Ontario-raised Ramin Karimloo to star in musical ‘Anastasia’ on Broadway

NEW YORK – Ontario-raised theatre star Ramin Karimloo, who played the title role in “The Phantom of the Opera” in London and Jean Valjean in the latest Broadway reboot of “Les Miserables,” is going into another epic tale — “Anastasia” on Broadway.

Karimloo will star in the musical stage adaptation of the 1997 animated musical film. The story centres on the Russian czar’s youngest daughter, who escapes the night her family is killed and lives as a peasant orphan for years before remembering who she is.

The new work reunites much of the creative team behind “Ragtime” — book writer Terrence McNally, composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens. Darko Tresnjak, who directed “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” will direct “Anastasia.”

Last year, Karimloo received a Tony Award nomination for best actor in a leading role in a musical for playing a brawny Valjean.

He also played the character to rapturous reviews in a Toronto production.

Karimloo was born in Tehran but grew up in Peterborough, Ont., and Richmond Hill, Ont.

— With files from The Canadian Press.