Ramin Karimloo Joins THE WEST END MEN Concert Tour, Replacing Matt Rawle

Ramin Karimloo, award-winning star of The Phantom of the Opera, its sequel Love Never Dies and Les Miserables, is to join Lee Mead and Stephen Rahman-Hughes for their next concerts as The West End Men.

He replaces Matt Rawle, who has been cast in the new West End production of Cabaret, in the line-up.

The West End Men, directed by Mitch Sebastian, are described as "charismatic and fiercely talented as they deliver a selection of signature numbers from some of their most famous roles together with a smorgasbord of some of the best known show tunes in the world."

Lee Mead was already a successful West End performer when he won Any Dream Will Do, the BBC’s search for a lead for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He has also been featured in such roles as Fiyero in Wicked and Emmett in Legally Blonde - together with solo concert tours and album releases.

Iranian-born Canadian actor and singer Ramin Karimloo made his West End debut in Les Miserables playing Feuilly and he understudied the roles of Marius and Enjolras. In 2003 he took one of the lead roles, Raoul, in The Phantom of the Opera. In June 2005, Karimloo joined the UK national tour of Miss Saigon, playing Chris. In 2007 he appeared in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera, this time as the show's 21st anniversary Phantom. He moved on to playing the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel, Love Never Dies, performing the role until the show closed on August 27, 2011. That October, he played The Phantom for three performances alongside his Love Never Dies co-star Sierra Boggess as Christine Daaé in the 25th anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and was streamed live to cinemas across the world.

Stephen Rahman-Hughes trained initially as a dancer at Rambert, before discovering his voice and landing a leading role in West Side Story. He went on to play the lead in the Andrew Lloyd Webber produced musical Bombay Dreams amongst many other roles, which led to him being selected as a founder member of Sony BMG’s group Teatro.

The West End Men is brought to the stage by renowned director Mitch Sebastian. Mitch has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic for a body of work that includes the phenomenally successful and Olivier Award-nominated The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas, which has enjoyed numerous runs in the West End and across the world, including North America.