Product Description
This widely acclaimed show represents a complete departure for Michael Ball. On a bare stage with just a piano, his dramatic and moving performance takes us on a tour of an artist's life, his struggles and successes. A remarkable evening that showcases one of the great talents of the musical stage.
Special Features
English
Region 0
Region 0
Review
"Whether belting through 100 numbers in a breath-taking ten minute marathon, turning Garland's 'The Man that Got away' into a lament for his own better beginnings, or 'There's No Business Like Show Business' from the usual anthem to a wry commentary on those who take it up for a living...Ball constantly makes us re-think the songs we thought we knew." --The Spectator
"As he tightens his grip over the intimate Donmar Warehouse, relying not on chit-chat or a hand-mike but on sheer empathy with his material, an audience can be forgiven for checking his programme. Can this really be Michael Ball? It is a darker, more burnished figure who is facing a birthday with no less significant change in career. Ball's cleverly devised and directed by Jonathan Butterell with Jason Carr the invaluable pianist. Duke Ellington might not seem the most logical segue from Radiohead, until, that is, you've heard 'Nice Dream' bleed seamlessly into 'Solitude.' The programme mixes Sondheim, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa with a version of John Lennon's 'Mother' that is as heart-stopping as a subsequent 'Happy-Talk' is glistening with delight. At the end of what must be an exhausting vocal marathon, Ball delivers an a cappella 'After the Ball,' his firm high baritone rather touchingly - by that point - straining after the final note. A defect? Not at all; more like a well-earned chink in the armour at which one realises, and not for the first time during a stirring evening, that Michael Ball is human, too." --Variety
"Here he is, so close with nothing but a bottle of water as a prop. ...what makes the evening into more than a star trawling through 100 years of musical theatre is the slyly self-deprecating twinkle that he brings to the whole event. ...it's a finished artist who can make something new of 'There's No Business Like Show Business'... The highlight of the evening is the opening of the second half, a hectic songfest of about snatching phrases from about 30 standards to make a collage of verbal and rhythmic nuances. He is accompanied with tremendous verve and quite daring pianism, by Jason Carr, whose arrangements are often surprising in their spareness." --The Daily Telegraph
"As he tightens his grip over the intimate Donmar Warehouse, relying not on chit-chat or a hand-mike but on sheer empathy with his material, an audience can be forgiven for checking his programme. Can this really be Michael Ball? It is a darker, more burnished figure who is facing a birthday with no less significant change in career. Ball's cleverly devised and directed by Jonathan Butterell with Jason Carr the invaluable pianist. Duke Ellington might not seem the most logical segue from Radiohead, until, that is, you've heard 'Nice Dream' bleed seamlessly into 'Solitude.' The programme mixes Sondheim, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa with a version of John Lennon's 'Mother' that is as heart-stopping as a subsequent 'Happy-Talk' is glistening with delight. At the end of what must be an exhausting vocal marathon, Ball delivers an a cappella 'After the Ball,' his firm high baritone rather touchingly - by that point - straining after the final note. A defect? Not at all; more like a well-earned chink in the armour at which one realises, and not for the first time during a stirring evening, that Michael Ball is human, too." --Variety
"Here he is, so close with nothing but a bottle of water as a prop. ...what makes the evening into more than a star trawling through 100 years of musical theatre is the slyly self-deprecating twinkle that he brings to the whole event. ...it's a finished artist who can make something new of 'There's No Business Like Show Business'... The highlight of the evening is the opening of the second half, a hectic songfest of about snatching phrases from about 30 standards to make a collage of verbal and rhythmic nuances. He is accompanied with tremendous verve and quite daring pianism, by Jason Carr, whose arrangements are often surprising in their spareness." --The Daily Telegraph
About the Actor
MICHAEL BALL's first professional appearance was as Judas/John the Baptist in Godspell in Wales, but his major break came when he was cast in The Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House Manchester where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh. This led to him being given the role of Marius in the award-winning RSC/Cameron Mackintosh production of Les Miserables at the Barbican and in the West End. He then went on to play Raoul in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Alex in Aspects of Love in London and on Broadway, and Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim's Passion. In 1998 The Variety Club of Great Britain named Michael as their Recording Artist of the Year. His status as a recording artist is secured by a voice that has a remarkable range, embracing rock as readily as light opera, and switching easily from ballads to show-stopping numbers. His single Love Changes Everything hit number one in the charts and, since his debut album Michael Ball hit number one in the UK album chart, there have been 10 gold albums and in 1999 he won his first platinum disc for The Movies.
