Review: Ramin Karimloo and Anna O’Byrne bring it home for fans of musicals at the State Theatre

Performing in Sydney as the last stop on a multi-city tour, Karimloo proved himself to be more than just a voice.

Ramin Karimloo pictured in Surry Hills, Sydney, in the lead-up to the concert at the State Theatre where he shared the stage with local singing sensation Anna O’Byrne. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

IF there’s anyone that can rip through the acoustics of Sydney’s State Theatre it’s the Phantom of the Opera.

Thousands of musical theatre buffs poured through the doors of the city’s most iconic musical hall on Saturday night to hear the tenor vocals of musical theatre performer Ramin Karimloo.

Karimloo is most famous for his role as the Phantom in the 25th anniversary of Phantom of the Opera, as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, and Jean Valjean in West End’s Les Miserables.

The Iranian-Canadian singer performed alongside Australia’s own Anna O’Byrne, who has most recently played the role of Eliza Doolittle in the Julie Andrews directed production of My Fair Lady.

This is the first time Karimloo has stepped foot on Australian shores, a country the singer said he finds “absolutely beautiful.”

Performing in Sydney as the last stop on a multi-city tour, Karimloo proved himself to be more than just a voice, winning over Australian audiences with his own brand of humour, mixed with raw honesty about his personal conundrums and fears.

Ramin Karimloo in Sydney. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

The singer performed fan favourites on Saturday night such as Les Miserables’s Bring Him Home as well as Love Never Dies’ epic opening number Till I Hear You Sing.

For an encore, Karimloo brought the chandelier down with his defining and breathtaking rendition of the Phantom of the Opera’s The Music of the Night.

Anna O’Byrne came on to dazzle the stage with her soaring soprano notes and captured the hearts of everyone in the room with her inspired version of the heartwrenching Love Never Dies.

The duo mixed with Sydney fans at the show’s conclusion, proving once again the humility of Karimloo who was hand-picked by Lloyd Webber to lead his Phantom sequel, who has sung at the 2013 Oscars alongside Hugh Jackman, and has even performed for the Queen in her own living room.