Ramin Karimloo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ramin Karimloo | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 19, 1978 |
| Origin |  Tehran, Iran |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Website | www.raminkarimloo.net |
Ramin Karimloo (September 19, 1978) is an Iranian-born Canadian musical theatre actor, primarily recognised for his work in London's West End. He is currently appearing as the Phantom in the London production of The Phantom Of The Opera.
He is the only actor to have played all three of Christine's loves - Raoul, The Phantom (on stage) and Christine's father (in the 2004 Joel Schumacher film adaptation) and the youngest ever actor to play the Phantom in London's West End.
In Canada, Ramin began his performing career in rock bands and various theatre projects before moving on to perform in theatre companies for Airtours and P&O Cruises, becoming P&O's youngest ever cabaret act. After moving to England, Ramin's first role was in a pantomime of Aladdin in Chatham, in which he played the title role. Following this, in 2001, he went on to join the UK national tour of Pirates of Penzance, understudying and then playing the role of the Pirate King.
In 2002, Ramin joined the national tour of Sunset Boulevard, playing Artie Green and covering the role of Joe Gillis.
Les Misérables was Ramin's West End debut, playing Feuilly and understudying the roles of Marius and Enjolras.
After this, in 2003, Ramin took the lead role of Vicomte Raoul de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera. His final matinee performance was filmed for use on a behind-the-scenes feature on the DVD of Joel Schumacher's The Phantom of the Opera, a film in which he also appeared, in a cameo role as Gustave Daaé, Christine's violinist father.
During the same period, Ramin also appeared in two concerts of Les Misérables (as Marius), and one of Jesus Christ Superstar (as Simon Zealotes, and a featured singer in "Superstar"), as well as being involved in several theatre workshops.
In 2004, Ramin went back to Les Misérables, this time taking on the role of Enjolras. In the December of that year, Ramin appeared in a concert of Les Misérables at Windsor Castle, in honour of the French president Jacques Chirac. Excerpts from this were shown on Easter Sunday 2005, in a behind-the-scenes documentary about Windsor Castle.
In June 2005, Ramin joined the UK national tour of Miss Saigon, playing the role of Christopher Scott. He is currently appearing as the Phantom in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) as of September 2007. He was the show's 21st anniversary Phantom.
Ramin has also released an EP, Within the Six Square Inch, on which he duets with Hadley Fraser and Sophia Ragavelas, both of whom he had already appeared with in Les Misérables (Marius and Éponine).
