From the Rehearsal Room: Toronto - A Special Concert By Musical Theatre Superstars Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser with Theo Jamieson on the Piano
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: John Karastamatis, Sue Toth, Erin Nantais – Mirvish Productions
From the Rehearsal Room: Toronto
One Night Only
Monday, December 15, 2025 • 7:30 PM
The Princess of Wales Theatre
Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser are two of musical theatre's superstars and two of the most celebrated vocalists of our time. For two decades, they have starred in shows in London’s West End, on Broadway, and in major cities around the globe. Their friendship — what they call their creative chemistry — has led to a series of special concerts in Europe, Asia and now North America.
They bring their unique kind of concert to the Princess of Wales Theatre in From the Rehearsal Room: Toronto for one night only on Monday, December 15 at 7:30 pm. Filled with some of their favourite songs, many from musicals they have starred in, and the personal stories behind them, From the Rehearsal Room: Toronto is specially created for our city. Ramin and Hadley will be accompanied by the brilliant Theo Jamieson on the piano.
Ramin Karimloo grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, playing hockey and thinking of studying to be a doctor. One fateful day in 1990, on a class trip, he saw The Phantom at the Opera at the Pantages Theatre (now the CAA Ed Mirvish) and decided this is what he wanted to do with his life. He was only 12 but he set his hopes on someday starring as the Phantom. Seventeen years later, he fulfilled his teenage dream when he starred as the Phantom in the legendary original London production of The Phantom of the Opera. At 29, he was the youngest person to play the part. But before that, in 2002, he made his West End debut as Feuilly in the original London production of Les Misérables.
Also making his West End debut in that same production was Hadley Fraser, a young British actor. The two became instant friends. "We bonded early in the run and spent a lot of time together between shows,” says Ramin. “Usually over Subway sandwiches while watching episodes of the original UK version of The Office. I quickly became a huge admirer of Hadley’s work, watching him nightly as Marius.”
Their careers blossomed concurrently. Ramin starred in The Phantom of the Opera not only in London but in many other cities around the world. This led to him starring as the Phantom in the world premiere production of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Ramin also returned to Les Misérables several times, starring as Jean Valjean. He performed the role in London and Toronto, and he made his Broadway debut in the role in the reimagined production for which he was nominated for a Tony. Ramin also starred in the gala 25th anniversary concert of Les Misérables at the O2 Arena, in which he played Enjolras, and a few years later in the gala 25th anniversary concert of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, in which he played the title character. Both concerts were filmed and seen by millions worldwide. Among his other theatre credits are Chess, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Miss Saigon. On Broadway he starred as Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl, Gleb Vaganov in Anastasia, and most recently as the Pirate King in Pirates! The Penzance Musical.
Hadley also starred in both the Les Misérables (as Grantaire) and The Phantom of the Opera (as Raoul) gala 25th anniversary concerts. Among his other West End credits are Javert in Les Misérables (playing Jean Valjean was, of course, Ramin; it was always meant to be), Frederick in Young Frankenstein, Anatoly in Chess, and Archibald in The Secret Garden. He made his Broadway debut as Tiernan in Boublil and Schönberg’s The Pirate Queen.
Ramin and Hadley's friendship has never wavered. They have always kept in touch, always found time to share music. In 2010 they even formed The Sheytoons, an indie rock band.
(Full bios of Ramin Karimloo, Hadley Fraser and Theo Jamieson are at the end of this release.)
The genesis of From the Rehearsal Room was a series of sold-out concerts that Ramin and Hadley were to do in Tokyo in 2021. As part of the Covid protocols in Japan at the time, all visitors to the country had to quarantine for two weeks. But just as Ramin and Hadley arrived in Tokyo, the government changed its policy and cancelled all live performances. In quarantine and not having much to do, they convinced the producer of the Tokyo concerts to pivot and instead produce a video concert in a studio that the audience could watch at home. From the Rehearsal Room was born. After the pandemic, the two began performing the concert whenever time allowed. They performed it at the Savoy Theatre in London and in Trieste, Italy.
"The beauty of From the Rehearsal Room," explains Ramin, "is that no two shows are ever the same. Hadley and I really embrace spontaneity, whether it’s in our solo concerts, band work, or this format. We have a wide range of material prepared, with much of it being musical theatre based. But each show becomes its own moment in time, shaped by the place and the audience.
"For Toronto, I imagine I’ll lean into the shows that are part of my own story — Les Mis, Phantom, Love Never Dies, Man of La Mancha. And, as both Hadley and I starred in Les Mis and Phantom, we have great stories to share about those two shows. We may even include some Christmas songs. After all, it will be the holiday season. We’re still creating the show for Toronto and can’t wait to perform it there.”
Tickets from $49 • On sale November 8
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RAMIN KARIMLOO
Most recently played Pirate King in Pirates! The Penzance Musical on Broadway & can be seen in Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple TV+.
Stage credits include:
Nine the Musical (Lowry Theatre, Manchester), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (London Palladium), A Face In The Crowd (Young Vic), Songbird (Washington National Opera), The Addams Family (London Palladium), Funny Girl (August Wilson Theatre, NYC), Rumi: The Musical (London Coliseum), Chess (Umeda Arts Theatre, Osaka & Tokyo International Forum), Jesus Christ Superstar (Theatre Orb, Tokyo), Evita (Theatre Orb, Tokyo & Vancouver Opera), Anastasia (Broadway, NYC), The Secret Garden (Lincoln Centre), Les Misérables (Toronto, London & NYC, Tony Award Nominee), The Phantom of the Opera (London, Italy & Monte Carlo) & Love Never Dies (London, Olivier Award Nominee).
Film/TV: Bound (Paralysis Productions), Holby City (BBC1), Jesus: His Life (History Channel), Nativity Rocks (Mirrorball Films), Blue Bloods (CBS), The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall: 25th Anniversary, Les Misérables in Concert: 25th Anniversary.
In addition to his stage credits, Ramin has toured the world performing concerts both as a solo artist and with his band, The Broadgrass Band. He has released five solo albums on Sony Records: From Now On, Human Heart, The Road to Find Out: East, The Road to Find Out: South and The Road to Find Out: North.
HADLEY FRASER
Theatre includes: The Deep Blue Sea (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Opening Night (Gielgud Theatre), The Lehman Trilogy (Gillian Lynne Theatre) 2:22 A Ghost Story (Noel Coward Theatre), City of Angels (Garrick Theatre), The Antipodes (National Theatre), The Deep Blue Sea (Chichester Festival Theatre), Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre), Saint Joan, City of Angels, Coriolanus, The Vote (all Donmar Warehouse), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bristol Old Vic), The Winter’s Tale & Harlequinade (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company at the Garrick Theatre), The Machine (Manchester International Festival & Park Avenue Armoury, NYC), The Pajama Game (Chichester Festival Theatre), Les Miserables (Queens & Palace Theatres), The Pirate Queen (Broadway), The Fantasticks (Duchess Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep), The Shaughraun (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Assassins (Sheffield Crucible), Pacific Overtures (Leicester Haymarket), Longitude (Greenwich), The Pirates of Penzance, Peter Pan (both Savoy Theatre), The Far Pavilions (Shaftesbury Theatre), The Last 5 Years (Theater Aspen, Colorado) and The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary (Royal Albert Hall), Les Miserables 25th Anniversary (O2 Arena). He has workshopped extensively for the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Almeida Theatre, Old Vic and many others.
Film & Television includes: Snow White, The Gold, Gentleman Jack, All is True, Murder on the Orient Express, The Legend of Tarzan, Les Misérables, Decline & Fall, The Wrong Mans, Endeavour, Holby City, Doctor Who, Pompidou, Him, Sons of Liberty.
Concert work includes Things That Come and Go (Cadogan Hall), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (London Palladium & Theatre Orb Tokyo), The Secret Garden (London Palladium), Chess (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), South Pacific (National Concert Hall, Dublin), Carousel, The Light Princess (Cadogan Hall) and From The Rehearsal Room (Savoy Theatre). Other concert work includes appearances at venues such as the Royal Alberty Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Alexandra Palace, Hackney Empire, The Other Palace, Lyric Hammersmith, Zedel London, Birdland Jazz (NYC), M Bar (Los Angeles), Little Lake Festival (Toronto), Il Rossetti (Trieste), Teatro Archimboldi (Milan), Tianqiao P.A.C. (Beijing), Shangahi Grand Theatre, Poly Theatre (Shenzhen) and Orchard Hall (Tokyo).
Hadley wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Committee at the Donmar Warehouse. As a recording artist and musician Hadley has appeared on numerous albums including his own “Things That Come and Go”, “Lights Around The Shore” (with jazz pianist Will Butterworth) and EP “Just Let Go.” Cast recordings include Opening Night, Young Frankenstein, The Pirate Queen, Before/After, The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary and Les Misérables 25th Anniversary. He has provided music for theatre productions including Measure for Measure (Donmar Warehouse) and Hobson’s Choice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), and on radio for Ross Noble: Britain in Bits. He has collaborated with artists and composers including Pete Townsend, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Adam Cork, Grant Olding, Joby Talbot, Joe Stilgoe, Jeremy Holland-Smith, Michael Bruce, Tom Deering, Laura Tisdall, Scott Alan, Ramin Karimloo & Stuart Matthew Price. Hadley co-presents the podcast “Poddin’ On The Ritz” with Ross Noble. He is a regular guest on BBC RADIO 2’s “Friday Night is Music Night.”
Hadley is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music where he teaches regularly and Patron of PPA Guildford and Debut Performing Arts College, Manchester.
THEO JAMIESON
Theo Jamieson is an award-winning composer, lyricist, writer, orchestrator, arranger, musical supervisor, and pianist. His original musical U.Me was commissioned by the BBC and recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021, and a sequel was commissioned, and aired in 2024. In 2022 the musical The Famous Five for which he wrote music, lyrics, and orchestrations premiered at Theatr Clwyd and Chichester Festival Theatre. He has worked with many of the brightest lights in contemporary music including David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Jacob Collier, and Renée Fleming. Theo is the musical supervisor for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and has music directed musicals at The National Theatre, The Old Vic, and commercial productions in the West End. He is an in-demand pianist, particularly for concertante parts in productions like The Light in the Piazza and Spirited Away. Awards include the John Halford prize for Piano Composition and the 2019 Stiles and Drewe prize for Best New Song. Theo is currently Associate Musical Director on My Neighbour Totoro and Musical Supervisor on The BFG at the Royal Shakespeare Company.