[3] She met actor and singer Tim Howar, her male co-star lead in the West End production of Peggy Sue Got Married.
[1] Prior to making her stage debut at the age of 19, Henshall trained at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey.
The summer of 1989 saw her at the Chichester Festival Theatre performing in plays by Shakespeare, Molière as well as a role in the musical Valentine's Day, based on You Can Never Tell by George Bernard Shaw.
Henshall was cast in the title role of the stage musical adaptation of the Francis Ford Coppola film Peggy Sue Got Married,[8] which opened in London in August 2001 to mixed reviews.
[9] Henshall has also appeared at the Chichester Festival Theatre, has toured Britain in the revue The Magnificent Musicals, and has performed in Hey, Mr.
[10][11] Her solo recordings include The Ruthie Henshall Album, Pilgrim, and Love Is Here to Stay, a collection of Gershwin tunes.
[12] She succeeded the role of Marian Halcombe from Maria Friedman in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White, from July 2005 until February 2006.
She was also cast in the title role in Marguerite, a new musical from the pens of Michel Legrand, Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg.
[13] Henshall's Broadway credits include Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, Chicago (as both Velma and Roxie), and off-Broadway The Vagina Monologues.
Her first feature film, a musical version of A Christmas Carol with Kelsey Grammer, aired on NBC in the United States in November 2004 and was released as a commercial attraction to theatres in the UK and Europe.
In 2008, Henshall replaced Natalia Bestemianova as a judge on the ITV1 show Dancing on Ice alongside Robin Cousins, Karen Barber, Nicky Slater and Jason Gardiner.
Henshall performed two evening concerts with Kim Criswell entitled From Broadway to Hollywood at London's Cadogan Hall in the summer of 2009.
[24][25] In 2022, Henshall starred in the revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Passion at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, playing Fosca.