Michael Ball is back on tour

Twenty-five years, two Olivier Awards, multi-platinum selling records, and his own radio show; Michael Ball is truly at home in the spotlight.

When we speak he is busy planning his spring tour, which gets underway next month, and follows the release of his 19th solo album, If Everyone Was Missing.

“We don’t retire in this business, we just get fewer opportunities, and thankfully that hasn’t happened,” says Michael, reflecting on a long and varied career.

He is best known for his extensive work in musical theatre, as well as his career as a solo artist.

These two strands are brought together for the tour, which will bring Michael to the Brighton Centre.

He has been planning the content of the tour with musical director Callum McCleod, who he first worked with on Phantom Of The Opera back in 1988.

“That is brilliant for me – we know what we need to achieve and how to do it.”

He adds that sitting down with a blank piece of paper is always nerve-wracking though.

“We have only got it wrong once, and we sat up all night on the coach on the way to the next venue, going through it, and the next night did the best show ever.”

In terms of music, Michael is obviously influenced by musical theatre, but also is a fan of singer-songwriters and has a soft spot for country music.

“I don’t have a genre,” he says. “I like songs that inspire, songs that move, and songs that tell a story. I always love a challenge.

“I don’t read music, I just have it in my head, so I sit down with co-producers and arrangers and say ‘I want this...’ They’ve got to try to understand what’s in my head!”

For the latest album, Michael took on board suggestions from friends, family, and fans, resulting in a final list of 15 tracks – a very personal selection, he says.

“I just followed my heart. I was given the lovely brief by the record company of making the album that I wanted to make.

“I just try to find great songs; it’s the same when I’m putting a concert together, I try to find songs that will work together, that I like to perform, and will reflect the audiences’ tastes.

“There will definitely be some new stuff included from the album, a lot of stuff from musicals, that I know people want to hear and I want to perform, and a couple of surprises.”

Keeping the energy levels high night after night has to be exhausting, but Michael says that it is the audience that recharges his batteries.

“I feed off the audience. You arrive in a town in the early hours of the morning and you wake up knackered, but when you get to the venue and hear the audience come in, and the audience are great, that’s where the energy comes from.”

As for coming down from that adrenaline high post-concert, for Michael, nothing beats red wine and a box set.

It has been about two years since Michael has been in Brighton, a city he describes as “a fantastic place.”

He is a fan of the south coast in general, having spent time in Hastings at the recording studio of James McConnel.

Michael’s musical theatre debut was in the original production of Les Misérables, 25 years ago.

Some of Michael’s other high-profile theatre roles include characters in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Phantom of the Opera, Woman In White, and as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

In 2007, he performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms, which marked the first time a star of musical theatre had been given a solo slot.

“If something inspires me, or I have an idea to do something, I just try to make it happen,” says Michael.

This has meant some unlikely roles – Michael went straight from Hairspray to a part that could not have been more different.

Sweeney Todd came first to Chichester Festival Theatre in 2011 before going to the West End.

Michael says that he had always wanted to play the role of Sweeney Todd, and despite scepticism from critics, his performance won him his second Olivier Award.

“I think the success we had with Sweeney Todd was amazing. People were a bit dubious when we first announced we were doing it,” says Michael.

He has strong connections with Chichester; his mother lives there, and he had a home in West Wittering for a while.

Michael is looking forward to returning to Chichester Festival Theatre to star in Mack and Mabel in July.

A musical comedy, it is based on the romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand.

“That’s a story, a character, and a musical I fell in love with,” says Michael.

“It’s an amazing space, and there is a great team working down there.”

Another string to Michael’s bow is his weekly Sunday evening show on BBC Radio 2.

“Sitting down and playing great music, and listening to great music, is a joy,” says Michael, who is also looking to explore more film drama after his part last year in Victoria Wood’s BBC version of her musical drama That Day We Sang.

Michael Ball, If Everyone Was Listening Tour, is at the Brighton Centre on April 14. Tickets are £40, visit www.brightoncentre.co.uk or call 0844 847 1515.