Michael Ball

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2008

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the actor and singer Michael Ball. For more than 20 years he's been the West End's leading man - winning stacks of awards, building a hugely successful recording career and attracting a large and loyal army of fans.

He was a teenage drop-out, but when a teacher encouraged him to go to drama school he suddenly realised what he wanted to do. Success seemed to come easily to him and he quickly took on leading roles in Les Miserables, Aspects of Love and Phantom of the Opera. But at one point he feared he would have to abandon his career; he was on stage performing in Les Miserables when he suffered his first panic attack. They became so severe that he could barely leave his flat and he hated the thought of anyone looking at him. He shut himself away for nearly a year as he tried to work out what was wrong with him and overcome his anxieties.

In Desert Island Discs he describes how he managed to return to the stage - and reveals the role his partner, Cathy McGowan, has played in rebuilding his confidence.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Sailing By by Ronald Binge Book: The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman Luxury: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough district of New Zealand.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello I'm Krestey Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.
0:05.0	For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.
0:08.2	The program was originally broadcast in 2008. My castaway this week is Michael Ball, the biggest stage musical star of his generation, he's
0:32.2	been the West End's leading man for
0:34.2	more than 20 years described as one of the great intelligent singing artist today
0:39.3	he's bagged all the plum rolls going and a rock-solid fan base along with it.
0:44.0	All 12 of his solo albums have gone gold within weeks of hitting the shops.
0:48.0	Yet, for a time it seemed he would have to abandon his career.
0:52.0	He was so crippled with stage fright that for a year he couldn't perform,
0:56.0	suffering panic attacks so severe he thought he might die. He retreated to the isolation of his flat. He says,
1:02.0	I just sat in my flat and was
1:04.4	miserable. I worked it out myself, didn't go and see anyone, but worked out what my
1:09.0	problems were that needed resolving. It's an incredible journey for a man who these days
1:14.4	describes the sensation of being on stage as just a feeling of being bathed in love and
1:19.9	joy. It's all about that then for you. It's all about the relationship with the audience.
1:24.0	Certainly when you're doing solo things, when you're doing solo concerts.
1:28.0	Yeah, that's why I think anybody is performing. They want approval and appreciation from an audience.
1:35.2	Different then when you're in a musical?
1:36.5	I think so because you're being a character then. You're hiding behind something.
1:40.1	You're not being yourself. You want a reaction, an acknowledgement from the audience but when you're being just yourself
1:46.9	Absolutely you just want a Niagara of unqualified praise now
1:52.1	We may explore that later.
	...

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