Radiant Ramin Karimloo
Nov. 8th, 2014 04:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nikiwhiteIranian-born, Canadian-raised singer and actor Ramin Karimloo is currently wowing audiences as Jean Valjean in Broadway's revival of Les Misérables (Hugh Jackman played the role in the 2012 movie adaptation), and deserves to be loved by a far greater multitude. You may recognize the name from a few posts back, and as his bounty of audience-favorite awards and 2014 Tony Award nomination attests, the 36-year-old performer is one to keep your eye on.
Some of that audience adoration is partly due to the fact that if it weren't for a fateful middle school trip to see The Phantom of the Opera instilling a desire to be the youngest actor contracted for the title role (achieved at 26), who knows what he'd be doing now? He had no interest in musicals prior to that event, and for musical fanatics like myself, imagining if that spark hadn't been kindled is the equivalent of wondering what the world would be like if _____ (insert current actor/author/musician you're raving over here) bypassed their current vocation.
This is largely on account of Karimloo's talent, which gently caresses the boundaries of prodigy status; though it also helps that he's a tenor, the voice type most likely to make you turn into goo. Unlike the stories of actors/singers going to school for years to achieve door-opening degrees before beginning their long slog to success, Ramin Karimloo can approach any song with unrestrained passion and intensely acute technical mastery, AND HAS NEVER BEEN TRAINED IN SINGING!! Occasionally he'll use a vocal coach to help with warm-ups, but it's easy to see why at least one colleague--the singing voices of Mulan's title character and Aladdin's princess Jasmine--has jokingly said she'd like to punch him in the throat.
Karimloo also has a flare for iconic roles, playing Raoul as a stepping stone to the Phantom, doing a stint as leading man Chris in a touring production of Miss Saigon (a musical about the travails of Chris's lover who was left in Saigon after the Vietnam War), and cutting his teeth on Les Misérables as romantic schoolboy Marius and French revolutionary leader Enjolras. Compounding this, only co-star Sierra Boggess can say she garnered greater recognition from the soundtrack for Phantom's sequel, Love Never Dies, and I don't think anyone else can claim the impetus for them starring as Valjean in London, Canada and now New York is because Sir Cameron Mackintosh--one of England's most successful producers--asked it as a favor.
If for some reason you're not impressed by now, maybe his level of dedication to his craft will do the trick; one of the best recent examples is his willingness to put on several pounds for his current role, which necessitates slotting an intense fitness regime somewhere between his eight weekly performances. As though that isn't impressive enough, he now knows how to punt a boat, thanks to going above and beyond the call of duty during Phantom preparations, and I was floored to realize after seeing him perform in May that he had done all required performances of the former nearly 3 hour production while recovering from a pulled calf muscle.
Get out your red pens, 'cause this is the part where you decide whether my fangirling is justified--comment with your opinion--via a display of Ramin's stylistic and vocal range. From the all-star 25th anniversary production of Phantom of the Opera, a seemingly effortless performance of "Music of the Night" (it's also amazing how he makes what looks like conducting a fellow human being entrancing rather than creepy.
Now here's a pop rendition of the same song, off his debut album Human Heart, with drums and acoustic guitar carrying the orchestrations. The half of you that aren't naturally open-minded probably just did a doubletake, and I was skeptical too, but the increased tempo adds an intriguing level of impassioned urgency to the romantic, caressing showstopper.
After those songs, it shouldn't be a surprise that Ramin's performances are being received with thunderous ovations. As a bonus, he has even caught the attention of his idol; Colm Wilkinson, the man who portrayed the opera ghost in the production that inspired Ramin, had nothing but compliments for the younger man after playing opposite him as Les Mis's Bishop one night in Canada. A thousand thanks to whoever came up with the idea to have the two tenors sing a duet afterward, and honestly where Ramin Karimloo can go from here is anyone's guess (non-classical role, maybe?), but given the unorthodox path he's already carved out for himself, seeing what comes next will be half the fun.
Love Never Dies cast recording:
Amazon or iTunes
Human Heart
Amazon or iTunes
The Road To Find Out: East--EP
Amazon or iTunes (West, North and South to hopefully follow soon)
Some of that audience adoration is partly due to the fact that if it weren't for a fateful middle school trip to see The Phantom of the Opera instilling a desire to be the youngest actor contracted for the title role (achieved at 26), who knows what he'd be doing now? He had no interest in musicals prior to that event, and for musical fanatics like myself, imagining if that spark hadn't been kindled is the equivalent of wondering what the world would be like if _____ (insert current actor/author/musician you're raving over here) bypassed their current vocation.
This is largely on account of Karimloo's talent, which gently caresses the boundaries of prodigy status; though it also helps that he's a tenor, the voice type most likely to make you turn into goo. Unlike the stories of actors/singers going to school for years to achieve door-opening degrees before beginning their long slog to success, Ramin Karimloo can approach any song with unrestrained passion and intensely acute technical mastery, AND HAS NEVER BEEN TRAINED IN SINGING!! Occasionally he'll use a vocal coach to help with warm-ups, but it's easy to see why at least one colleague--the singing voices of Mulan's title character and Aladdin's princess Jasmine--has jokingly said she'd like to punch him in the throat.
Karimloo also has a flare for iconic roles, playing Raoul as a stepping stone to the Phantom, doing a stint as leading man Chris in a touring production of Miss Saigon (a musical about the travails of Chris's lover who was left in Saigon after the Vietnam War), and cutting his teeth on Les Misérables as romantic schoolboy Marius and French revolutionary leader Enjolras. Compounding this, only co-star Sierra Boggess can say she garnered greater recognition from the soundtrack for Phantom's sequel, Love Never Dies, and I don't think anyone else can claim the impetus for them starring as Valjean in London, Canada and now New York is because Sir Cameron Mackintosh--one of England's most successful producers--asked it as a favor.
If for some reason you're not impressed by now, maybe his level of dedication to his craft will do the trick; one of the best recent examples is his willingness to put on several pounds for his current role, which necessitates slotting an intense fitness regime somewhere between his eight weekly performances. As though that isn't impressive enough, he now knows how to punt a boat, thanks to going above and beyond the call of duty during Phantom preparations, and I was floored to realize after seeing him perform in May that he had done all required performances of the former nearly 3 hour production while recovering from a pulled calf muscle.
Get out your red pens, 'cause this is the part where you decide whether my fangirling is justified--comment with your opinion--via a display of Ramin's stylistic and vocal range. From the all-star 25th anniversary production of Phantom of the Opera, a seemingly effortless performance of "Music of the Night" (it's also amazing how he makes what looks like conducting a fellow human being entrancing rather than creepy.
Now here's a pop rendition of the same song, off his debut album Human Heart, with drums and acoustic guitar carrying the orchestrations. The half of you that aren't naturally open-minded probably just did a doubletake, and I was skeptical too, but the increased tempo adds an intriguing level of impassioned urgency to the romantic, caressing showstopper.
After those songs, it shouldn't be a surprise that Ramin's performances are being received with thunderous ovations. As a bonus, he has even caught the attention of his idol; Colm Wilkinson, the man who portrayed the opera ghost in the production that inspired Ramin, had nothing but compliments for the younger man after playing opposite him as Les Mis's Bishop one night in Canada. A thousand thanks to whoever came up with the idea to have the two tenors sing a duet afterward, and honestly where Ramin Karimloo can go from here is anyone's guess (non-classical role, maybe?), but given the unorthodox path he's already carved out for himself, seeing what comes next will be half the fun.
Further Listenings
Love Never Dies cast recording:
Amazon or iTunes
Human Heart
Amazon or iTunes
The Road To Find Out: East--EP
Amazon or iTunes (West, North and South to hopefully follow soon)
