In 1985, Frangoulis moved to London, where he attended a three-year-long professional acting course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1988, during his final year, he played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company for the Arundel Festival. Frangoulis played the lead in the James McConnel/Kit Hesketh-Harvey musical "Orlando", where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh who after an audition offered him the part of Marius in the West End production of "Les Misérables" at the Palace Theatre (1988–1989) under the direction of Trevor Nunn. Also in 1989, Frangoulis, who had never studied classical singing, received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera. After finishing "Les Misérables", Frangoulis moved to Italy where he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in Busseto, graduating six months later.