Ramin Karimloo Shares Rehearsal Video of Colm Wilkinson's One Night Only Appearance as The Bishop in LES MIS

By: May. 06, 2017
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Ramin Karimloo took to Instagram to announce his discovery of a rehearsal video from the iconic Toronto production of Les Mis which featured a one night only appearance of the original Jean Valjean Colm Wilkinson. Wilkinson stepped in as The Bishop, passing the candlesticks along to Karimloo.

Many have heard the story about how Richmond Hill raised Karimloo attended a performance of Toronto's Phantom of the Opera in the nineties (when Wilkinson played Phantom) and proudly proclaimed to his classmates that one day that was what he was going to do for a living. His dream came true in a big way, as he went out to play 'The Phantom' on London's West End in both the original and Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel 'Love Never Dies' before taking on the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

Check out the Les Mis rehearsal video:

Then I found this. Well... the whole rehearsal but I'll share just a minute of it. I hope Colm is ok with me posting but he's just incredible here during soundcheck/rehearsal. This was and will remain the most incredible night of my career. What a night. Colm Wilkinson stepping in for one night as the Bishop. Handing the candlesticks over to me and the look in his eyes killed me. I feel so grateful that this moment was part of my path, in Toronto, with friends and family on and off stage there. I could never have envisioned this so it still feels like a dream. A show I adore with the Man I idolize and call a friend. Forever the Only and definitive Valjean. Everyone since is a hybrid and has evolved from him. #colm #god

A post shared by Ramin Karimloo (@raminkarimloo) on May 5, 2017 at 6:31pm PDT

Toronto's critically acclaimed production of Les Miserables was responsible for bringing Ramin Karimloo back 'home' to perform on Canadian soil, and for one performance only, he shared the stage with the man who helped inspire his dream to pursue musical theatre - none other than stage legend (and original Jean Valjean) Colm Wilkinson.


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