This is the podcast in which we ask a special guest the big, BIG question that nobody ever needed to ask.
If there was a huge asteroid hurtling toward Earth threatening to destroy life as we know it and you could see one more show before you die, what would it be? It can be anything you want - a show you’ve seen before, one that you wish you’d seen, or something you’ve made up entirely. What would be YOUR Last Show on Earth?
Our guest this episode is Michael Ball.
Do we need to write anything here? It's Michael Ball FFS! The King of Musical Theatre!!
Ok if you don't know who he is - here's a brief rundown:
As a stage actor he has won two Best Actor in a Musical Olivier Awards, appeared in West End and Broadway box office hits like Aspects of Love, The Woman in White, The Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, Passion, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sweeney Todd and Les Miserables - in which he created the role of Marius (of course).
On TV he has been a regular presenter of The One Show and This Morning and has appeared too many times to mention elsewhere on telly but highlights (for us) include Toast of London, The Michael Ball Show, Coronation Street and That Day We Sang by Victoria Wood. He has presented loads of radio shows over the years and now has his own regular hugely popular Sunday morning show for BBC Radio 2 which has become a permant fixture of the station's schedule.
As a singer, he has released 21 bestselling solo albums, 5 bestselling albums as part of musical double act Ball and Boe, played concerts all over the world, represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest and hit the top of the singles charts with songs like Love Changes Everything, One Step Out of Time and You'll Never Walk Alone (with Captain Sir Tom Moore)
He has Honoray Doctorates from the University of Plymouth and the University of Surrey and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for Services to the Arts.
He has just released his first novel The Empire - the first in a series of novels set in a fictional Victorian theatre and returns to the West End in a new production of Aspects of Love in 2023.
Links:
Michael in Toast of London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Z970HPbcE
Michael Ball on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/2MISUlPFrBMRlIcazbEOUI?si=ChP6gZQbRAaNsOTTR0vwWw
Official website https://www.michaelball.co.uk/
Buy The Empire here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-charming-romantic-Cameron-Mackintosh/dp/1804180548
Buy Aspects of Love tix here: https://ticketing.thelyrictheatre.co.uk/tickets/series/LYAOL01M
Charcoal Fish restaurant, Rose Bay, Sydney https://www.charcoalfish.com/
Hosted by John Owen-Jones and Alistair Brammer
Music written by John Owen-Jones and Alistair Brammer
Music performed by John Owen-Jones and John Quirk
Recorded & edited by John Owen-Jones and Alistair Brammer
A 2022 John Owen-Jones Associates Production
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