Tony Nominee Ramin Karimloo Will Headline The Prince of Broadway in Japan

Prisoner 24601 has his next gig lined up! Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo will lead the previously reported production of the long-in-the-works musical The Prince of Broadway in Japan. Celebrating the career of the 21-time Tony-winning director and producer Hal Prince, the tuner will play October 23 through November 22 at Tokyu Theatre Orb in Tokyo and November 28 through December 10 at Umeda Arts Theatre in Osaka. Also starring Tony winner Shuler Hensley, Tony nominee Nancy Opel, Kaley Ann Voorhees and Reon Yuzuki, the production will be helmed by Prince himself with co-direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.

Karimloo is currently playing Jean Valjean in the Broadway revival of Les Miz; he received a Tony nod for his performance in the production. He originated the role of the Phantom in the West End run of Love Never Dies and starred in The Phantom of the Opera in the West End and in the 25th anniversary concert filmed at Royal Albert Hall. Hensley won the Tony for Oklahoma!; he has also appeared on the Main Stem in No Man's Land, Waiting for Godot, Young Frankenstein, Tarzan and Les Miserables. Opel was nominated for a Tony for Urinetown and was last seen on the Great White Way in Honeymoon in Vegas; her additional Broadway credits include Cinderella, Memphis and Fiddler on the Roof. Voorhees is presently making her Broadway debut in Phantom. A big name in her native Japan, Yuzuki is a former Top Star otokoyaku (an actress who plays male roles) of the Japanese Takarazuka Revue's Star Troupe.

The Prince of Broadway pays tribute to Prince’s 60-year career and examines the circumstances and fortune, both good and bad, that led to him creating some of the most beloved theater of all time, including West Side Story, The Pajama Game, Cabaret, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Company.

The production will feature a book by David Thompson, set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by William Ivey Long, wig design by Paul Huntley, musical supervision and arrangements by Jason Robert Brown and musical direction by Fred Lassen.

The show was originally slated to open on the Great White Way in 2012 starring Sierra Boggess, Richard Kind and Emily Skinner, with Stroman helming the musical alongside Prince. No word yet on whether the production is still Broadway-bound.