Her first “big break” was Maggie in the UK tour of “A Chorus Line”. Her West End Debut followed shortly with “Cats” in which she played Grizabella, Griddlebone and Jemima. The critics absolutely adored her and have ever since. From there she went onto “Miss Saigon” performing first as a bar girl and Ellen understudy in the original cast. She stayed with the show from it’s 1989 opening as a bar girl until 1990, when she replaced Claire Moore as Ellen.
This was followed by a string of musical and non-musical roles including Aphra in “Children of Eden”, “Henry VIII”, Moliere’s “Sisterhood” and “Valentine’s Day” (based upon Shaw’s You Never Can Tell). In 1992 she made a mark as Fantine in “Les Misérables”, but it was not until 1993 that she was officially noticed, when she originated the role of Polly Baker in the new Gershwin show “Crazy for You”. She also performed the role in late 1995 in Toronto, Canada. Her huge success in the role led her to record her first solo album ‘Love Is Here To Stay – Ruthie Henshall Sings Gershwin’.
In 1994 she starred as Amalia Balash in “She Loves Me” at the Savoy Theatre, opposite her future fiancé John Gordon Sinclair. It was with this role that she finally received the recognition she desevred with an Olivier for best actress.
On 8th October 1995 she reprised her role as Fantine for the Les Misérables Tenth Anniversary Concert. She next moved on to play Nancy in “Oliver!” in the summer of 1996. In November of the same year she released her second solo album, ‘The Ruthie Henshall Album’. After a string of concerts, Ruthie returned to the stage for the Chichester Theatre Revival of “Divorce Me, Darling!” She then went onto to star in the London cast of “Chicago” as ‘Foxy’ Roxie Hart, for which she received her third Olivier Award nomination.