Pop Culturalist Chats with Frances Ruffelle

Best known for creating the iconic character Eponine in Les Miserables, Tony Award-winner Frances Ruffelle now comes to the stage in a very different way. She has created a new solo show, Frances Ruffelle Live(S) in New York, featuring a mixture of songs from her latest album (I Say Yeh Yeh) and Broadway favorites. She takes audiences at The Green Room 42 on a journey through her romances and triumphs, and we were able to chat with her about it all.

PC: What inspired you to have this show at The Green Room 42?
Frances: This is my third solo show, and the first time I did a show I didn’t just want to do a cabaret. For me, being myself on stage was scary; I’m so used to hiding behind characters. So, the first show I did was really a song cycle, and I didn’t speak to the audience at all. Then, I made it into a journey of a girl who wanted to be a Hollywood star and all the things that happened to her on the way. She realized life wasn’t going to be exactly how she thought it would be. It became really successful, and people loved the fact that it wasn’t cabaret and more of a theatrical experience. Cabaret became like the “c-word” for me; I used to get quite upset when people called my show a cabaret!

This one came along in a different way. I’d recorded an album. The agent for the album asked me to do a gig for it, but, again, I didn’t really want to do a show of me talking to the audience about me. It kind of freaked me out. I looked over the songs, added some more, and made a way to tell a story. The story I was telling was my story. My story is my romances, my heartbreaks, but also empowerment. It’s about finding my strengths, challenging myself, and ultimately moving to New York. The way I tell the story is in between the songs. I’ve written with my co-writer, Gwyneth Herbert, vignettes, poems, and monologues. I go back into the world of theater even though I am telling stories about my own life. It’s like a play. I do have guest stars. My guest stars, though, sing the songs that work within the story, and they become characters in my life.

PC: So, since you added additional songs and you have written a kind-of script, did you find the whole development process difficult? Invigorating? New?
Frances: It’s invigorating. It’s not completely different for me because since I was about sixteen, I’ve written songs. I’ve always been a writer and had a writer’s head. Sometimes I switch it off, and I don’t want to write for a while so I take a break.

I used to carry a notebook around with me and scribble things down, and now I text myself. I have a long text message conversation with myself. It’s quite funny looking at these texts. Sometimes it’s literally what shopping I need to do; sometimes it’s lyrics; sometimes it’s an odd word I like.

At the moment, I’m in the studio writing and recording a new album, and I’m very much about writing songs that I’m not trying to have be “cool.” Sometimes I use absolutely ridiculous words that people wouldn’t use in pop songs nowadays. I try my best to use them because why not?

Every time I’ve done my show, I have re-written parts of it because I’m always trying to improve on everything. Generally, that’s how I live my life; I’m always improving myself.

Frances Ruffelle performing at The Green Room 42. Photo Credit: RJ Rost

PC: Has there been any challenging aspects of doing a show in this style versus doing a big stage production?
Frances: I don’t really find it any more or less challenging [than a big production]. It depends on the role, I guess. I find it more challenging doing a smaller part than doing a large part or my solo show because when you’re immersed in something you don’t have a chance to think about anything else. You’re just in that moment so an hour will go by very quickly. When I played Edith Piaf or Roxie Hart or Queenie, I’m onstage nearly the whole time; sometimes it’s two-and-a-half hours of solid work that goes by in a flash. Whereas, if you’ve got a smaller role, you’ve got so much time to think about it. It’s harder to immerse yourself in a character when you’re switching on and off all the time.

For this, the most challenging thing is seeing the people in the front row! [laughs] But that’s always the case in theater, especially when someone’s looking quite grumpy. But, sometimes, the grumpy ones are the ones who are really enjoying it. So, you’ve got to try and not notice that kind of stuff. After so much experience, I don’t think about what the audience is doing.

PC: What is your favorite song to perform in your show?
Frances: My favorite song is “It’s All Right with Me” which is an old Cole Porter song. The reason it’s my favorite is because it’s the toughest acting piece. Certainly in my show, and I think the song means this as well, it’s about meeting someone that isn’t the one that you really love and really want. In my show, I’m trying to get over someone. In fact, in my show, I see someone that’s gorgeous and who I think is the person I love so I think, “Oh my gosh, there he is…but it’s not him. He’s quite nice, though, and maybe he’ll do.” The whole song, for me, is an amazing acting piece. It challenges me every single performance. I never plan what I’m going to do, or what I’m going to think at that moment. That always excites me every night.

PC: You’re working on another album now so when you look past that album and look to the future, do you have a dream project you want to tackle?
Frances: I do. I have a play that I hope to be doing. And, I would very, very, very much love to play Queenie in The Wild Party in New York—or anywhere in the U.S. really. That would be the dream. I was the one who secured the rights to [The Wild Party] for the London production so I’m very much more involved in producing now. That’s a road I would like to take more of.

I think it’s hard for actors; you sit around waiting for the phone to ring. Maybe it won’t ring. So, that’s why I have always tried to do something creative every day so if that phone doesn’t ring, I’m still satisfied with what I’m doing. The other thing is to find the power to get the shows on myself. That’s what I’m working towards.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Guilty pleasure TV Show
I watch anything British and historical so I can go to sleep. [laughs] I hope the people in this production don’t take badly of me, but there’s a show called The Paradise about Victorian England. I love the actors; they’re all very brilliant, but it sends me to sleep every night so that’s my guilty pleasure television show.

Favorite Movie
I like kiddie stuff like Mary Poppins. In fact, that’s one of my favorites. I also love Singing in the Rain.

Favorite Book
Jane Eyre

Favorite Play
Currently, it’s Torch Song. I even bought it from the bookshop. I think Harvey’s words are so fantastic and real.

Favorite Musical
West Side Story

Favorite Place You’ve Been
Venice

Place You Most Want to Travel to
Lisbon

Artist or Band You Could Listen to on Repeat
I was always a big George Michael fan. I also never tire of Judy Garland or Liza Minnelli.

Person You’d Most Like to Meet Someday
Barbra Streisand

Get tickets to Frances Ruffelle’s next show at The Green Room 42 here. For more information on Frances, click here; or, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.