ACT OF BRAVERY
Tragic mom who lost kids in B’klyn crash returns to stage
Ruthie Ann Miles, who was injured and whose 4- year- old daughter and unborn child were killed in March by a driver in Park Slope, returned to the stage this weekend for the first time since the tragedy. She used a cane during her scenes in “The King and I” and stirred the hearts of a London audience.
A mother’s courage took center stage in London this weekend.
Ruthie Ann Miles Blumenstein bravely returned to acting for the first time since a horrific March 5 afternoon in Park Slope, when her 4-year-old daughter and unborn child were killed when an erratic driver slammed into them as they crossed the street.
Reprising her Tony Awardwinning role as Lady Thiang in “The King and I,” Blumenstein, whose stage name is Ruthie Ann Miles, willed her body to perform — taking short rests in a chair, and using a cane to steady her stride as she walked onto the boards of the London Palladium.
Her indomitable spirit needed no help at all.
“She is singing like an angel and commanding the stage with a heavenly force,” castmate Kelli O’Hara tweeted after Saturday’s matinee.
The night before, Miles — who had tears rolling down her cheeks as she was enveloped by applause — was nothing short of “a triumph,” O’Hara added.
Her cane — which is not written into “The King and I” — may soon be, audience members said.
“Because of her brilliance and the depth of what she brings . . . all of a sudden you can’t imagine Lady Thiang being performed without a cane,” said an audience member.
“The warmth she gave onstage was absolutely matched by the warmth she got at curtain call,” the audience member told The Post. “The Palladium wrapped its arms around her.
“Their reaction to her was purely based on her performance, not sympathy. And they all embraced her as one.”
Miles, 35, was about 30 weeks pregnant when she started to cross Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue with her daughter Abigail, friend Lauren Lew and Lew’s son Joshua, 1. Dorothy Bruns, 44, who had a history of medical seizures, crashes and driving infractions, lost control of her car and slammed into them.
Abigail and Joshua were killed, and both moms had to be hospitalized, with Miles spending several days in the intensive care of New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Miles’ unborn daughter, Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein, died in May from the injuries the actress sustained.
Miles’ comeback surprised even veteran stage watchers.
When it was reported in June that the she planned to join the London show, which opened in July, producers quickly denied it.
“She is welcome to join the production at any point,” they said in a statement. “However, to be clear, no such decision has been made at this time.”
Ben Rubinowitz, a spokesman for the family, said: “It’s just a testament to the courage, strength and bravery of both of them, [husband] Jonathan and Ruthie Ann.
“She really is taking it a day at a time, trying to get by.”
Miles will perform at the West End theater through Sept. 29.