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Death becomes her

Chris Azzopardi

Daphne Rubin-Vega
"Redemption Songs"
Available now

Daphne Rubin-Vega just died.
"That's why I'm hanging out in my dressing room," says the singer and actress, best known for her role as Mimi in "Rent," from New York.
Rubin-Vega, tucked away in her new space draped with personal knick-knacks to liven her nook, is taking a breathier before returning to rehearsals for the Broadway revival of "Les Miserables." In the French musical, the actress plays Fantine, a young prostitute who eventually meets her demise. But before this role she captured the hearts of gay audiences with her Broadway debut as a sex club dancer in "Rent."
"I always felt very privileged (to have a gay audience)," she says. "… I've always referred to myself as queer. I totally love guys, but I love girls, too. I just don't wanna fuck them. But I look at women beautifully."
The actress' "Rent" character delved more into the queer scene, and, not surprisingly, she still gets called Mimi. But it doesn't bother her anymore. During the production, though, "there was so much 'Rent' saturation I felt like the sacredness of my anonymity was compromised," she says. "But those days are over."
Rubin-Vega's new project has something the popular play-turned-film didn't.
"We have a turntable on top of everything," she says.
With previews for "Les Miserables" beginning this week and promotion for her recently released album "Redemption Songs" underway, not to mention caring for a 22-month-old child, the Tony-nominated actress might feel dead – especially after rehearsals end at midnight. But Rubin-Vega's career is very much alive.
"It's been pretty chalk-full of events for me," she says.
"I don't like to use the word 'hectic' 'cause it's a little frenzied, which it is," Rubin-Vega pauses and laughs, "but I just don't want to give into it."
After work, the actress will head home to her son in the densely gay populated Chelsea, two subway stops from the theater in the heart of Broadway. "Ah! The life of the theater," she says in a dramatic pitch.
Rubin-Vega's no fortuneteller, but she's convinced her career would turn stale if she didn't have a child.
She laughs, "Maybe some people think I am doing the same boring old shit."
While recording her second solo album, "Redemption Songs," the performer took her son, who was 5 months old at the time, to the studio. He became the spark of inspiration for "Luca Ariel," which bleeds Rubin-Vega's passion for him.
"I wanted to take a snapshot of that time," she says.
That tune, along with "Hold On," were lessons in allowing the studio to be used as a musical palette. But for most of "Redemption Songs" she foresaw the sound before recording.
"If I could've storyboarded it, I would've."
In the studio, Rubin-Vega had complete control.
"For me it was a lesson in discovering what I really knew … as much as discovering what I didn't know." The collection of pop, rock and Latin folk tracks fuses ideas Rubin-Vega envisioned before recording and "happy accidents."
"It was such a transitional time for me," she says. "Transitional times inspire me to write."

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