Yeah I know. Tons of people say that he did a horrible job but honestly, he did a fantastic job.

MICHAEL BALL'S HAIR

Anyone know Javert is here in the One Day More segment? Think it's Clive Carter, but I'm not sure.

Prefer this than Hugh Jackman's ridiculousness.

@mreffen1

4 жыл бұрын

Agree. Colm was great and Hollywood disappointed like they usually do with musicals.

this "string thing" holds the small microphone he has on his forehead.... :)