Michael Ball Live

Sunday 29^TH AUGUST 2010
Killruddery House & Gardens
Bray, Co. Wicklow

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Biography

March 2010 - Olivier Award and whatsonstage.com winner for Best Actor In A Musical, Michael Ball is Britain's leading musical theatre star he wowed West End audiences last year, to stunning critical acclaim as the fabulous, lovable, supersized Edna Turnblad in the hit production of 'Hairspray'. Such was the response to this production of 'Hairspray' at the Shaftesbury Theatre that the production is hitting the road throughout the UK and Ireland, with Michael, again taking his role as 'Edna' on the road. Michael is also the Exec Producer of the touring production, which starts in Cardiff at the Millennium Centre on May 22nd, running till January 2011. Michael has won critical acclaim and the hearts of a fiercely loyal public with his numerous performances on stage, film and TV. His solo recording career has had parallel success earning him chart toppers and gold discs while his regular concert tours sell out within hours of going on sale. Since last year Michael has been hosting his hugely successful own BBC Radio 2 show - Michael Ball's Sunday Brunch

A dynamic performer and multi-platinum recording artist, Michael tours the UK on a regular basis and plays to capacity audiences every time. Last summer Michael performed for his legions of fans at five great venues: Hampton Court Palace, Liverpool Echo Arena, Kenwood, Audley End, and Patchings Arts Centre in Nottingham.

Michael's West End credits include Marius in Cameron Mackintosh and the RSC's production of Les Miserables, Raoul in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, Alex in Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love (and on Broadway), Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim's musical Passion, his award winning Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Woman In White (and on Broadway) and the Olivier Award winning Edna Turnblad in the smash West End production of Hairspray.

In 1992 Michael's debut album, 'Michael Ball', led to a sell out national tour concluding at the London Palladium, and performances in front of the Queen at both Her Majesty's 40th Anniversary Gala and The Royal Variety Show. In 1993 Michael recorded the part of Tony in West Side Story with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; his second album, 'Always', entered the UK charts at No. 3 and remained in the top 20 for 10 weeks and he went on a hugely successful 30 date UK tour. He conceived and directed his own Christmas Special, sang with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in front of a capacity audience at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena, and launched his television show Michael Ball.

In 1994 'One Careful Owner' quickly went gold. Michael narrated The Cameron Mackintosh Story for BBC Radio 2, and was guest DJ for their prime time show. He recorded a second TV series and hosted guests such as James Brown, Shirley Bassey, Tony Bennett, Cher, Joe Cocker, Erasure, Darryl Hall, Lulu, George Martin and Robert Palmer. The year was rounded off with a national sellout tour and the release of 'The Best of Michael Ball' which earned Michael his fourth gold disc in three years.

In 1995 Michael starred in three major open air concerts, sang at the opening ceremonies of the European Youth Olympics in Bath and the Rugby World Cup at Twickenham and performed for the Queen at the VE Day 50th Anniversary Concert at Hyde Park. He was also invited to recreate the role of Marius for the 10th Anniversary Gala Concert of Les Miserables at the Royal Albert Hall. He released The Rose, for Research into Ovarian Cancer, the charity he co-founded, and ended the year starring in Tony Palmer's film England, My England, for Channel 4 Films and with a one hour Michael Ball Christmas Special with guest stars Dusty Springfield and Michael Bolton.

In 1996 'First Love' entered the UK charts at No. 4, going gold soon after. He returned to the West End stage in Steven Sondheim's Passion before recording 'Michael Ball - The Musicals' which coincided with another sellout tour. Michael's video The Musicals and More (1997) entered the UK video charts at No. 1. He launched the Wednesday Lottery Show on BBC1 and guest presented the National Lottery Live Show for the BBC during July. He performed at Bedford Park and BBC Proms in the Park in front of 35,000 people at the last night of the Proms. He ended the year with a 5th national sell out tour and performed at the Royal Variety Performance on the occasion of the Queen's golden wedding anniversary.

In 1998 Michael recorded 'An Evening With Michael Ball' for TV at St David's Hall in Cardiff with special guests Lesley Garrett and Ronan Keating; he appeared at both Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Cameron Mackintosh's 50th birthday celebrations while his 7th album, 'The Movies', went platinum with over 500,000 sales.

The following year Michael performed to 75,000 people at 25 concerts in the UK and Europe. In July, the Theatregoers Club of Great Britain voted him the Most Popular Musical Actor over the last 21 years. While completing his Live at the Royal Albert Hall video and album, as well as a Christmas album, he was involved in the Rugby World Cup opening and closing ceremonies during October. His video went in at No. 1, and has since gone platinum, in the UK, while his album achieved gold status within three weeks of going on sale. Michael saw in the millennium with an outdoor concert in Kuala Lumpur.

In 2000 tickets for Michael's 27 date tour sold out rapidly. The majority of the year was spent planning and developing his new album 'This Time....It's Personal', which was released in October. The album included covers of personal favorites and for the first time included material written by him. Michael flew to the US for a whistle stop promotional tour for his video 'Live At The Albert Hall' which became a huge hit Stateside and was shown in over 30 states. A sellout tour followed and the year ended with a one-off show to 300 people at the Café de Paris in London. In 2001 Michael realized a long held ambition to perform in Australia. Back in the UK Michael was invited to appear at the Donmar Warehouse for two weeks as part of the Divas at the Donmar season. This exciting challenge gave Michael the opportunity to explore areas of the musical stage in a new concept show that embraced many songs he hadn't sung before. His album 'Centre Stage' was released during this time and went gold within seven weeks. The year ended with a video release of his Donmar show titled Alone Together, along with a sold out UK tour in December.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opened in April 2002 at the London Palladium with Michael taking the lead role of Caractacus Potts. After a hugely enjoyable 16 month run in 'Chitty', Michael recorded his new album, 'A Love Story', and subsequently undertook a major concert tour of the UK. 2004 was an incredibly busy year with a debut tour of Australia including sellout shows at Sydney Opera House. It was followed by Michael's American solo concert debut in Salt Lake City, Utah. In between he played opposite Petula Clark in BBC Radio 2's live concert production of 'Sunset Boulevard' and reprised his Alone Together show at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. A double cd, 'Love Changes Everything - The Essential Michael Ball' went gold and his dvd/video, 'Live In London' followed soon after. Michael performed twice for members of the royal family when he appeared in a special version of "Les Miserables" at Windsor Castle, and then at the opening celebrations of the new Wales Millennium Centre.

2005 was one of the most demanding and rewarding for the busiest man in theatre; he joined the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Woman In White' as the 'revolting' Count Fosco, which he played with great relish and which garnered him a whatsonstage.com award. While he was working in the theatre in the evening, he was presenting ITV's 'This Morning' during the day (where he continues to work occasionally, most recently interviewing Dolly Paton at her home in Nashville). He then hit the road for a hugely successful five week sellout tour of the UK, released his 250,000+ selling album, 'Music', and flew to New York where he made his highly anticipated debut with the New York City Opera at the Lincoln Center as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Patience'. "The City Opera is fortunate in its two competing suitors; Michael Ball as Bunthorne and Kevin Burdette as Grosvenor. Both sing beautifully, both are comic athletes and both are capable of evoking real people out of egregious exaggeration…" (New York Times, 12.9.05). He then reprised the role of Count Fosco on Broadway in the New York production of 'Woman In White' in which he co-starred with Maria Friedman.

Having been in the US for most of 2005, Michael decided to stay in the UK for a while in 2006…he sang the national anthem at May's FA Cup Final at the Wales Millennium Stadium ("amazing having 72,000 people singing with you") and completed the recording of his album, One Voice. In July he performed with Elaine Paige in concert at the outdoor venue The Rec in Bath and went on an open air concert tour; in August he hosted a BBC Radio 2 Special, 'Michael Ball Celebrates Anthony Newley' at the Hackney Empire in London.

2007 opened with another successful BBC Radio 2 series, 'Ball Over Broadway'. He toured the UK during February and March and on June 27th made his debut with the English National Opera in the lead role of Hajj/Poet in a brand new production of 'Kismet'. In August he made his debut at the BBC Proms with An Evening With Michael Ball at the Royal Albert Hall - it marked the first time a musical theatre star had been given a solo concert at the classical music festival. In October his new cd, Michael Ball - Back To Bacharach was released on Universal Music TV; he then opened to rave reviews in 'Hairspray'.

"I'm having a ball!" says the ebullient star. "I love everything I do - being in Hairspray was just the best fun anyone can have and I love hosting my own radio show - I get to chat to all sorts of people - heroes, villains and colleagues! And of course I get to play my favorite music and music chosen by the listeners. Last summer was fantastic too, playing beautiful venues like Hampton Court Palace and Kenwood House - it was quite nice being out of a frock for a change too!"

Last Year Universal Music released PAST & PRESENT - THE VERY BEST OF MICHAEL BALL to celebrate Michael's 25 years as a musical theatre star and multi-award winning recording artist. In July last year he left Hairspray after 21 months of sellout performances and in September and October he again toured the UK to his army of adoring fans in sold out venues across the land. He even gave old Jonathan Ross a run for his money as a guest on Jonathan's recent TV chat show……

Watch out for the amazing reviews when Michael hits the road again as 'Edna' throughout the UK and Ireland