Ramin Karimloo with Seth Rudetsky
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale, AZ, February 24, 2023
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
Ramin Karimloo is an Olivier and Tony Award nominee currently starring on Broadway as Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl. He took some time off to go on the road with Seth Rudetsky to sing and trash talk, to the delight of a full house at Scottsdale Center. Karimloo is a veteran of both the West End (London) and Broadway productions of Les Misérables,as well as appearing in the Prince of Broadway, a world premiere directed by the late Harold Prince. He cut his teeth in the West End in The Phantom of the Opera and fulfilled a dream by originating the role of the Phantom in the sequel Love Never Dies. He closed the cabaret with his big number from the latter, “’Til I Hear You Sing.”
If Karimloo is to be believed, he has never formally studied music and does not read it, which makes him a vocal savant. He has a velvety baritone that soars to high notes with ease, without using his falsetto. He said, “I squeeze and hope for the best.” He received a standing ovation following his entrance, and he launched into “Sunset Boulevard” (Andrew Lloyd Webber/Don Black/Christopher Hampton/Amy Powers) like a rock star, delivering the lyrical patter as though he were still in the show. He quipped with Rudetsky on whether he loved or hated being a featured performer on one of Rudetsky’s Broadway cruises and on how long he was contractually obligated to stay on stage this evening (65 minutes). He demonstrated his range that included that of a troubadour accompanying himself on guitar on “Feed the Birds” (Robert B. Sherman/Richard M. Sherman from Mary Poppins) and as he duetted with Rudetsky on “Worlds Apart” (Roger Miller from Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). He also chose a folk song, “Watch Over Us,” for which his voice was too big.
We learned that Karimloo was born in Iran and raised in a small town in Canada and that he has also lived in Italy and England. He hates big cities, his family is his priority, and he isn’t sure whether he’ll keep working as a Broadway star or not. Just before he booked his first Phantom, he planned to quit acting to become a cop. Rudetsky accused him of singing with dead eyes—I disagree. When he was focused and remembered his lyrics, he was engaging, entertaining, and vocally mesmerizing. “If Ever I Would Leave You” (Lerner & Loewe from Camelot) was keyed a little too high, but “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” (Claude-Michel Schönberg/Herbert Kretzmer from Les Miz) sat perfectly in his voice, as did “The Music of the Night” (Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart/Richard Stilgoe from The Phantom of the Opera).
The evening was a cabaret on steroids; the boys argued about who got which chair and bantered over forgotten shoes and missing belts. There were definitely no dead spots as they rolled from stories to songs. When it wasn’t going smoothly, they joked that they were rehearsing for Sunday’s show in Fort Lauderdale. Karimloo was not the first to borrow a phone from an audience member to call up lyrics.
Rudetsky also argued with his star about the importance of context when choosing a song. Rudetsky was right. It made a difference when Karimloo reprised the role of Che for “High Flying, Adored” (Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice from Evita). The audience kept asking for a song from Funny Girl, but I suspect that there are contractual rules about singing from its score when you are out freelancing in cabaret. His planned encore was a flawless version of Sondheim’s “Being Alive.” Following thunderous applause and more standing ovations, he finally came back and tuned his guitar to sing his rendition of “Old Man River” (Oscar Hammerstein II/Jerome Kern), which was surprisingly good and proved that any song can be made personal and colorblind. Karimloo challenged Rudetsky to find the key, and with his brilliance at the keyboard, he did. Hopefully, Karimloo will stick around show business long enough to play Sweeney Todd, a role he said he covets. Whether he does another Rudetsky cruise appears to be a looming question. He said that the less expensive Alaskan cruise was out, but we can hold out hope for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Clearly, much of the conflict was tongue in cheek. After whining about the show’s having to last for 65 minutes, Karimloo gave a two-hour tour of his life and song repertoire, and I hope that my introduction to him will be only the beginning of my chances to see him perform again.
