Frances Ruffelle for one night at Garrick Theatre 12 Sep

Frances Ruffelle: Beneath the Dress, at the Garrick Theatre for one night only on Sunday 12 Sep 2010.

With Frances Ruffelle's six-piece band and an array of songs, Beneath the Dress is an exploration of her musical influences from compositional giants such as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington & Kurt Weill, to lesser-known songwriting talents whose work she has been inspired by.

The show is devised by Frances Ruffelle & Matt Ryan, directed by Paul Baker & Matt Ryan, designed by John Risebero, lighting by Mike Robertson, sound by James Tebb. Musical direction by David Barber It is produced by Neil Eckersley & Paul Spicer for Speckulation Entertainment and Stuart Piper & Jon Bath for Cole Kitchenn. (originally produced by Danielle Tarrento).

Having created the role of Eponine in Les Miserables in the West End, Frances recreated the role on Broadway for which she won the Tony award and Outer Circle Critics award for Best Actress.

Frances hit the West End for the first time in The Sleeping Prince, by Terence Rattigan (in which she co-starred with Omar Sharif). She then took part in the original workshop of Starlight Express and subsequently played the role of Dinah for Trevor Nunn in the show’s first ever cast.

She also created the role of Yonah in the original West End production of Children of Eden directed by John Caird. Further stage adventures have ranged from appearing with Ian Dury in Apples at the Royal Court in London to playing Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago.

Frances has performed concerts in London with Jason Robert Brown and has played gigs at London’s Ronnie Scott’s with her Big Band.Her multi-faceted career has also included four solo albums and representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 with her hit song ‘Lonely Symphony’.

She launches her new solo album, Imperfectly Me, on September 13th this year. At the end of 2010, Frances will be starring in Songs from a Hotel Bedroom at the Royal Opera House