Michael Ball (singer)

For other people named Michael Ball, see Michael Ball (disambiguation).

Michael Ball
photograph October 2006
Background information
Birth name	Michael Ashley Ball
Born	27 June 1962 (1962-06-27) (age 49)
Origin	Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England
Genres	pop, rock, comedy, musical theatre
Occupations	Actor, singer, radio and television presenter
Years active	Since 1984
Labels	Universal Records
Website	Official site Official Fanclub website

Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad in Hairspray for which he won the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for best actor in a musical.^[1][2]

Early life

Ball was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, to a Welsh mother and an English father. Ball's father trained as an Austin apprentice at the Longbridge plant and went on to become a successful business man, although he had originally wanted to be an actor. Ball's maternal grandfather was a coal miner. His maternal grandmother was protective of the family. Ball has a sister about nine years younger than himself. He moved to Dartmoor with his parents when he was three years old. He has never had singing lessons, but as a boy he learned to sing by singing along to music: for example, songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, and Frank Sinatra. When he was 11 years old he went to Plymouth College, an independent boarding school, because his parents thought this would give him a good education, but he did not fit into the academic and sporting environment at the school at that time, and he was unhappy there.^[1]

Ball was interested in the theatre and his father took him to see shows in the school holidays, including a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon of King Lear, which impressed him as a youngster of about 14 years old. He joined a youth theatre, which led to his studying drama at Guildford School of Acting, where he found an environment that suited him. As a student he went busking on Saturdays in Guildford town with a female student friend to earn a little extra money. He graduated in 1984.^[1]

After his graduation, Ball's singing career rapidly got off the ground. His maternal grandmother, having a musical ear, was proud of Ball's early singing achievements; she died suddenly, however, of a heart attack about one week before his debut in The Pirates of Penzance. His parents were also proud of him and were relieved that his singing had brought a sense of direction to his life.^[1]

Theatre

In 1984, after he had left drama school, Ball's first part was in Godspell at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, after which he worked for a few months in rep in Basingstoke,^[3] but his first major break was a star part in the production of The Pirates of Penzance at Manchester Opera House; at an open audition he was selected from about 600 applicants who formed a queue to do singing, acting, and dancing interviews, which were held in three separate rooms. His next important role came when Cameron Mackintosh cast him as Marius in the original London cast of Les Misérables, but he caught glandular fever and he took 6 or 7 weeks off sick to recover from the associated tonsillitis and post-viral fatigue. When he returned to work he was still suffering from fatigue, and began to get on-stage panic attacks — overwhelming anxiety, a rapid heartbeat, sweating, and problems with vision. These also started happening at other times, such as when he was going to work. For most of the next nine months he lived alone in his flat feeling depressed; he did not seek therapy and left Les Misérables.^[1]

Thames Television invited Ball to sing during the Miss England contest, a live televised event, and he sang well enough despite suffering from anxiety. When he viewed a recording later, he realised that no one would have noticed how nervous he was, and he became less worried about his anxiety problem.^[1] At about that time, Cameron Mackintosh asked Ball to play Raoul in the second casting of The Phantom of the Opera in London, which was necessary after Michael Crawford (who played the Phantom) and Steve Barton (who played Raoul) left the London show to appear in the Broadway staging in New York City. Mackintosh thought that Ball would not be under too much pressure as Raoul, and that the part was right for him.^[1]

Ball also played Alex in Aspects of Love, both in London and New York, and Giorgio in the London production of Stephen Sondheim's Passion. Alone Together was his one-man show first performed at The Donmar Warehouse (which was reprised in 2004 for the Singular Sensations season at the Haymarket).

In 1998 Ball performed at three big concerts: The fiftieth birthday concert of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Royal Albert Hall(released on DVD), Sondheim Tonight at the Barbican Centre(released on CD) and Hey, Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh(released on CD and DVD).

In 2002 he took on the role of Caractacus Potts in the Sherman Brothers musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was largely considered his comeback role.

In 2004, he co-starred with Petula Clark in a production of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard at the Cork Opera House in the Republic of Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC. Later the same year Ball was a guest star at Petula Clark's Concert, also broadcast by the BBC. He sang three tracks from his latest album, Since You've Been Gone: "Home" and "One Voice", as well as two duets with Clark.

Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, in the role of Marius at the Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert, the tenth anniversary concert of Les Misérables in 1995. A lyric baritone, Ball also sang the role of Valjean at a special concert performance of Les Misérables for the Queen and her guests at Windsor Castle in 2004.

In 2005, with 10 days' notice, he replaced Michael Crawford as Count Fosco in The Woman in White after poor health forced Crawford to give up the role.

In November 2005, Ball returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, which transferred from London's West End. He was, however, forced to leave the show because of a viral infection supposedly caused by the fat suit required for the role; this reportedly raised Ball's body temperature by several degrees during the show. (The suit is also thought to have been the cause of Michael Crawford's premature departure from the show in London.) The show closed early, in part as a result of the health problems of Ball and leading lady Maria Friedman.

In September 2005, Ball made his New York City Opera debut as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience. He spent the first quarter of 2006 on complete vocal rest, following the illness that caused him to leave The Woman in White on Broadway. By the middle of July, Ball had taken part in the Royals Court's celebratory performance of The Rocky Horror Show. He took a leading role in Kismet in June and July 2007 for the ENO, and appeared on Channel 4's Richard & Judy on 22 June 2007 to promote this production. He then appeared as the solo artist in a controversial 'Musical Theatre' Prom on 27 August 2007 for the BBC at London's Royal Albert Hall. Ball performed a wide range of musical theatre numbers, including several by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show was broadcast live on BBC Four, as well as on BBC Radio 3.

From October 2007 – July 2009, Ball made his West End return starring as Edna Turnblad in the hit musical Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. In March 2008, he was awarded the Best Actor in a Musical Olivier Award for his portrayal. He also won the What's On Stage Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad.

Ball is now doing a new production of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Chichester Festival Theatre for six weeks starting September 24, 2011, alongside Imelda Staunton playing the role of Mrs Lovett. The production will open at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End in March 2012.

Stage credits

• Godspell (as John the Baptist/Judas), 1984 Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales
• The Pirates of Penzance (as Frederick), 1985 Manchester Opera House
• Les Misérables (as Marius), 1985 The Barbican Arts Centre, London
• Les Misérables (as Marius), 1985-1986 The Palace Theatre, London
• The Phantom of the Opera (as Raoul Vicomte de Chagny ), 1987-1988 Her Majesty's Theatre, London
• Aspects of Love (as Alex Dillingham), 1989-1990 The Prince of Wales Theatre, London
• Aspects of Love (as Alex Dillingham), 1990 The Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
• Les Misérables (as Marius), October 8th 1995 The Royal Albert Hall, London
• Passion (as Georgio), 1996 The Queen's Theatre, London
• Alone Together (one-man show) (as the Performer), 2001 The Donmar Warehouse, London
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (as Caractacus Potts), 2002-2003 The Palladium, London
• Sunset Boulevard (as Joe Gillis), April 23rd & 24th 2004, Cork Opera House, Ireland
• Alone Together (one-man show) (as the Performer), 2004 Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
• Les Misérables (as Jean Valjean), November 18th 2004 Windsor Castle
• The Woman in White (as Count Fosco), 2005 The Palace Theatre, London
• Patience (as Reginald Bunthorne), 2005 New York City Opera
• The Woman in White (as Count Fosco), 2005-2006 The Marquis Theatre, Broadway
• The Rocky Horror Show Tribute Show (as Frank-N-Furter), May 3rd 2006 Royal Court Theatre, London
• Kismet (as Haji/The Poet), 2007 The London Coliseum ENO, London
• Hairspray (as Edna Turnblad), 2007-2009 The Shaftesbury Theatre, London
• Hairspray (as Edna Turnblad), 2010-2011 UK Tour
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (as Sweeney Todd), 2011 Chichester Festival Theatre
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (as Sweeney Todd), 2012 The Adelphi Theatre, London

Recording work

Ball is a concert artist: he tours frequently around the United Kingdom and has also performed concerts in Australia and the United States. He has also had success in the charts with his recording work. Since reaching Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love, Ball had lesser success with follow up singles, but in the main has concentrated on releasing albums, all of which achieved gold status within weeks, and in the case of The Movies album in 1998, platinum in seven weeks (released 26 October, confirmed platinum status on 12 December).

Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 held in Malmö, Sweden, singing the song "One Step Out of Time", which finished second. The single reached number 20 in the UK, while an eponymous album released in the same year reached number 1.^[4] This began a run of top 20 albums released over the next two decades.

In July 2006, Ball was a guest artist on Julian Lloyd Webber's album Unexpected Songs and in November of that year released a DVD containing all the best songs from his Live in Concert DVDs. This is split into five sections: Musicals, Love Songs, Personal Favourites, Party Time, and Unplugged. The DVD also included a brand new "Unplugged" session which Ball recorded especially with four other musicians in the studio. It was released on 20 November 2006. Ball took part in many promotional activities at the end of the 2006 to coincide with the release of his album One Voice. This involved singing the song "Home" on ITV's GMTV, This Morning, and the BBC One programme The Heaven and Earth Show hosted by Gloria Hunniford.

A new compilation album entitled Michael Ball: The Silver Collection was released in July 2007, along with the DVD version of his 1995 film England My England. Towards the end of 2007, Ball recorded his 15th solo album for release on 15 October of that year. The album features songs all written by Burt Bacharach and is entitled Back to Bacharach. It was released along with a performance DVD of his 2007 tour, One Voice Live, filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Promotional activities took place throughout October and November 2007 for these releases including appearances on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Loose Women.^{[citation needed]}

Television and radio

As an actor, Ball briefly appeared as Malcolm Nuttall in Coronation Street in 1985 [1].

Ball has also turned his hand to presenting both on TV and radio. Michael had his own TV series in 1993 and 1994 a Christmas Special in 1995 and a 3 part series in 1998 filmed by BBC Wales Ball in the Hall. These three episodes were combined together to make a special which was then broadcast on BBC 1. Ball has presented The National Lottery and Children in Need. He also co-hosted This Morning for a short period whilst the usual presenters took a break.

Ball had his own series on TV and radio (Ball over Broadway on BBC Radio 2) (which is in its fourth season), The Greenroom, and several specials for BBC Radio 2 on subjects such as Nat King Cole, Cameron Mackintosh, and Cy Coleman.

On television, Ball presented two more National Lottery Shows for the BBC on 27 December and 30 December 2006. Ball kicked 2007 off by co-judging the second series of ITV1 reality television show Soapstar Superstar. This was broadcast from 5–13 January. Ball spent the week in Manchester filming the series. Critics of the show have compared him to "a poor mans Neil Sean".^{[citation needed]} However he was widely considered a truthful judge who gave constructive criticism to contestants.

Recent career

Ball embarked on an extensive United Kingdom Tour during March and April 2007. There were 23 dates on the tour covering England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The tour started with two nights in Belfast, before a number of shows in the north of England and Midlands. Ball then headed to Glasgow and Aberdeen before returning for shows in London, Birmingham and Northampton. Ball took a trip to his old home in Plymouth before embarking on the final leg of his tour. It saw Ball perform in Ipswich and Northampton before ending his tour in Cardiff. He made his debut with the English National Opera in the lead role of Hajj/Poet in a new production of Robert Wright and George Forrest's Kismet after this tour.

In August 2007 he made his BBC Proms debut with An Evening With Michael Ball at the Royal Albert Hall, which marked the first time a musical theatre star had been given a solo concert at the classical music festival. Ball appeared in the Royal Variety Performance at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool on 3 December 2007 singing "You Can't Stop the Beat" with the rest of the cast from Hairspray, the musical he was appearing in at the time. He continued in the role of Edna Turnblad in the musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 April 2009. On 2 March 2008, Ball appeared as the guest on the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs, during which he talked about his early life and his career, including his struggle with stage fright in his early career, and a little about his personal life.^[1] He performed a number of summer concerts, including the Hampton Court Music Festival on 14 June 2008. From 6 April 2008, Ball took over Michael Parkinson's Sunday Supplement on BBC Radio 2 every Sunday from 11am to 1pm. Ball won the 2008 What's on Stage Theatre Awards for "Best Actor in a Musical". He also won the 2008 Olivier Award for "Best Actor in a Musical", his first Olivier Award.

Ball's solo album Past and Present was released on 9 March 2009 by Universal Music. The album includes a compilation of previously released material celebrating Ball's 25 year anniversary in the music industry, as well as six new tracks, including You Can't Stop the Beat, from Hairspray. Ball appeared on a number of television and radio programmes to promote the album. He toured the United Kingdom with an orchestra and five West End stars, (Louise Clare Marshall, Louise Dearman, Emma Williams, Adrian Hansel and Ben James Ellis), in the Autumn, celebrating 25 years in the music industry. His concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 19 September 2009 was filmed for DVD release. Ball performed in a 'One-off' Christmas Concert on 12 December 2009 in aid of The Shooting Star Children's Hospice which he supports. All profits made went to this charity.^[5]

On 14 February 2010, Ball stepped in as a Guest Judge for Robin Cousins on ITV1's Dancing on Ice. while Cousins was in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. On 10 February 2010, Ball recorded a TV Pilot for ITV1 which was commissioned as a full Series in the Summer entitled The Michael Ball Show.

The 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables was held at The O2 Arena in North Greenwich on Sunday 3 October 2010 at 1:30 pm and 7:00 pm. It featured Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Norm Lewis as Javert, Lea Salonga as Fantine, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras, Hadley Fraser as Grantaire, Katie Hall as Cosette, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Jenny Galloway as Mme. Thénardier, Samantha Barks as Eponine, Nick Jonas as Marius, the role Ball delivered in the original London production. Casts of the current London, international tour and original 1985 London productions took part, comprising an ensemble of 300 performers and musicians. Ball and Colm Wilkinson anchored the encore, with four Jean Valjeans singing "Bring Him Home": Wilkinson from the original London cast, John Owen-Jones from the 25th Anniversary touring production, Simon Bowman from the current London cast and Alfie Boe, who sang the role in the concert. The original 1985 cast then led the ensemble in a performance of "One Day More". After speeches from Cameron Mackintosh, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the performance concluded with students from school productions of Les Misérables entering the arena.

The evening concert telecast live to cinemas across the UK, Ireland and globally. A Blu-ray and DVD version of the O2 broadcast was released 29 November 2010 in the UK (PAL DVD (Region 2) and Blu-ray). It was released in North America on DVD and Blu-ray 22 February 2011.

Ball is scheduled to open a new production of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Chichester Festival Theatre for six weeks starting September 24, 2011, alongside Imelda Staunton playing the role of Mrs Lovett. The production is expected to move to the West End in 2012.

Michael co-hosted the Olivier Awards with Imelda Staunton on March 13, 2011 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.

His latest album "Heroes" was released on the 14th of March 2011. It entered the UK charts at number 10.

Discography

Cast Recordings

• Les Misérables - Original London Cast (1985) as Marius Pontmercy
• Les Misérables - Complete Symphonic Recording (1988) as Marius Pontmercy
• Rage Of The Heart - Concept Album (1989) as Peter Abelard
• Aspects of Love - Original London Cast (1989) as Alex Dillingham
• West Side Story - Studio Cast (1993) as Tony
• Les Misérables - 10th Anniversary - The Dreamcast In Concert (1995) as Marius Pontmercy
• Passion - Original London Cast in Concert (1997) as Georgio
• Sondheim Tonight (1998) - Concert Cast
• Hey, Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh (1998) - Concert Cast, Raoul in Phantom of the Opera, Marius in Les Misérables
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Original London Cast (2002) as Caractacus Potts

Solo Albums

See also: Michael Ball discography

• Michael Ball (1992)
• Always (1993)
• One Careful Owner (1994)
• First Love (1995)
• The Musicals (1996)
• The Movies (1998)
• The Very Best of Michael Ball - In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (1999)
• Christmas (1999 & 2000)
• This Time... It's Personal (2000)
• Centre Stage (2001)
• A Love Story (2003)
• Love Changes Everything - The Essential Michael Ball (2004)
• Music (2005)
• One Voice (2006)
• Back to Bacharach (2007)
• Past and Present: The Very Best Of Michael Ball (2009)
• Heroes (2011)

Compilation Albums

• The Best of Michael Ball (1994)
• Stages (1996)
• The Collection (1997)
• Songs of Love (1998 & 2009)
• Secrets of Love (2000)
• Michael Ball - The Collection (from M&S) (2000)
• Stage and Screen (2001)
• A Song For You (2003)
• I Dreamed A Dream (2003)
• Seasons of Love (2006)
• Stage and Screen (from Readers Digest) (2006)
• The Silver Collection (2007)
• Encore (2010)
• Songbook (from Readers Digest) (2011)

DVDs

• Les Misérables - 10th Anniversary - The Dreamcast In Concert (1995) - Marius Pontmercy
• Michael Ball - the Musicals & More (1996)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (1998) - Concert Cast
• Hey, Mr. Producer: The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh (1998) - Concert Cast, Raoul in Phantom of the Opera, Marius in Les Misérables
• Michael Ball - Live At The Royal Albert Hall (1999)
• Michael Ball - This Time... It's Personal - Live (2000)
• Alone Together: Michael Ball - Live At The Donmar (2001)
• Michael Ball - Live In London (2004)
• The Best of Michael Ball - Live (2006)
• Michael Ball - One Voice, One Special Night - Live (2007)
• Rocky Horror Tribute Show (2008) Frank-N-Furter (Recorded in 2006 - Michael shared the role with Anthony Head)
• Michael Ball - Past and Present - 25th Anniversary Tour (2009)
• Michael Ball - A Life on Stage (2010)
• Les Misérables 25th Anniversary concert (2010)
• Michael Ball - Heroes Live (Will be released on November 14, 2011)

Personal life

Ball lives with the former presenter of Ready Steady Go!, Cathy McGowan. They met around 1991 and have lived together since 1992.^[1] In 2000, in the middle of the night during a house fire, McGowan undoubtedly saved his life by pulling him out of their house from the spare bedroom,^[6] where he was staying after some nightcaps to help him sleep.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "Desert Island Discs with Michael Ball". Desert Island Discs. BBC. Radio 4. 2 March 2008.
2. ^ "Hairspray crowned Best New Musical". The Official London Theatre Guide. 9 March 2008. http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/display/cm/contentId/98416. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Professional Biography". justball.net. http://www.justball.net/home/justmichael/professionalbio.php. 
4. ^ Chartstats - Michael Ball UK chart details
5. ^ The Shooting Star Children's Hospice
6. ^ "Personal Biography". justball.net. http://www.justball.net/home/justmichael/personalbio.php. 

External links

• Michael Ball at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Ball at the Internet Broadway Database
• Official website
• Official Michael Ball Fan Club
• Michael Ball – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Latest album
• Interview with Michael Ball on westendtheatre.com

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Samantha Janus with "A Message to Your Heart"	United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992	Succeeded by Sonia with "Better the Devil You Know"
Preceded by Dick van Dyke	Actor to portray Caractacus Potts 2002–2003	Succeeded by Gary Wilmot

Persondata
Name	Ball, Michael
Alternative names	Ball, Michael Ashley
Short description	English singer and actor
Date of birth	27 June 1962
Place of birth	Bromsgrove, West Midlands, England.
Date of death
Place of death