Vania Romoff reveals daughter was cast as Little Cosette in 'Les Misérables' Manila run: 'Finally, I can share'
Fashion designer Vania Romoff shared on Instagram about her ten-year-old daughter Emilia's professional musical theater debut.
"Finally, I can share: Our Emilia was [cast] as Little Cosette in the World Tour Spectacular of Les Misérables," Romoff wrote on Instagram.
"What started out as a tape audition followed by several callbacks, concluded in her first casting in a theater production," she added. "We are so proud of our little girl! Over a month of balancing school and theater performance."
"What an experience for her to have sang alongside THE Lea Salonga and Rachelle Ann Go and the rest of the amazing international cast of Les Misérables! This is something she will never forget," the designer wrote.
Les Misérables: The World Tour Spectacular just concluded its Manila run, from Jan. 20 to March 1, at The Theatre at Solaire.
Emilia, Romoff's eldest daughter, was in the company of some well-known Filipino names in musical theater, including Tony award-winning Lea Salonga as Madame Thénardier, Rachelle Ann Go as Fantine, Emily Bautista as Éponine, and Red Concepcion as Thérnardier.
With her most recent role in the musical, Salonga has now played all three major female roles in the Broadway crowd favorite. She became the first Asian to play Éponine on Broadway in 1993, then portrayed Fantine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables in 2007.
Go has played Fantine multiple times, starting in 2015 at the musical's 30th anniversary staging at the Queen's Theatre, now Sondheim Theatre, in London. She has also portrayed the heroine in Manila, and through the musical's UK and Ireland Tour in 2022.
The sticky-handed Thénardiers, who took in Cosette as a housemaid after Fantine died, run an inn. Éponine is the Thénardiers' daughter who is secretly in love with Marius, a wealthy student, who eventually fights the regime during the French Revolution.
Featuring lyrics by Alain Boublil and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, the Tony award-winning musical Les Misérables is marking 40 years onstage. Some of the world-famous songs in the musical include I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own, Bring Him Home, One Day More, and Master of the House.
According to the Sondheim Theatre, the musical has been seen by over 130 million people worldwide across 53 countries and 438 cities. It has been translated into 22 languages.
After wrapping up its Manila run, Les Misérables: The World Tour Spectacular will next be staged in Singapore before traveling to London, and then to New York.