Monday, November 1

Is Ramin Karimloo too young to play Phantom in Broadway’s Love Never Dies?

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies will have its $10 million Australian premiere in Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on May 20th 2011.  Nationwide auditions are already under way at Sydney's Wharf Theatre with more than 900 hopefuls expected to audition in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sir Andrew said a decision on the principal cast would be made before Christmas. He has said he is looking for a more mature Phantom and Christine saying: “We can't get away with a 30-year-old Phantom. He has to be older and Christine also has to be a little bit more mature. With the original Phantom production, I wrote it so the girl who sang it could have quite a light voice but I would say in Love Never Dies Christine has to have a more developed voice. It doesn't necessarily have to be a huge voice but it certainly has to be grown up. In the original, Christine was only meant to be 18.”

If the Australian production and cast live up to Sir Andrew's expectations, he said the show and stars could form the basis of the Broadway version when Love Never Dies moves to New York.

This might come a bit of a shock for 32 year old Ramin Karimloo (who is currently playing the Phantom at the Adelphi Theatre) as he has said he is leaving the West End show next year (no date yet fixed) to join Love Never Dies when it opens in Toronto which is meant to be the pre-Broadway stop over. 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is he mad?The only saving grace of that dreadful show was Ramin!and Sierra Boggiss has a lovely voice.

Theatre Spy said...

Sadly Michael Crawford is not available ....

Anonymous said...

The real question here is - Do we even need a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. The answer: Absolutely NOT! It doesn't matter who has been cast in the role, there is no need for such a continuation of the story. Webber himself mentioned he wanted a 'sexy' Phantom. The PHANTOM is NOT supposed to be 'sexy'. Has he even read the original story? He completely destroys all of the characters written by Gaston Leroux.
Phantom Needs NO Sequel!
www.LoveShouldDie.com

Anonymous said...

I thought he was too young in the original, let alone the terrible sequel.

Louise said...

Talk about flogging a dead horse !

It won't matter who plays the role of the Phantom, yes of course they DO need an older guy, but that is only one of the MANY problems of this show, the plot is it's biggest, it's character assassination from beginning to end is just wrong in so many ways.

Anyone looking to revisit old friends will be profoundly disappointed!

gemmy vy said...

he's suitable to play Phantom,but I suppose John owen jones is perfect for Phantom role.Well done,Ramin!!!

Elizabeth said...

Ramin was a great Phantom in the original - critics praised him for breathing new life into the role - and is a fantastic Phantom in Love Never Dies. He'll probably go down as one of the top three Phantoms of all-time. Everyone's tired of hearing from the group of LND haters who think they're entitled to have a say in if/how the story progresses. Come back to the real world... you don't.

Anonymous said...

Don't know if he's too young or not....I only know that he has the heck of a voice and boy can he act. Oh, and LND is a worthy sequel to POTO

Kymm E said...

Who says we don't need a sequel to Phantom of the Opera! Not only do we need one we want one and ALW delivered the goods! What beautiful scores - and the characters have matured and developed and are far more 'human' as a result.
Love never Dies is a beautiful musical and Ramin is a fantastic Phantom!

Kymm E said...

Who says we don't need a sequel to Phantom of the Opera! Not only do we need one we want one and ALW delivered the goods! What beautiful scores - and the characters have matured and developed and are far more 'human' as a result.
Love never Dies is a beautiful musical and Ramin is a fantastic Phantom!

Ryan Zick said...

Ramin is an amazing performer! A truly gifted actor with the goods! LND was great! :)

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