So Ramin Karimloo is going to be playing Valjean here in Toronto. Yesterday I was at the press preview for the production and I thought he is a really good fit in the role.
His Bring Him Home even left the TV camera crews in tears. You can see some snippets of the preview using the link (the producers won't let me post any more than two minutes, for legal reasons).
Great voice, but he's so thin and boyish. I don't get this casting at all, especially since Macintosh reportedly REALLY wanted him in the role and had to push him to take it.
Yes he's not Colm in stature, but I think he has the pipes and experience to make this work. He looks like he has muscled up for the role and with Carpenter acrosss the aisle as Javert it shouls be a great vocal battle.
Ramin Karimloo is hardly "thin" - he's absolutely ripped, although you probably can't see that on stage.
I'm not really a huge fan - big voice and easy on the eyes but his tuning is godawful - but it's easy to see why Cameron Mackintosh would want him to do it. He's a Canadian national, has played the role before in London (i.e. he's a safe, proven pair of hands - and a Mackintosh favourite having done all the big poperettas for him) and has good international exposure from the 25th Anniversary concert and from the Phantom concert. He's a good commercial prospect in Toronto, essentially.
Certainly a favorite of mine and many others. I can not wait to see who will lead the revival on Broadway! Maybe some of these cast members...
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
I really dont get the Ramin being small and boyish thing. He is mid thirties, 6ft and isnt far off being a Mens Health cover in terms of body. He is in amazing shape. Ive seen many similar or smaler build actors, and Alfie Boe is definately smaller
The current London Valjean is an infant compared to Ramin then
Did you see him opposite Hadley Fraser as Javert? Because I've heard both of their performances were very aggressive with one another, but had a tendency to soften when the other was out.
Suddenly is NOT in the production. This production is the 25th Anniversary Production (the same one from the UK/USA tour.) It's also the production currently licensed by MTI.