This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Ramin Karimloo: Hello and welcome to The Hang. This is the second part of The Hang with Sierra Boggess.

[0:08] Sierra Boggess: In this episode, we're going to dive right back into where we left off.

[0:12] Ramin Karimloo: And we're going to pick up by talking about The Reunion, The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary, and Love Never Dies.

[0:22] Sierra Boggess: How do you feel about The Reunion?

[0:24] Ramin Karimloo: Oh my god. I'm so excited. Aren't you so excited?

[0:29] Sierra Boggess: Yeah. And I love that I've been helping, as you know, co-produce it. And to see it put together now and getting you guys your input and Hadley. And I think, how has it not happened?

[0:43] Ramin Karimloo: I know. No, it's such a smart idea.

[0:46] Sierra Boggess: But it's the right time too because it would have been too early. Even though, it's again that thing we're talking about. People don't even know what they're craving.

[0:57] Ramin Karimloo: And you know, we've had so much response from all over. It's like, can you bring it here? Can you bring it here? Why isn't it happening here?

[1:04] Sierra Boggess: But it's right. Let's see how it goes. Because it's so smart, especially now in this time where we're being starved of singing together. We're creating it online and stuff, but we're starved of this.

[1:15] Ramin Karimloo: So I just feel like I got to control my whole smile when we get there. Because it's going to be like drinking water after being in the desert or something ridiculous.

[1:32] Sierra Boggess: But that's the thing when a lot of people, which is great. I love that people are asking, can you bring it here? Can you bring it here? And I've said this before, but I feel like every now and then I'm going to reiterate. We don't choose not to go to other places.

[1:44] Ramin Karimloo: Correct.

[1:45] Sierra Boggess: It's one invitation. We need to be invited to go. In Japan, I've been so great to us. But they're the ones inviting us. Other countries haven't necessarily invited us yet.

[1:59] Ramin Karimloo: But if they do and we're available, 100% we'd go. So what I'm trying to say is we don't choose not to go to places.

[2:06] Sierra Boggess: That's right. Yeah, we've had to say that before because people are like, why are you this? It's like someone got to bring us.

[2:14] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. You know a person who can bring us?

[2:18] Sierra Boggess: So this would be the first time you and me and Hadley together since the 25th anniversary of Phantom. And I don't think you and I have really reminisced about it, especially in public.

[2:26] Ramin Karimloo: No, we haven't. We did for ourselves. I remember.

[2:30] Sierra Boggess: When you look back now to the Royal Albert Hall, what goes through your mind? What goes through your heart?

[2:39] Ramin Karimloo: It still is to date one of my favorite things that I've ever done in my career. And it's just the truth. So the fact that people have such a strong feeling and reaction about it is really cool because it's not one where I'm like, that's weird. That's weird that that's the one that you guys really loved and stuff because we feel like that. I feel like that.

[3:06] Sierra Boggess: And I remember the next day after it was done, I felt so low. And this is the thing that happens after you have such a high. This is why I get so confused of how performers can do drugs, like constant amounts of drugs, because that high. We are always are on drugs basically without doing them because we go so high. We get that adrenaline and then we drop. And it's like the most extraordinary and exhausting thing.

[3:40] Ramin Karimloo: But for me, I loved it because you and I do, I think, really well under pressure, like better than if there's no pressure.

[3:51] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, we do. We don't have time to overthink.

[3:55] Ramin Karimloo: No, and we kick into such gear. And if we're together on stage, we just lock into each other. And we know that's like, you know, part of the reason I could do what I was doing is because I was locked in with you.

[4:10] Sierra Boggess: And I know that's like.

[4:12] Ramin Karimloo: He's got me. This is going to be OK. We're being broadcast live around the world simultaneously. We're not in the industry of we're not in the film industry. That's not what we're accustomed to. So suddenly that this is going to be preserved. It didn't make us go outward in. It made us go even more inward out. You know, so that's what people were seeing.

[4:37] Sierra Boggess: And it's almost I remember everything. And yet I don't really remember anything in the moment because we were just. We were just so in there and I remember somebody. It was like some reviewer or something that said it felt like Ramin and Sierra were doing Chekhov. And I'll never forget that because I was like. That's what it felt like to us.

[5:10] Ramin Karimloo: You know, it's like we took it as seriously as if it was like some classic play.

[5:18] Sierra Boggess: Well, why wouldn't we write as the process? We would do the work.

[5:23] Ramin Karimloo: That's right. As did everyone else. You know, Hadley, that poor guy, never even done.

[5:28] Sierra Boggess: Oh, that was his. That's his debut.

[5:31] Ramin Karimloo: Right. Like that was it. His debut in Swanson.

[5:35] Sierra Boggess: How did you feel?

[5:41] Ramin Karimloo: It's funny. And it's something that a moment of my life and a memory that I'm enjoying more now than I ever have. I mean, because I've been separated from it for so long. And then you still hear about it because of social media. They still air it. And then you get people who have seen it with fresh eyes as well as those who return to it, who let you know about it. And it's like, wow, they've made me feel like I haven't left the park. Although I didn't do it that long and I haven't done it over 10 years. Oddly enough, I'd love to do it again.

[6:18] Sierra Boggess: Me too. Would you?

[6:20] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, I would. Would you?

[6:22] Sierra Boggess: Isn't that weird? But like yourself, I. I can't remember anything and I remember everything. I'll go through moments like right now when we're talking. The one main memory was after Point of No Return, you ripped the mask off. And then we had I remember when we first they said, OK, you're going to go up there. I said, OK, so the doubles will be there. Where do we come out? They're like, no, there's no doubles. You have to get up the stairs. I was like, that's not two flights. We fucking ran.

[6:51] Ramin Karimloo: What was it like 10 to 12? Like we had you didn't have one second to miss a step. We wouldn't have made it.

[6:58] Sierra Boggess: Nope. And you had to sing.

[7:01] Ramin Karimloo: No, no. Once more. So that's the most incredible feat ever. I didn't have to sing. I don't look exhausted.

[7:09] Sierra Boggess: Although it looks authentic because it was.

[7:12] Ramin Karimloo: Well, that's the thing, though. We got to do all this stuff, too. Like we got to do that. After hell, you know, you hit that. I saw tweety birds. I'm like, what's the amount of sprinting we had to do to hit that? No. Out of breath. I'm like, shake my head. I'm like, I almost blacked out.

[7:34] Sierra Boggess: Imagine if you're like, help and just fell. I'd be like dragging you up.

[7:42] Ramin Karimloo: So you could go back to it.

[7:44] Sierra Boggess: I could go back to it in a heartbeat. It's so weird. I go through phases. The last time I did it, I was like, okay, I'm good. You know, and then it's like it takes. It doesn't take that long until you're like, oh, that's what that moment is. You know what I mean? There is so much richness in these characters.

[8:05] Ramin Karimloo: There is so.

[8:06] Sierra Boggess: And the more that I grow as a human, the more I'm like, oh, I that make. That makes sense in that. And I love that we got to do. Found some 25th together after we did. Love never dies because we both had done the parts before. Then we played what can what happened. So we know what their relationship was based on that. And I think it informed us even more. And it gave us permission to love each other.

[8:37] Ramin Karimloo: You know, that's like, yeah, I got asked the other day. I was teaching and a girl asked, you know, her dream role is Christine. And she's like, okay, I have to ask you because you've actually done it. She said. Do you do you regret going with Raul at the end?

[8:56] Sierra Boggess: And I said it changes every time because there's times that I would go off in the boat and I would look at Raul and I would. Say in my head is Christine. It's like, oh, thank God. Like, thank God. Thank God. There's other times I would go off in the boat and be. And I wouldn't even look at him and I would look at the phantom. And that night that we did the 25th. That was unplanned, but.

[9:25] Ramin Karimloo: I look back. I look back. I couldn't. I couldn't leave you. But I also couldn't leave Hadley. You know, I couldn't. I also because Hadley also played that. So.

[9:40] Sierra Boggess: In a way that was perfect. Yes, because we never also get to see that moment. And I think it's such an important moment. That little bit of all I ask of you at the end. And Hadley was it was his last as Raul. It was his last plea of. Safety for me. Where I certainly felt for him and you can certainly see why. You know why Christine would.

[10:05] Ramin Karimloo: Yes. It's hard for me. I'm struggling saying it because I keep. Sometimes reminding people. I myself the phantom killed two people. He's got a lot of things going on. He needs to sit down. Have a little chat.

[10:20] Sierra Boggess: He needs. He needs therapy.

[10:21] Ramin Karimloo: Not a choice.

[10:23] Sierra Boggess: That's right. He's not a choice.

[10:24] Ramin Karimloo: No, he's not a choice. And yet. But this is why people love this so much because he's the ultimate underdog and all this and this villainy stuff, you know. But Christine, they love because she loves the unlovable. And he is. He's a murderer. And he's. He's psycho. You know, he's. He's got a lot of things wrong with him. Was it his fault? No. Was he. No. You know, I don't believe anybody is born a sociopath. I think you become it.

[10:50] Sierra Boggess: And.

[10:51] Ramin Karimloo: That and he doesn't have he. But if we're believing that everybody does the best. They're best. They can with the tools they've been given. That is his best. Unfortunately. That's his best. And, you know, that's a moment with. And Raul too. People hate Raul. But he hadn't done anything except be born rich and cute. So, you know, and he's had, he's the complete opposite. But there was that moment when Hadley gave me his hand. It was so gentle.

[11:18] Sierra Boggess: And it's the one thing that the phantom was just. I mean, you, you had me by the neck.

[11:26] Ramin Karimloo: Which we added. You had me by the neck.

[11:29] Sierra Boggess: And.

[11:30] Ramin Karimloo: That's funny. You mentioned him being gentle. Hadley being gentle with.

[11:35] Sierra Boggess: It was coaxing you back. It wasn't. Demanding. And it's like, I'm here.

[11:40] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[11:41] Sierra Boggess: Like in the words of all ask of you. And I remember him doing that. And I was like.

[11:46] Ramin Karimloo: It was really nice.

[11:47] Sierra Boggess: And I remember him doing that. And I was like. It was really beautiful.

[11:50] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[11:51] Sierra Boggess: And it. He's like, I'm here.

[11:53] Ramin Karimloo: Yep.

[11:54] Sierra Boggess: I will take care of you.

[11:57] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[11:58] Sierra Boggess: Letting you decide.

[12:00] Ramin Karimloo: Exactly.

[12:02] Sierra Boggess: Both of you in that moment. It was completely.

[12:04] Ramin Karimloo: Up to me.

[12:06] Sierra Boggess: Which was so heartbreaking. And me as Sierra too. Just as a, as regular Sierra. I have such a hard time with. I'm, I'm so indecisive anyways. And so the, that pain of like, you got to make this choice. You have to be the one. Because phantom's cards were on the table. Raul's cards are on the table. But, you know, and in true, like.

[12:31] Ramin Karimloo: Female form too.

[12:33] Sierra Boggess: It's like, Christine's the one that's like handled both. It's like, okay. Phantom is this. And because Raul has been the like bravado guy the whole time. And having that exchange with you. And it's like, it's basically like a pissing contest. And a fuck you from both of you in that. And Christine is like the one who has to manage these men.

[12:56] Ramin Karimloo: And then.

[12:58] Sierra Boggess: She gets around to making the decision. But it's like, I have to catch up with everything. Because I haven't been. I haven't been thinking what it is that I need. You know.

[13:10] Ramin Karimloo: It's, but it's heartbreaking.

[13:12] Sierra Boggess: It's so heartbreaking. And I remember that night. Because we gave everything. We gave everything that night. And I remember the bow. I remember bowing. And I remember you bowing. And I felt.

[13:29] Ramin Karimloo: Exhausted. I could cry right now. I mean, we're all like nerves anyways.

[13:35] Ramin Karimloo: This time, but I was exhausted and the most alive that I've ever been. It was really special. But I remember calling you the next day, and I was so, I was so, it was almost like depression because I, it was like, you got to build back up, because that was such an extraordinary high moment. And then your body went through what you would go through if you were on drugs. Your body was full of adrenaline and complete ecstasy. And then we have to, then we had the come down, you know?

[14:28] Sierra Boggess: So after that, how many times did you go and revisit the part? Once with Norm?

[14:32] Ramin Karimloo: Well, then was the 25th anniversary Broadway with Hugh, right about three months after.

[14:40] Sierra Boggess: That's right, which I was invited to, which was very kind of them. That was a great moment. That was a great night. Yeah.

[14:47] Ramin Karimloo: I'm usually not into, I don't know, but they handled that really neat. The spirit of everyone there.

[14:53] Sierra Boggess: I thought so, too.

[14:54] Ramin Karimloo: We had a great time.

[14:55] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, that was a beautiful, that was really, and I was really proud to see Hugh lead that with you, who was such a brilliant man. And it was, what a great night.

[15:04] Ramin Karimloo: He'd been a phantom for like nine, ten years or something. It was like, I might have even seen him. It was like either him or Howard McGillan that you'd seen at that time, you know, because they stay for so long on Broadway.

[15:18] Sierra Boggess: And I remember feeling, too, being in the audience that night, happy to be in the audience and happy to be there to support something that I'm a fan of, support you, who's my best friend and also a fan of. It just felt great. It felt great there to be, yeah, okay, an ambassador, but also a fan.

[15:36] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah.

[15:37] Sierra Boggess: And then after that, you did it with Norm.

[15:40] Ramin Karimloo: Then after that, I did it with Norm. And then I flew to Paris to do it. And then it never happened.

[15:46] Sierra Boggess: That's it.

[15:47] Ramin Karimloo: So we need, we're due for one. We need to do another one together.

[15:52] Sierra Boggess: They're not having me back.

[15:54] Ramin Karimloo: You know, because we've talked about this. Get out of here. They've asked you back.

[15:57] Sierra Boggess: No, not the, you know, since Fancy, since I caught the show on fire, you're like, no, she makes it en flambe. No, it's weird. It's like, isn't it interesting that we're both not done, but, and it's the thing that everybody asks and wants to see. And maybe we're not supposed to, maybe it's, you know.

[16:22] Ramin Karimloo: I can't believe we've already talked an hour and there's so much more I want to talk about.

[16:26] Sierra Boggess: Oh, there's so much.

[16:27] Ramin Karimloo: I don't know. What do we need? We've got to get into Love Never Dies. We have to get into Secret Garden.

[16:30] Sierra Boggess: We have to. Oh God, we have to.

[16:33] Ramin Karimloo: I guess, will you come back for more?

[16:36] Sierra Boggess: Yes.

[16:37] Ramin Karimloo: Can we do this again?

[16:38] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, let's do like a two—

[16:39] Ramin Karimloo: What if we did another 20 minutes and then maybe we just do Love Never Dies to wrap it into this and we'll leave Secret Garden and other stuff for later. We've talked before where I felt like I was done with it and maybe I was done. But I've done enough work since then and I find myself singing it more and enjoying it. And I'm like, oh, I'd love another crack at it.

[17:01] Sierra Boggess: Yes.

[17:02] Ramin Karimloo: But it's just a matter of if it's meant to be now, it's meant to be. Because if it lines up, it lines up.

[17:11] Sierra Boggess: I agree. And I think, yes, we both came to places where it's like, yeah, done. And you do feel done after doing something like that. But then it's like that show pulls at you again and again and again. And I think also because it's the longest running show in the West End and the longest running show on Broadway. So people feel—I remember Jack O'Brien talking about this when we did Love Never Dies. Jack O'Brien said people feel like they own this story of Phantom. And so there does come points where we have to rediscover the love of singing it for ourselves because it's hard to separate from what the fans love of it because they own it. This is what they expect. But we have to get reacquainted with what it is for us. So I think it's interesting that we're both at a place at the same time that's like, oh, no, I would do that again. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

[18:20] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, because I feel I can at least internally feel like I'm offering something of artistic value as opposed to, yeah, I could do that again. It's in me.

[18:33] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, it's for the soul. The soul is calling to the music. That's the other thing for the reunion. I can't wait to sing all that music. I can't wait to sing it with you. I can't wait to sing it with Hadley. It's the way to do it.

[18:46] Ramin Karimloo: That's why it's so nice that it will revolve around that. And hopefully we can work it out with the arrangements that there's parts that normally those things would never happen in a concert. But here it can because it makes sense with us three.

[19:05] Sierra Boggess: It can and it must. And it's fun to be able to indulge in that music as much as we want to because the people want to hear it. They want to hear it so much. I mean, we were laughing at our set list because we're like, all right, we're going to have to. It's heavy lifting because the shows that people really want to hear and the amount that we want to do and serve people with, it's big things for all of us. But we're willing to do it. That's the thing. Andrew Lloyd Webber writes big, big tunes and deceivingly tough.

[19:37] Ramin Karimloo: You would look at it and you think, oh yeah, okay, you do it. I'm telling you, it taxes you. It's all parts of voice required. All parts of your voice.

[20:00] Sierra Boggess: I remember Hadley, who I think is probably one of our greatest, if not the greatest singer of our generation, especially technically in his range, as you know, is insane. I think he had to do Music of the Night once for a concert or a gig and he phoned me. He's like, dude, Music of the Night. I said, it's hard, isn't it? Yeah. It goes all over the place and it's very repetitive and you think you know it. That's the thing. You think you know it. And then it's a whole different ballgame. Especially because for me, it's not a song, it's a scene. So you can't just do lip service to it. It's going to cost you. You have to invest.

[20:47] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, it's such a scene. I think I'm singing. I think it's a duet. It's like so...

[20:53] Sierra Boggess: It is. That's why when I do it with my band or other concerts, we do an abridged version. Otherwise, I feel then it becomes indulgent. And as the fan in me, I feel like it should only be done full and properly when it's done full and properly. Otherwise, let's just celebrate it and do a little homage to it. Don't worry about the sound effects. We can use them. It's in New York. So you mentioned Jack O'Brien. Lovely, lovely Jack O'Brien.

[21:31] Ramin Karimloo: Love Never Dies. That's where we met.

[21:37] Sierra Boggess: It was. I was thinking about that today. I was like, what do you remember?

[21:40] Ramin Karimloo: I know what you remember. I remember, well, they flew me over from New York because I was doing Little Mermaid at the time. And then I got into the room and I started singing all this stuff. And I was so tired, but I had to do this work. It's like, this is like the greatest task that we've been tasked with. And you and I, nobody knew us. That's the thing. People wonder why we're so bonded. We've known each other since before we were Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo. That's weird. We know each other from the start of everything. We watched each other's careers happen. So it's not what people need to understand is when I was flying over, I wasn't coming to meet Ramin Karimloo. I'd never heard of you.

You'd never heard of me. We were just people, the actors that are working and were kind of wide-eyed, I feel like, of like, this is happening where this is the brand new Angeloid Weber show and the most highly anticipated thing ever. So I remember being in that room and working on the music. And then I remember you coming in and I feel like you had a leather jacket on. And I was like, oh, he's like, he's like the cool guy.

[23:02] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, he's that guy.

[23:05] Sierra Boggess: Want to be cool. Come on. Let's be honest.

[23:08] Ramin Karimloo: But I remember that. And I remember instantly feeling at ease with you. I do. I remember that. I didn't feel like there was no pretense.

[23:26] Sierra Boggess: No, it was just.

[23:26] Ramin Karimloo: In this industry, you get to know each other really fast. And we only had like one week together. By the end of it, we were like, oh, God, we were bonded. I don't know how that happened. I can't remember how that happened. But we were and this was before like there was no FaceTime. I mean, this is like 2009. So we I remember we had like AIM remember like instant message like that was it. And we had email. But we that was kind of it because in order to stay in touch and stuff. I remember constantly with you. So much fun because we bonded over.

[24:14] Ramin Karimloo: And you were Ron Burgundy and I was Veronica Corningstone.

[24:18] Sierra Boggess: And that's what we bonded over because Anchorman was the thing. So that's why because we discovered that we have the same humor from day one.

[24:27] Ramin Karimloo: Do you know what else I remember? I remember that's when I was starting to get into Twitter. Because I remember you, me, Jeremy, there must have been someone else in the photo. And as a joke, because we couldn't talk about Love Never Dies, I tweeted out working on the Anchorman musical. And a publication picked it up as if that was kosher. And I'm like, I remember that was my first lesson going, wow, people believe this shit. Just because I tweeted doesn't mean it's real. And so I picked it up. I was like, and then I was thinking, can I get in trouble?

[25:03] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, I know.

[25:03] Ramin Karimloo: So what do you remember about rehearsals? Where did we rehearse?

[25:08] Sierra Boggess: We rehearsed at Jerwood.

[25:09] Ramin Karimloo: Was that where we did all the rehearsals?

[25:10] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, we were at Jerwood. And we had that platform that we were on. I remember, there's cute photos of that time that I still have. That's like our very first photo together. I need to fish that out. Actually, we need that. It's really cute. We're so innocent.

[25:30] Ramin Karimloo: What an experience that was, though.

[25:32] Sierra Boggess: I remember watching Andrew and Jack sitting in, because they have all those seats set up. And then Andrew and Jack listening. And they sat separately. It's like everybody sat where they needed to do their best work. And I remember Jack reading the stage directions. He was the one that read all these things. I actually have a recording of it because I recorded just an audio recording of that rehearsal. And our voices sound so young, too. So young. But I remember that even when we were recording it, the album, because then next came the album, and that was like a year of our lives, which never happens anymore.

[26:18] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, that's the one. When I look back at the recording process, because I'd feel much better doing it now.

[26:27] Sierra Boggess: Oh, yeah.

[26:28] Ramin Karimloo: I totally fell out of my depth then. All these big studios, Abbey Road Studios, I'm thinking, none of that excited me. And actually, I had so much fear.

[26:38] Sierra Boggess: Oh, me too.

[26:39] Ramin Karimloo: Because we were learning on the job. I know I was, and I can't read music. And half the time, we recorded that album so many times.

[26:47] Sierra Boggess: Yes.

[26:48] Ramin Karimloo: In effect, right? And the first few goes at it, we were learning in the studio.

[26:54] Sierra Boggess: Yes. Yes. And you know, I'm good with that.

[26:58] Ramin Karimloo: I just felt like I'm tripling the costs of these recordings because we have to do so many takes. I'm like, why didn't you give me a heads up? We could have learned it outside around a piano first.

[27:11] Sierra Boggess: Now, that pressure now, I would know how to navigate.

[27:14] Ramin Karimloo: You're so good. Yep.

[27:15] Sierra Boggess: But I was young. Even though I was 30, although that is young, but I felt like I was 12.

[27:23] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You look at us and it's like, these kids have been tasked with this task.

[27:32] Sierra Boggess: But anything that I look back on in my life, I don't know if you do this too, it's like, how did I do that? How did I do that? And the only answer I can come to is that I was ignorant. I was ignorant to everything else. And because we were unknown, because we didn't know how this business really worked, we weren't in the political ins and outs of things and what people are doing. We were just doing our work. There was so much to do that it's like, that was all we could focus on. And that's why it was great. That's why it was so, we were so bonded. And people saw that from day one. I mean, people after that first week is like, these two are so bonded. This is like, and we weren't even doing the full thing.

That was only the second act in the reading. And remember, they had us, I remember this. So, in the second act of Love Never Dies, we don't have duetting except the end. But they had us on the last day because they loved what we were doing so much. They basically auditioned us together, because they had us around the piano in the space, and they had us sing. And that's when I sight read Beneath a Moonless Sky, because I'd never sung that, because you had done the first act reading.

[28:50] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. And so, we sight read, or I sight read that around the piano. And I feel like that was the, that sort of sealed the deal for us. It was crazy. A lot was expected of us.

[29:04] Sierra Boggess: Yeah. I remember when, because the recording, like you said, went on so long. And even then, when I didn't know much about how these things work, I was thinking, how much are you, this is costing a fortune. But I remember, we had to record one of the duets, but you were in New York at the time. So, they made you do your bit, I did my bit. And they were like, is it not working? Where's their chemistry? So, then they fly you over, literally.

[29:31] Ramin Karimloo: They flew me.

[29:32] Sierra Boggess: Just so we can be in the same room, do the duet.

[29:34] Ramin Karimloo: Yes.

[29:34] Sierra Boggess: And they were like, that's how it should sound.

[29:36] Ramin Karimloo: That's the take. Yes, absolutely. They did. They flew me over because it wasn't it. It just wasn't. That's why you knew that we're recording, obviously, a podcast. We know that we have to see each other. And we saw each other. We were in the same recording booth to do that. We had that plexiglass so they could separate the sound, but I could fully be locked into you.

[29:59] Sierra Boggess: Yeah. And that was the take. That's the recording everybody has.

[30:04] Ramin Karimloo: Because I recorded most of my stuff. Well, first, they flew me over and I recorded pretty much everything at Abbey Road, but they had a separate, as you do in these things. We had a 90-piece orchestra, too. I mean, we had a 90-piece orchestra.

[30:21] Sierra Boggess: Yeah.

[30:23] Ramin Karimloo: Again, this is back in the time when they would pay for stuff like that, where they paid for recording, for actual music, as opposed to synthesizers.

[30:33] Sierra Boggess: Well, that's when you have the benefit, A, Andrew being so successful. But also, he is a lover of music. He wants to make a great album. That's the rock star in him.

[30:48] Ramin Karimloo: Yes. Oh, yeah. I loved, actually, that as crazy as it was, that whole recording process. Oh, fun fact. I don't know if even you know this, but by the time we got to the end of recording, so it had literally been a year, and the very last thing was to record some dialogue stuff. That was the last bit, because the dialogue was changing, little tiny dialogue lines. There were certain things that I had to go back in and record. Then Nigel, our producer, came to New York at this little studio that I don't know if it's even there anymore, but it's in the middle of Times Square. He had me record my dialogue bit for the final scene. And there's one line that they had forgotten to get from Meg, the character of Meg, and I recorded it.

[31:54] Sierra Boggess: Did you?

[31:54] Ramin Karimloo: And so it's my voice on the recording doing a Meg line.

[31:59] Sierra Boggess: Are you allowed to tell us, or are you going to tell me after?

[32:01] Ramin Karimloo: No, I guess so. I mean, no one has ever told me to keep my mouth shut, because they were like, oh, we'll fix it. And it never got fixed. It's at the end. It's in the final song, after the gun goes off. And then there's hubbub, and Meg has one line. I don't even remember what it is, because I haven't listened to it in so long. I should re-listen to it.

[32:25] Sierra Boggess: Now you have to listen to and hear it.

[32:27] Ramin Karimloo: And after this, I will listen to it, because as we're talking, no expense spared for this album. You hear it. It's unbelievable. That is a great album.

[32:39] Sierra Boggess: It's a great album.

[32:40] Ramin Karimloo: The music, that overture.

[32:43] Sierra Boggess: Yes.

[32:45] Ramin Karimloo: I'm very proud of our time in that. Do you remember with the overture, when we did start rehearsing, before we even got into our stuff, they took us into a room where we're... I think this was when we were rehearsing at the old space where Real Useful Group offices used to be.

[33:04] Sierra Boggess: Right.

[33:04] Ramin Karimloo: And they took us into a room and had a screen, and they played us the video of what Coney Island was like.

[33:12] Sierra Boggess: Yeah.

[33:13] Ramin Karimloo: And that's the video that became sort of the trailer for our show of the elephant and all the people and the mountain people and all the stuff, and then playing the overture with it. And Jack was explaining what life was like in Coney Island. What are you thinking? You're laughing.

[33:30] Sierra Boggess: No, I'm enjoying hearing this and watching.

[33:33] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, yeah. I thought you had a memory.

[33:36] Sierra Boggess: We've talked about Phantom Love, but I've never talked about Love Never Dies.

[33:40] Ramin Karimloo: I was just also thinking, I don't think I've sung Beneath a Moonless Sky since the show ended.

[33:47] Sierra Boggess: I haven't. We should. Oh, we're going to.

[33:52] Ramin Karimloo: No, we're not. It's not in it.

[33:53] Sierra Boggess: Are we not?

[33:54] Ramin Karimloo: We're doing Once Upon Another Time.

[33:55] Sierra Boggess: Maybe we have to at least do,

[33:57] Ramin Karimloo: Now, how can you talk of now?

[33:59] Sierra Boggess: And now...

[34:00] Ramin Karimloo: That's all you have to remember.

[34:01] Sierra Boggess: Now, has that ever come across you again to do?

[34:08] Ramin Karimloo: Love Never Dies?

[34:09] Sierra Boggess: Yeah.

[34:11] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah, back when the tour was happening, but it was going to open in such a grand way, and then it's like, and then come back in. But to me...

[34:21] Sierra Boggess: Oh, yes. You mentioned this to me. Yes.

[34:23] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. But then it like, everything changed. Everything, everything changed.

[34:28] Sierra Boggess: So would you like to do that part again?

[34:31] Ramin Karimloo: I want to do it with you on Broadway.

[34:36] Sierra Boggess: Do you think it's ever going to go to Broadway?

[34:37] Ramin Karimloo: I have no idea. Who knows anymore? You know what I would love to do? Wouldn't you love to do this? Wouldn't you love to, whether it was New York or London, as exhausted as you'd be, you do in the afternoon, you do Phantom, and in the evening, you do Love Never Dies.

[34:59] Sierra Boggess: I think they should double cast it like that. That would be so interesting.

[35:02] Ramin Karimloo: I'm all up for swap season, you know? Like, if I ever, for example, I had to got the chance to do Valjean again, maybe I'd be like, well, depending on who the show there is, let's swap. Four shows each week or something. Well, you know what I mean? Set up a schedule. So, but doing Phantom...

[35:23] Sierra Boggess: Yeah. That's such a...

[35:24] Ramin Karimloo: Love Never Dies.

[35:25] Sierra Boggess: I feel like that's something that should be, so that people can go to one and the other. But I would love to do that as an actor. Wouldn't you love it? Like, we just finish what we finish, and then we go over and we carry on the story.

[35:37] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. Do you know where I, right away, my head thinks a place that facilitates stuff like that is the Far East. They double cast. They seem to be able to facilitate. I don't know why it's different there. I think the way they fund the theater is different there as well. Not just Japan. It's more corporate. I feel there's more corporate support out there. Where I guess things are just done here in the UK and Broadway.

[36:06] Sierra Boggess: Wouldn't that be fun?

[36:07] Ramin Karimloo: I'd be up for that. Well, see, I love you so much.

[36:10] Sierra Boggess: I love you too.

[36:10] Ramin Karimloo: I feel like it's probably a good place to stop it. But there's so much more I know we could have talked about with Love Never Dies and Phantom. And of course, I'm going to have you back. We'll talk Secret Garden. And I also want to talk about how you do these masterclasses and what you impart with students and people who look up to you.

[36:28] Sierra Boggess: This is so cool, Ramin, that you have this. This is cool. And just to hang. That's so cool.

[36:34] Ramin Karimloo: Yeah. And I'm really enjoying it. I never set out thinking, this is something I want to do or whether I'll be good at it. But I took a lesson with Sir Cameron making me do Jean Valjean when I didn't want to do it, nor did I think I'd be right for it. So when they asked me to do a podcast, I thought, well, it scares me. I don't think I'd be right. Every reason to do it.

[36:53] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, exactly. I'm scared. All right, time to do it.

[36:57] Ramin Karimloo: At the very least, I got to talk to you for just over an hour. I've been smiling.

[37:02] Sierra Boggess: Yay. Me too.

[37:04] Ramin Karimloo: Hopefully people enjoy this hang because I know I did.

[37:06] Sierra Boggess: Me too, Jim.

[37:08] Ramin Karimloo: Love you, C.

[37:09] Sierra Boggess: Love you.

[37:12] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, before you go.

[37:15] Sierra Boggess: Yes?

[37:15] Ramin Karimloo: I forgot. I keep forgetting to ask people this and half I have, half I haven't. So very quickly, two questions before you go. What made you smile yesterday?

[37:30] Sierra Boggess: Wow, what a question.

[37:34] Sierra Boggess: My cats.

[37:37] Ramin Karimloo: Why do you say it like a bad thing?

[37:39] Sierra Boggess: Well, because it's like, it's such a base. It seems so basic, but you know how I love these cats and they just like make eye contact. I swear to God, they're just like, they're making so much eye contact with me lately. I'm just like, you're home. You're still home. Is that amazing? My pets are loving it. They're in heaven, but so am I. That made me smile yesterday.

[38:04] Ramin Karimloo: Nothing wrong with that answer.

[38:05] Sierra Boggess: Okay, good.

[38:05] Ramin Karimloo: And off the top of your head, your favorite childhood memory or one of them.

[38:10] Sierra Boggess: Ramin, my favorite.

[38:13] Ramin Karimloo: Oh, my favorite.

[38:17] Sierra Boggess: The first amazing childhood memory that comes to my head is our first vacation when we went to Florida and being on the beach with my sisters. And my dad teaching me how to dive into the pool that was at the hotel on the beach. And so I learned how to dive into a pool because of my dad. So that's one of my favorite childhood memories.

[38:45] Ramin Karimloo: That's the first thing that came. I was like, oh, the ocean, the ocean. And I'm not even from the ocean.

[38:51] Sierra Boggess: That's beautiful. And I know there's a lot more, but I like to hear what's the first thing that came to your head. And knowing you, this is something you're going to ponder on for the rest of the day. You're probably going to write it in your journal.

[39:01] Ramin Karimloo: How dare you know me? How dare you know me, Ramin? What's yours?

[39:07] Sierra Boggess: I'm not. How dare you?

[39:08] Ramin Karimloo: When you have me on when you have me on your podcast, you can ask me.

[39:11] Sierra Boggess: OK, I'm going to call my podcast The Hang.

[39:16] Ramin Karimloo: Well, listen, you can because I found out I don't think I'm the only one called The Hang.

[39:20] Sierra Boggess: I'll call it The Hangette because I'm a girl because I'm a lady.

[39:24] Ramin Karimloo: I'll call it The Lady's Hang.

[39:29] Sierra Boggess: All right, beautiful.

[39:30] Ramin Karimloo: OK, I love you.

[39:31] Sierra Boggess: Love you, too.

[39:32] Ramin Karimloo: Thanks, everyone, for hanging with myself and the wonderful Sierra Boggess. I'm really looking forward to the reunion concert with Sierra and Hadley this September in Tokyo, Japan.

[39:45] Ramin Karimloo: Take care.

[39:47] Ramin Karimloo: The Hang is produced by Dori Beristain and Alan Seals from the Broadway Podcast Network. You can find me online at bpn.fm forward slash The Hang. Don't forget, you can connect with me on Instagram and Twitter at Ramin Karimloo, on YouTube, a roaming Iranian or my Facebook page, official Ramin Karimloo. Music for my podcast is by my friends and one of my favorite bands, The Dives. Please check them out at their website, thedivesmusic.com. That's thedivesmusic.com, where you can get to know them, hear their incredible music, get links to all their social media accounts, and learn more about them. Links to all their socials, and most importantly, their tour dates, where you can find out where you can see and hear them live. They are truly a great band, and they are phenomenal live. Check them out.