Ramin Karimloo says Jean Valjean is ‘probably the most enjoyable’ he’s had

TORONTO – When Canadian theatre star Ramin Karimloo sings the tender ballad “Bring Him Home” for the role of Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” these days, it seems to take on new meaning.

After all, the Ontario-raised performer — who’s been a heavyweight on London’s West End for over a decade — is making a homecoming of sorts to star as the protagonist in the Toronto premiere of Cameron Mackintosh’s new edition of the Boublil & Schonberg show.

The much-anticipated production that’s based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel begins performances Sept. 27 at the Princess of Wales Theatre, kicking off the 2013-2014 Mirvish subscription season.

Sure, Karimloo has crossed the pond over the past 18 months for his rock music career.

But this is the first time he’s starred in a musical on home soil since he initially left the country, and it’s with what he considers to be “probably the most enjoyable” role he’s ever had.

“‘Phantom’ was great, but it’s deceivingly hard for a character that’s actually not onstage as much as one would think,” Karimloo, who’s starred as the masked misfit in “The Phantom of the Opera” and the sequel “Love Never Dies,” said Monday at a media event.

“Valjean … my day kind of revolves slightly around it. But I’m less stressed about things. I feel like the older I get … I look back and think, ‘All the stress I’ve had about, oh, your voice, or this and that, you didn’t have to worry so much.’

“So I’m just enjoying it.”

Yet Karimloo didn’t think that would be the case back in November 2011, when Mackintosh first asked him to play Valjean at The Queen’s Theatre in London. The offer came after he’d already played various other roles in the epic musical, which he first saw as a teen in Toronto.

“It’s a part I never envisioned playing,” said Karimloo, who was born in Tehran and grew up in Richmond Hill, Ont., and Peterborough, Ont.

“I wanted to play Javert, and he goes, ‘Just play Valjean.’ I said, ‘OK, if I mess it up, you can’t be mad.'”

Karimloo, of course, didn’t mess it up — in fact, he won the 2013 Theatregoers’ Choice Award for best takeover in a role for the part, which he said he came to “love” playing.

His now-nine-year-old son also fell for the role Valjean, an ex-convict who struggles to redeem himself as he’s pursued by relentless Inspector Javert during a revolution in 19th century France.

“I remember my son first saw me as Valjean … and afterwards we were talking and he came up the stairs and said, ‘I think I want to cry, dad,'” said Karimloo, 34, who also has a younger son.

“I said, ‘It’s OK if you want to cry.’ He didn’t quite get it, but all he saw was this aging process and this story of a guy. And obviously he’s watching it more intently because that’s his father doing it, so that helps, but it was nice to see how that affected an eight year old.”

“My son went to school with ‘24601’ written on his shirt the next day,” adds Karimloo, referring to Valjean’s prison number.

“I’m like, ‘You can’t do that!’ In pen, too. I was like, ‘Oh no!'”

Karimloo only got to play Valjean for four months, though, as he had to go on tour for his solo music career.

“So when this opportunity came up, we talked about it a couple of times and I said, ‘You’ve got my vow. If you want me in Canada, I’ll definitely do it, because I want to play that part again,’ regardless of where it was,” said Karimloo, who’s grown a beard and shaved his head for the role.

“The fact that it’s in my old stomping grounds is even better.”

The 25th anniversary production of “Les Miserables,” which inspired the recent Oscar-winning movie starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, has a predominantly Canadian cast for its Toronto run.

Canuck cast members include Genevieve Leclerc of Gatineau, Que., as Fantine, a role she also played in the North American tour of “Les Miserables.”

Winnipeg’s Samantha Hill, who recently starred in the Broadway production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” plays Cosette.

And Juno-nominated “Canadian Idol” season 3 winner Melissa O’Neil, whose theatre credits include the Broadway/Stratford production of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” plays Eponine.