2001–2005: Early career and West End debut After moving to the United Kingdom, Karimloo's first role was in a pantomime of
Aladdin in
Chatham, in which he played the title role. He joined the UK national tour of
The Pirates of Penzance playing the role of a police officer, as well as understudying the Pirate King in 2001. In 2002 he took the role of the Pirate King in
Bath, England. During this year Karimloo joined the national tour of
Sunset Boulevard, playing Artie Green and covering the role of Joe Gillis. Karimloo made his
West End debut in
Les Miserables where he played Feuilly and understudied the roles of
Marius Pontmercy and
Enjolras. He later returned to production in 2004 as the full-time Enjolras. In 2003, Karimloo took on the role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny and three years later was the standby for the Phantom in
The Phantom of the Opera. His final matinee performance as Raoul was filmed for use on a behind-the-scenes feature on the DVD of
Joel Schumacher's
film adaptation of the musical, in which he also appeared in a cameo role as Gustave Daaé. Karimloo appeared in two concerts: one of
Les Misérables, as Marius Pontmercy, and one of
Jesus Christ Superstar, as
Simon Zealotes, and a featured singer in "
Superstar". In 2004, he returned to
Les Misérables to the role of Enjolras. That December, he appeared in a concert of
Les Misérables at
Windsor Castle in honor of the French president
Jacques Chirac. In June 2005, Karimloo joined the UK national tour of
Miss Saigon, playing the role of Christopher Scott.
2006–2010: The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies Karimloo started appearing in the West End production of
The Phantom of the Opera as the Phantom in September 2007. The role earned him a
Theatregoers' Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Take Over Role, he played the role from September 2007 to November 2009. Karimloo released an EP,
Within the Six Square Inch, on which he duets with
Hadley Fraser and Sophia Ragavelas, both of whom he had already appeared in
Les Misérables, as Marius Pontmercy and Éponine Thenardier. In July 2008, Karimloo participated in the
Sydmonton Festival and was the first actor to play the Phantom in the workshop presentation of
Love Never Dies. It was the first act of the sequel of
The Phantom of the Opera. He played the role alongside
Sierra Boggess when the sequel opened in London in March 2010. In 2008, Karimloo recorded the song "I Only Wish for You" with Shona Lindsay and
Dianne Pilkington for the album
Songs from the Musicals of Alexander S. Bermange, an album of 20 new recordings by 26 West End stars, released in November 2008 on Dress Circle Records. In 2009, Karimloo participated in the recording of a new musical album called
Bluebird, by Gareth Peter Dicks.
Bluebird is a dramatic World War II musical, in which he played American serviceman Ben Breagan. The 24-track album was released in four countries in September 2009. Karimloo's last regular performance in
The Phantom of the Opera was on November 7, 2009. In 2010, he moved on to playing the Phantom in
Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to
The Phantom of the Opera,
Love Never Dies, alongside Sierra Boggess, performing the role until the show closed on August 27, 2011. On October 3, 2010, Karimloo played the role of
Enjolras in the 25th anniversary concert of
Les Misérables at
The O2 Arena in London.
2011–2013: The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and return to Les Misérables In 2011, he sang Andrew Lloyd Webber's "
The Music of the Night" from
The Phantom of the Opera at the
Miss World Competition, which took place in London. On October 1 and 2, 2011, he and Boggess reunited as the Phantom and
Christine Daaé and played opposite
Hadley Fraser as Raoul for the 25th-anniversary production of
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, which was streamed live to cinemas worldwide. From November 29, 2011, to March 31, 2012, Karimloo returned to
Les Misérables to play the lead role of
Jean Valjean opposite Fraser as
Javert at
The Queen's Theatre, London, for which he won the 2013
Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Takeover in a Role. In 2011, Karimloo made a guest appearance in
Warwick Davis's
BBC2 comedy ''
Life's Too Short as a Scientologist. He has also had a recurring role in The Spa (TV series)'' on Sky in the United Kingdom. As part of the 25th anniversary of
The Phantom of the Opera, Karimloo performed the title song at
The Royal Variety Performance – held in
The Lowry, Manchester. Performing alongside
Pussycat Dolls' lead singer
Nicole Scherzinger, he was joined by three other former Phantoms (
Simon Bowman,
Earl Carpenter and
John Owen-Jones). The performance was aired on
ITV1 on December 14, 2011. Karimloo can also be found on
The Music Box album as a hidden track. The song is from the musical
Bluebird by Gareth Peter Dicks and is a short acoustic version of a track from the album of the same name. His solo album,
Ramin, was released by
Sony Music Entertainment on April 9, 2012, in the UK. The album was released in Canada and the US in August 2012. On January 26, 2013, Karimloo joined
John Owen-Jones,
Peter Joback, and
Hugh Panaro to sing the title song from
The Phantom of the Opera with
Sierra Boggess and "The Music of the Night" for the encore of
Phantom 25th anniversary on Broadway. He also played a small role in the action film
Vendetta. Karimloo then played Jean Valjean in the Canadian production of the newly staged
Les Misérables, which opened in September 2013.
2014–2020: Broadway debut, Anastasia, and career outside the United Kingdom He returned to the role of Valjean in the
2014 Broadway revival of
Les Misérables, making his Broadway debut, On May 29, 2015, it was announced that Karimloo would be leading the musical
Prince of Broadway which features songs from all of Harold Prince's famous musicals in Japan. Rehearsals began in September in New York. On September 25, 2015, he played the role of Barry Hamidi in the sixth-season premiere episode of the
CBS police procedural drama
Blue Bloods. In February 2016, Karimloo reunited with Boggess for the Manhattan Concert Productions' staging of
The Secret Garden. Also starring opposite
Cheyenne Jackson and
Sydney Lucas. In April of the same year, he played Ché in the
Vancouver Opera's production of
Evita, with
John Cudia as
Juan Peron. His run lasted until May 8, 2016. From September 30 until December 3, he starred as Tom in
Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre in London. On September 22, 2016, it was announced that Karimloo would return to Broadway in the
stage musical adaptation of the film
Anastasia as General Gleb Vaganov. The show began previews on March 23, 2017 and opened April 24, 2017 at Broadway's
Broadhurst Theatre. His final performance in
Anastasia was on December 3, 2017. Karimloo took part in the
Kennedy Center performance of
Chess as Anatoly, which took place February 14 through the 18th, 2018. He starred opposite
Raul Esparza,
Karen Olivo, and
Ruthie Ann Miles. He was in the Broadway Classics in Concert at
Carnegie Hall alongside Sierra Boggess,
Laura Osnes,
Norm Lewis,
Lea Salonga, Ryan Silverman,
Tony Yazbeck,
Michael Arden,
Carolee Carmello,
Allan Corduner,
Nikki Renée Daniels and
Quentin Earl Darrington. Karimloo took part in the
Toronto Symphony on April 10, 11 and 12, 2018 at
Roy Thomson Hall alongside
Stephanie J. Block. He reprised the role of the Phantom in May 2018 in a series of
The Phantom of the Opera concerts held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Korea alongside
Anna O'Byrne as Christine, as part of the celebration for
Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th birthday. He also performed in Gold Coast, Australia June 16, 2018, Melbourne, Australia June 20, 2018, and in Sydney, Australia on June 23, 2018, again alongside O'Byrne, followed by a special run of
Evita in Tokyo, Japan from July 4 to the 29, 2018 at Theatre Orb, where he reprised the role of Che. On September 13, 2019, the BBC cast him as consultant cardiothoracic surgeon
Kian Madani, the rival of
Jac Naylor in
Holby City. He stayed with the show until 2021. On September 1, 2019, he played the lead role Yurii Zhivago in the concert production of musical
Doctor Zhivago, with his costar
Celinde Schoenmaker as Lara. The show was the UK premiere of
Doctor Zhivago and only performed twice at
Cadogan Hall. In January 2020, he reprised his role of Anatoly opposite
Samantha Barks as Florence in a Japan tour of
Chess.
2021–present: Funny Girl, The Pirates of Penzance, and return to The Phantom of the Opera In summer 2021, he starred as Joe Gillis in an
Off-West End concert of
Sunset Boulevard. In December of that same year he reprised the role at the
Royal Albert Hall. On October 6, 2021, it was announced that Karimloo would be returning to Broadway as Nick Arnstein in the Broadway revival of
Funny Girl, alongside
Jane Lynch, Jared Grimes, and
Beanie Feldstein and was directed by Micheal Mayer. It started previews on March 26, 2022, and officially opened on April 24, 2022, at the
August Wilson Theatre. He stayed with the show through its closing in September 2023 where he starred opposite
Lea Michele as Fanny Brice. In October 2022, Karimloo played the Pirate King in a Broadway concert of
The Pirates of Penzance at the
American Airlines Theatre. In December 2022, he reprised his role of Anatoly Sergievsky in a Broadway benefit concert of
Chess opposite
Darren Criss,
Lena Hall, and
Solea Pfeiffer at the
Broadhurst Theatre. He reprised his role of Yurii Zhivago in a concert production of the musical
Doctor Zhivago, opposite
Celinde Schoenmaker as Lara at the
London Palladium on May 7, 2023. On February 27, 2023, it was announced that Karimloo would reprise his role of the Phantom in the Italy premiere of
The Phantom of the Opera. He starred opposite
Bradley Jaden as Raoul,
Earl Carpenter as Monsieur André, and Amelia Milo as Christine. Performances began on July 4, 2023 at the
Politeama Rossetti in Trieste, Italy. This same production toured to
Milan in October 2023 and
Monaco in December 2023. On October 31, 2023, it was announced Karimloo would play
Gomez Addams in the musical
The Addams Family live in concert at the
London Palladium in February 2024. This would be the West End premiere of the show. In March 2024, Karimloo made his operatic debut in
Songbird, playing the title role at the
Kennedy Center as part of the
Washington National Opera. In July 2024, he performed both Broadway and folk songs at Broadway by the Boardwalk, a free summer concert series by the
Hudson River. In 2025, he appeared opposite
Rachel Zegler in her solo concert,
Rachel Zegler: Live at the London Palladium. In April 2025, returned to Broadway as the Pirate King in
Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a re-imagining of
The Pirates of Penzance, at the
Todd Haimes Theatre. In July 2026, he will play the title role in a revival of
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre. ==Personal life==