Theatre Tickets - London Theatre Tickets - Cheap Theatre Tickets - Discount Theatre Tickets

Michael Ball

Date of Birth: 27 June 1962

Location: Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom

Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire) is an Olivier Award winning English 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.

Ball was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, of 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.

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 lead to him studying drama at the Guildford School of Acting, where he found an environment that suited him. As a student he went busking on Saturday's in Guildford town with a female student friend to earn a little extra money. He graduated in 1984.

After 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; however, she died suddenly of a heart attack about one week before Ball's debut in The Pirates of Penzance. His parents were proud of him too, and they were also relieved that his singing had brought a sense of direction to his life.

Theatre
In 1984, after leaving drama school, Ball's first part was in Godspell at Aberystwyth Arts Centre and then he worked for a few months in rep in Basingstoke, but his first major break was a star part in the production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House, Manchester; at an open audition he was selected from about 600 applicants who all formed a queue to do singing, acting and dancing interviews which were held in three separate rooms. His next important role came when Sir Cameron Mackintosh cast him as Marius in the original London cast of Les Misérables, but he caught glandular fever and he took about six or seven weeks off-sick owing to the associated tonsillitis and post-viral fatigue. When he returned to work he was still suffering from fatigue, and on stage he started getting panic attacks; awful overwhelming anxiety, a rapid heart beat, 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 he left Les Misérables.

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. At about that time, Sir Cameron asked Ball to play Raoul in the second casting of 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. Sir Cameron thought that Ball would not be under too much pressure as Raoul, and that the part was right for Ball.

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 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 2005, with 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.

Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, in the role of Marius at the Les Miserables - The Dream Cast in Concert, the tenth anniversary concert of Les Misérables 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 tenor. 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, 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. Ball sang three tracks from his latest album, Since You've Been Gone, Home and One Voice, as well as two duets with Clark.

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. 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. Ball 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.

In October 2007, Ball made his West End return starring as Edna Turnblad in the hit musical Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. In March Michael was awarded the 2007 best Actor in a Musical Olivier Award for his portrayal of Edna. Ball has recently extended his contract from his initial 6 month run, to 25 October 2008.However Michael has just confirmed he has extended his contract again until April 2009

Recording work
Ball is a concert artist and tours frequently around the United Kingdom. He has also performed concerts in Australia and the United States. He has also had some 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 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 seven weeks (released 26 October - confirmed platinum status on 12 December).

Ball represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 held in Malmo, Sweden, 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 Albums Chart at number 11, and spent ten weeks in the top 75. The album finished the year the 99th best selling album of 2005.

In July 2006 Ball was a guest artist on Julian Lloyd Webber's album Unexpected Songs and in November of that year 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 20 November 2006. Ball took part in many promotional activities at the end of the 2006 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.

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 will be recording his 15th solo album for release on 15 October 2007. The album will feature songs all written by Burt Bacharach entitled 'Back to Bacharach.' This will be released along with a DVD of his 2007 Tour, filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo. The DVD is due for release on 19 November 2007 and will be entitled 'One Voice Live'. Promotional activities will take place throughout October and November for these releases including appearances on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Loose Women.

Television
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 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. In April 08 Michael took over Michael Parkinson Sunday slot on radio 2 and is currently contracted to broadcast "Michael Ball's Sunday brunch" between 11am-1pm at least until April 09.

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". However he widely considered a truthful judge who gave constructive critisism to contestants.

To finish 2006, Ball presented two more National Lottery Shows for the BBC on December 27 and December 30. Ball presented This Morning again on Tuesday June 19 and Wednesday June 20, 2007 with Fern Britton. It was the first time his new beard for Kismet was seen on national television. Ball made a guest appearance on This Morning on Friday 13 July 2007 to sing "Happy Birthday" to Britton On 28 July 2007, Ball and Elaine Paige took part in a celebrity version of the hit game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? which aired on ITV1. The pair won £64,000 with a combined effort.

Radio and concert
In 2006 Ball appeared at 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. Ball 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 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. At the end of February 2007, 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.

Ball also took part in a full extensive United Kingdom Tour during March and April 2007. To promote this Ball took part in interviews with ITV's This Morning and a newspaper in Liverpool. 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.

His six part series Ball over Broadway was aired on Radio 2 from late April. For this show he traveled to New York to review shows and interview directors, stars and producers. He has also presented one-off specials for the network including tributes to Jerry Herman and Anthony Newley . and has been a guest presenter on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings. Ball is presenting two special new year shows for BBC Radio 2 as regular presenter Ken Bruce takes a break.

Ball has also confirmed Summer Concerts in Derby, Wales and Peterborough. Ball will be joined in Wales by Sound of Music star Connie Fisher who will duet 'All I Ask of You' from Phantom of the Opera with him. Ball is also expected to sing numbers from Les Misérables, Jekyll and Hyde and Aspects of Love in Wales. To promote the concert at Repton School, Derby Ball gave an interview in April with BBC Radio Derby. On 14 August 2007 Ball took part in the Popmaster Quiz on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show. On 22nd August, Ball appeared on BBC Radio Four's 'Front Row' programme to discuss his imminent concert for the BBC at the Albert Hall.

In August 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 Monday 3 December singing "You Can't Stop the Beat" with the rest of the cast from Hairspray.

2008
In 2008 Ball will continue to appear as Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre until the 29th of April 2009. He appeared on Jonathan Ross's BBC Radio 2 Show on 19th January. He has confirmed he will appear on the BBC Radio 2 Elaine Paige show on 3rd February. Michael appeared on the Alan Titchmarsh Show on Tuesday 26th February discussing his Olivier Award nomination. He will be appearing in a number of Summer Concerts including the Hampton Court Music Festival on Saturday 14th June.

On Sunday 2nd March 2008, Ball appeared as the guest on the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs during which he talked about his early life, his career including his struggle with stage fright in his early career, and a little about his personal life.

From Sunday 6th April Ball will be taking over Michael Parkinson's 'Sunday Supplement' on BBC Radio 2 every Sunday from 11am-1pm.

Michael won the 2008 What's on Stage Theatre Awards for 'Best Actor in a Musical'.

Michael also won the 2008 Olivier Award for 'Best Actor in a Musical'- his first Olivier Award.

Personal life
Ball lives with his partner, the former presenter of Ready Steady Go!, Cathy McGowan, who is almost 20 years his senior. They met about 1991 and they have lived together since 1992. 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, where he was sleeping after some nightcaps to help him sleep . Ball is stepfather to Emma, McGowan's daughter.

(Sourced by wikipedia.org)