Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo on reuniting for 'From the Rehearsal Room'

Musical theatre pair Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo speak to LondonTheatre.co.uk about what audiences can expect from the concert series that began in lockdown, and why they believe their stage partnership works so well.

Summary

• Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo are playing four concerts in four countries in two weeks
• The pair have starred in a number of musicals together including Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera
• Most recently they appeared in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels together

During the next two weeks, West End and Broadway performers Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo will play their concert series From the Rehearsal Room across four shows, in four different countries, including England, Scotland, Canada, and Italy.

The musical theatre duo have shared the stage many times before, from their beginnings as young performers in Les Misérables to the 25th anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and, more recently, playing con-artists in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The pair speak to LondonTheatre.co.uk about what audiences can expect from the concert series that began in lockdown, and why they believe their stage partnership works so well.

Book From the Rehearsal Room tickets for London and Edinburgh on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

You first met performing together in the cast of Les Misérables in 2002. Was it love at first sight?

Fraser: I had longed to perform on stage professionally, and there I was doing it. You get swept along in this giddiness. And I think we found a co-giddy idiot in each other.

Karimloo: My first memories were bonding over Subway sandwiches during rehearsals. And watching The Office on VHS in Hadley’s dressing room.

Fraser: It sounds so banal now: The Office and Subway sandwiches.

Karimloo: I think that's a testament to why we still work together. We don't take ourselves seriously, but we take the work seriously.

And you created your band Sheytoons together?

Karimloo: I started writing some music because I was getting into the folk country scene, especially the indie bluegrass sound. When I was in Love Never Dies on two-show days, I was stuck in make-up for almost 10 hours. I couldn't leave in between, so my [wife] Mandy bought me a banjo and I was strumming a guitar. I thought, “let me see if I can write a song”, probably thinking I was better than I was. I told Hadley about it, and he said, “I love that sort of music: country, bluegrass, folk.” I showed him some things I was working on and he added to it. We decided to do some live gigs and went around with some names. Sheytoons is a Farsi term, which means climb down from the devil's donkey. When I was being naughty, my mum would say, “stop being a sheytoon”.

Now you’re bringing back your From the Rehearsal Room concert series. What can audiences expect?

Fraser: From the Rehearsal Room takes its lead from the music that we got into musical theatre to perform. We sing some of the classics, songs from Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies — the ones that people want to hear us sing. We’ll do one or two songs from shows we starred in together. And there are some slightly more oddball choices from albums that we've recorded. It's a bit of a smorgasbord.

Karimloo: I think that audiences like to see a genuine friendship in From the Rehearsal Room. They like to see two people really enjoying themselves. That's the hook of the show.

Fraser: We should give a shout out to our third wheel, Theo Jamieson. As much as it's a symbiosis between Ramin and I, the show also depends on whoever's at the piano. Theo is not only a fantastic pianist, but also a brilliant collaborator and artist.

Karimloo: He's definitely made it a trio — he’s the secret weapon.

How do you decide the set list?

Karimloo: We don’t really decide the set list until the day. We rehearse more than we need. When bands put on concerts, you don't know what they're going to play, but when you hear the intro, something happens.

Are you excited for all the different locations?

Fraser: I've only ever been in the audience at EartH Hackney before. It's an old art deco cinema, and it's really beautiful. And the Dovecot Studios up in Edinburgh is this old textile warehouse museum that's now an incredible space. My wife's family are all designers and architects and they're very jealous that I'm going to this Mecca of textile design. And then we're heading back to Ramin’s hometown, so that's going to be great fun.

Karimloo: And in Trieste, we’re going somewhere with a different language, and that theatre is so beautiful too [...] We want that intimate feel for the concerts because the audience is just as much a part of the rehearsal process. This was originally just meant to be a streamed thing during the pandemic. I keep reminding myself that From the Rehearsal Room is still in its infancy. But I think Hadley nailed it on the head with, “the show’s identity is whatever venue it is in.”

Why do you think your stage partnership works so well?

Fraser: From my point of view, it's a trust and an appreciation that's built on nearly 25 years of knowing one another — of seeing one another grow, both in life and on stage. Every time we work together, one of us will have done something new that we can bring into the work. And underpinning all of it is this idea of pure joy on stage, and that's not fabricated. The way we are in the rehearsal room is the way we are on stage. It was a joy doing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels over the last year. If you'd have asked us where we wanted to be 25 years ago, to be able to perform these shows together, whether they be full-on musicals or concerts or gigs, I think we would have snapped your hand off.

What would you love to star in together next?

Fraser: I was thinking about this the other day. There was a show that Jason Robert Brown wrote [the music and lyrics for] called Honeymoon in Vegas and it's in that sort of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels wheelhouse. There's two pretty good parts in that: one nerdy guy and one suave gangster. [...] Or maybe we do a new piece? If anyone out there wants to write us a piece and get us a West End theatre, go for it.

Karimloo: But take it easy with the high notes! A nice, gentle baritone with comedy.

Fraser: I’ll just do a speaking part and you can do the songs.

What do you hope audiences take away from your concert series?

Fraser: There’s something about this time of year — of hearing voices come together in an uplifting moment.

Karimloo: I hope they’re going to leave with so much joy. Inevitably, Hadley and I have always found ourselves laughing as much as singing on stage for these shows.

Book From the Rehearsal Room tickets for London and Edinburgh on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Theo Jamieson, Ramin Karimloo, and Hadley Fraser. (Courtesy of TodayTix Live). Inset: Karimloo in Les Misérables and A Face in the Crowd, and Fraser in The Deep Blue Sea with Tamsin Greig. (Courtesy of productions)