Michael Ball (singer)
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| Michael Ball | |
 Ball on the cover of I Dreamed A Dream |
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| Birth name | Michael Ashley Ball |
| Born | 27 June 1962 Bromsgrove, England, United Kingdom |
Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is a British actor and singer, best known for musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, and Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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[edit] Background
Although born in Bromsgrove, England, Ball is half Welsh, and says jokingly that he considers himself "Wenglish" and proud to be British [1]. He studied Drama at the Guildford School of Acting and graduated in 1984.
[edit] Theatre
Ball's first major break was a star part in the production of Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House, Manchester. Next came a brief stint in Rep. Cameron Mackintosh saw him and cast him as Marius in Les Misérables. Next came Raoul in the second casting of Phantom of the Opera, and Alex in Aspects of Love, both in London and on Broadway, and Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim's London production of Passion. Alone Together was Michael's one man show first performed at The Donmar Warehouse (which was reprised in 2004 for the Singular Sensations season at the Haymarket). In 2002 Michael took on the role of Caractacus Potts in the Sherman Brothers musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which was largely considered his comeback role. In 2005, at 10 days' notice, he replaced Michael Crawford, who had to leave the show due to ill health, as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, and gave a popular and critically-acclaimed performance.
Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, at the Les Misérables Tenth Anniversary Concert in 1995, and the fiftieth birthday party of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Royal Albert Hall in 1998. At Webber's 50th birthday party he sang the song "Gethsemane" which is sung by Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, though he is not well-known for that role. He is a dramatic baritone known for his range, expression and power.
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. Michael sang three tracks from his latest album, 'Since You've Been Gone', 'Home' and 'One Voice' as well as two duets with Petula and a song called 'Joanna.'
In November, 2005, Ball returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, which transferred from London's West End. However, he was forced to leave the show due to a reported viral infection caused by the fat suit required for the role, which 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 due to 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.
[edit] Recording work
Ball is an accomplished concert artist and tours frequently around the United Kingdom. He has also performed concerts in Australia and America. He has also had some success in the charts with his recording work. Since reaching the top of the British charts with "Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love. Ball had small successes with follow up singles but in the main he 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 7 weeks{was released October 26th confirmed Platinum status in an interview on 12 December. Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, singing the song "One Step Out of Time", which finished second.
In October 2005 Ball released his latest album "Music". The album went into the UK charts at number 11, and spent 10 weeks in the top 75. The album finished the year the 99th best selling album of 2005.
In November 2006, Ball released a new 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 has recorded with just four other musicians in the studio especially for this DVD. It was released on November 20, 2006.
[edit] Television
Ball has also turned his hand to presenting both on TV and radio and has presented The National Lottery and Children in Need. He also co-hosted This Morning for a small 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.
Ball kicked 2007 off by co-judging the second series of ITV1 reality television show Soapstar Superstar. This was broadcast between Friday, January 5 and Saturday, January 13. Ball spent the week in Manchester filming the series. Critics of the show have compared him to "a poor mans Neil Sean".[citation needed]
[edit] Other work
Ball spent the first quarter of 2006 on complete vocal rest, following the illness that caused him to leave 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, recorded a new album (called "One Voice", due for release on 30 October 2006) and made a guest appearance on Julian Lloyd Webber's album "Unexpected song". Then came the summer concerts at Aberdeen, Bath, Southport, Oakley Hall and Cardiff. In August, Ball sat in for Michael Parkinson on his Radio 2 show. He was interviewed for Radio 3's "Stage and Screen" programme, and recorded a tribute to Anthony Newley at Hackney Empire, also for Radio 2.
Ball then took part in 'Proms in the Park' at Singleton Park, Swansea. He sang two tracks from his forthcoming album, 'One Voice'; the title song and 'Hero'. Michael also sung show stoppers, 'This is the Moment', 'Anthem' and 'Love Changes Everything'. Soon after, Ball joined Petula Clark in concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.
Ball took part in lots of promotional activities at the end of the year to coincide with the release of his new album 'One Voice'. This involved singing the song 'Home' on ITV's GMTV, This Morning, and the BBC One Heaven and Earth Show hosted by Gloria Hunniford. Ball also took part in a Christmas concert for the Royal Theatrical Fund at St Pauls Church in Covent Garden, London. Ball sang Christmas classics 'O Holy Night' and 'When a Child is Born.' At the end of the year Ball sat in for Johnnie Walker on his Sunday afternoon BBC Radio 2 show. Guests included Ronan Keating, Petula Clark and Matt Lucas on Christmas Eve. To finish the year, Michael presented two more National Lottery Shows for the BBC on December 27 and December 30th.
At the end of February, Ball chose the 'Tracks of his years' for Ken Bruce's show on BBC Radio 2. Ball choose his favourite tracks in the week beginning February 26. It has been announced that Ball will be taking the lead role in Kismet in June/July 2007 for the ENOdetails can be found on the English National Opera website. Ball is also taking part in a full extensive United Kingdom Tour during March and April 2007. There are 23 dates on the tour covering England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Michael starts the tour with two nights in Belfast, before doing a number of shows in the north of England and Midlands. Ball then will head to Glasgow and Aberdeen before returning for shows in London, Birmingham and Northampton. Ball will take a trip to his old home in Plymouth before embarking on the final leg of his tour. This will see Ball perform in Ipswich and Northampton (two nights) before ending his tour in Cardiff.
[edit] External links
- Michael Ball at the Internet Movie Database
- Michael Ball at the Internet Broadway Database
- Official site
- Official Michael Ball Fan Club
- Michael Ball - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
| Preceded by Samantha Janus |
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 |
Succeeded by Sonia |
