Ramin Karimloo heading to Birmingham Symphony Hall

Going to see Phantom of the Opera in Toronto as a teenager was a night that changed Ramin Karimloo's life.

He watched Colm Wilkinson perform the lead part and then made an idle bet with a friend that he would end up in the role one day.

Little did the self-assured teenager realise that by the age of 33 he would have played the Phantom as well as the main role in Les Misérables.

"When I sat in my dressing room before my first time on stage as the Phantom I couldn't help laughing and thinking how ridiculous it was," he says.

"That bet I made was a throw-away comment but I thought I had better see it through just to tick my friend off. However, I was also in love with the idea of being an actor and when I saw Phantom I knew it was a role I would enjoy playing."

Next month the leading West End star will take to the road for a national tour where he will perform songs from his debut album, Ramin, along with some much loved West End favourites.

He will be performing at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham on May 17 where his songs will include Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera, 'Til I Hear You Sing from Love Never Dies, Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific and Bring Him Home from Les Misérables, which Ramin is currently starring in.

"I love coming to Birmingham as it is such a vibrant city and it's great for shopping and shows," he says.

"My favourite songs change all the time and we decide before each show which ones we are going to sing

"I only sing the songs that I enjoy and, as we want to give the audience one hundred percent, we can only do that if we are enjoying it."

With an arm full of tattoos – everything from trees and angels to poetry – Ramin doesn't look like your average Olivier-nominated musical theatre superstar.

He was born in Iran but his childhood was spent in Canada and his career started in his hometown of Toronto, singing in a rock band.

Running away to learn his craft on cruise ships, having sung a Billy Joel song at his audition, he met an early challenge when the star of the show he was in told him he would never make it without training.

"I hate when people say there's only one way to do something – because there's not," he says. "I enjoyed being on a cruise ship – it gave me an income, I travelled the world and I met my wife Mandy. She auditioned me and is a talented choreographer. When I arrived she looked at me like I was some kind of hillbilly, but I ended up getting the job so she must have been impressed.

"My album came out over the Easter weekend and it has been beautifully put together – I'm very proud of it."

After arriving in London Ramin got a reputation for hard work with every show from Shakespeare to a touring production of Sunset Boulevard before becoming the youngest ever Phantom.

He was in the Royal Variety Show in December with three other former Phantoms – Simon Bowman, Earl Carpenter and John Owen-Jones – and last year he was seen playing a scientologist in Warwick Davis' Life's Too Short.

He also originated the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, which continues the story of The Phantom of the Opera.

* Ramin Karimloo will be at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on May 17 at 7.30pm. For tickets call 0121 780 3333.

By Cathy Spencer