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Michael Ball
Birth name	Michael Ashley Ball
Born	June 27, 1962 (1962-06-27) (age 45) Bromsgrove, United Kingdom

Michael Ball CBE (born Michael Ashley Ball, 27 June 1962, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England) is a British actor and singer, best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, and Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Contents 1 Background 2 Theatre 3 Recording work 4 Television 5 Radio and concert 6 External links

Although born in Bromsgrove, England, Ball is half Welsh, and says jokingly that he considers himself "Wenglish" and proud to be British [1]. After an unhappy time at an independent school in Plymouth, he studied drama at the Guildford School of Acting and graduated in 1984.

Michael's first part was in Godspell at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

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 the OLC ofLes Misérablesat first the Barbican Theatre and then The Palace theatre. He returned to the role of Marius in Les Miserables - The Dream Cast in Concert which celebrated Les miserables 10th anniversary. 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.Michael also sang the role of Valjean at a special concert performance of Les Miserables for the Queen and her guest 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. Ball has recently extended his contract from his initial 6 month run so will end in October 2008.

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 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, 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 Fridya Night with Jonathan Ross and Loose Women.

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]}

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. Ball is also scheduled to present This Morning again during December 2007. On 28 July 2007, Ball and Elaine Paige took part in a special 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.

Ball is due to present the National Lottery Show on the midweek draw on Wednesday 12 September 2007 on BBC One.

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. Michael started the tour with two nights in Belfast, before doing 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. His six part series Ball over Broadway was aired on Radio 2 from late April.

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 Miserables, 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.

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. Ball is presenting two special new year shows for BBC Radio 2 as regular presenter Ken Bruce takes a break.

• Stage and Screen Online Michael Ball talks to Edward Seckerson about his career in 40 min audio interview
• 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
• Discussion of Ball's merits as a classical singer.
• Latest album