Earl Carpenter

Earl Carpenter (born 9 May 1970) is an English musical theatre actor and singer, recognized chiefly for his work in London’s West End. He is known for his performances as Inspector Javert in the stage musical Les Misérables and as the title character in The Phantom of the Opera, both roles he has played on and off for two decades. He is widely known for his rich, deep baritone singing voice.[citation needed ]

In 1995, he made his West End debut as a Javert understudy in Les Misérables. In 2003, he became the standby for the role of The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and two years later was promoted to the principal actor for the role replacing John Owen-Jones for two years before being replaced by Ramin Karimloo. In 2008, he returned to the West End production of Les Misérables as the principal Inspector Javert and also played the role a year later on the 25th Anniversary UK Tour. 2011 and 2012 saw Carpenter reprise his roles of both the Phantom and Inspector Javert in the West End productions of each show, he also played The Phantom in the 25th Anniversary UK Tour in 2012, replacing John Owen-Jones, who left the tour in September. In 2015, Carpenter returned to the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera in March as an emergency cover for the Phantom, he returned to Les Misérables two months later in the second Broadway revival reprising his role of Inspector Javert, he also played the role in 2013 and 2016 in new productions in Canada, the Philippines and Singapore. He understudied Michael Ball and Bradley Jaden when they played Javert in the 2019/2020/2021 West End concerts of Les Misérables as well as understudying the role in the 2021 UK/Ireland tour. He returned to his role of The Phantom in 2023 replacing Killian Donnelly for two months in the West End production before being replaced by Jon Robyns.

He had the part of The Bishop of Digne in Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary at the O2 Arena and in Les Misérables: The Staged Concert at the Gielgud Theatre and Sondheim Theatre. He also played the Auctioneer in The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall.

Carpenter played The Beast in the closing cast of the original West End production of Beauty and the Beast, he also played Joe Gillis and Gaston in the UK tours of Sunset Boulevard and Beauty and the Beast as well as Monsieur André in the Italian tour of The Phantom of the Opera. He is also known for his work in Ginger Boy Productions. In 2018, he funded and produced a production of Disney's Peter Pan Jnr at the Regent Centre in Christchurch, Dorset.

As part of the 25th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera, Earl performed the title song at The Royal Variety Performance – held in The Lowry, Manchester – on Monday 5 December 2011. Performing alongside Nicole Scherzinger, Earl was joined by three other former Phantoms (Simon Bowman, John Owen-Jones, and Ramin Karimloo). The performance was aired on ITV1 on Wednesday 14 December 2011.

He has been creative producer and owner of Ginger Boy Productions Limited since 2006; patron and associate artist to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and as has recently accepted a visiting professorship at Solent University.