Welcome to the world of Michael Ball’s insightful musings and profound reflections. Michael Ball, a renowned figure in various spheres of life, including music, theatre, and philanthropy, has left an indelible mark with his words that resonate with audiences across the globe. Whether through his performances on stage or his interviews off it, Ball’s eloquence and wisdom shine through, offering inspiration and encouragement to all who encounter his words.
In this collection, we gather some of Michael Ball’s most memorable quotes, showcasing his wit, compassion, and depth of understanding. From his thoughts on creativity and perseverance to his reflections on love and life’s journey, each quote encapsulates a nugget of wisdom waiting to be discovered. Whether you’re a long-time admirer of Michael Ball or someone encountering his words for the first time, we invite you to explore and be enriched by the insights he shares. Below, you’ll find a selection of quotes from Michael Ball that you can use to uplift your spirits, share with others, or even adorn with stylish fonts on images.
As a performer, once you’ve understood the genre of musical theatre, you can tire very quickly of the two-dimensional stuff. With Sondheim, it’s always a challenge. It’s difficult and exhilarating and he’s so good on the complexities of relationships and on things going wrong. Michael Ball
I will always tour, it’s hard work it really is hard work, but the feedback and the buzz you get back from it is worth it. Michael Ball
In 2005, I played Count Fosco in ‘The Woman In White’ on Broadway. It was a disaster. I was physically run down and terribly homesick and I just knew I had to leave. I lasted three months before the producers released me. Michael Ball
We’re so stuck in our heads with social media that we don’t get to meet people and go out to have a joint experience unless we go to a live event, like the theatre. Michael Ball
You must never ask or expect anyone to do anything that you would not be prepared to do yourself. Michael Ball
You will never, ever catch me at the gym. Michael Ball
If you’ve got someone fighting your corner, someone who loves you and you love, and is also really, really clever, the battle is so much easier. Michael Ball
Musicals allow a depth of emotion that you don’t get in another form of acting, the chord changes, the lyrics really affect people, so that in two hours, you’ve forgotten about things. Michael Ball
I have far ascended beyond every ambition my 16-year-old self ever had. Michael Ball
I love my fans and they follow me everywhere – I recognise a lot of faces. Michael Ball
You can’t ever make assumptions about a family tree. Michael Ball
Theatres, stages are dangerous places. Michael Ball
You can’t make a star – they just have it. Michael Ball
I think shows like ‘Dancing on Ice,’ ‘X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ make great telly, but I’d never want to be contestant. I’m far too insecure and competitive. Also, working in theatre, you’re being judged all the time – and I’d rather not be told I’m awful in front of millions of people! Michael Ball
Anyone who’s suffered from panic attacks knows how frightening they are. Michael Ball
I don’t think you last very well in this business if you’re trendy because trends come and go. Michael Ball
I sometimes feel I want to release an album without people knowing it is me. Michael Ball
Try to leave people feeling better for having met you. Michael Ball
Les Mis’ was an amazing experience, to be in the original cast of ‘Les Miserables,’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ God bless it that was fantastic, at the London Palladium the biggest theatre in London the most successful show that has ever been at the London Palladium, that was fantastic. Michael Ball
I love the genre of early Hollywood. It gives you everything. Michael Ball
This was a seminal moment in my life – my dad took me to see the original production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Palace Theatre in 1973. I thought it was just amazing, so powerful. The idea of using rock music to tell the story of Jesus was incredible. Michael Ball
I love a drink. But I’ve never, ever in my life been on a stage and done a performance with an alcoholic drink inside me. Never have, never would. I’ve seen people who do and invariably they’re never as good as they think they are. Michael Ball
When I was 19 and at drama school, a couple of friends and I decided to drive from Guildford through France, down to the heel of Italy and then take a ferry to Greece – in an MG Midget. On our second day, in France, we were in a very bad accident and wrote off the car so we had to go home. But we then flew out instead and went island hopping. Michael Ball
I have a family who are desperately not interested in sharing their life with the world. Michael Ball
Tapping therapy is absolutely brilliant. Stephen Gately from Boyzone, God rest his soul, told me about it. It’s just a little tap that focuses the mind away from that wave of panic and adrenalin that shoots into your body. Michael Ball
You can generate a phenomenal relationship with an audience. It’s very gratifying, a real privilege. Michael Ball
I was very close to my grandmother, Agnes Parry. She was a typical matriarchal leader of the family and the community. People looked up to her and would always go to her for advice and help. Michael Ball
Bacharach has such a brilliant ear for melody and his music has a completely timeless feel to it; I thought it would be great to do a whole album of his music and to record with a full orchestra and big band which is something I hadn’t done before. Michael Ball
I’ve recorded a few Bacharach songs over the years and performed some in concert and always felt they suited me. Michael Ball
I send a text every day to my partner Cath, saying ‘I love you.’ Michael Ball
I’ve heard everyone do ‘Bring Him Home’ from ‘Les Miserables.’ When Colm Wilkinson did it, I truly never thought I would hear anyone as good, never mind better. Michael Ball
I love doing characters that surprise people and showing what I am, which is an actor, first and foremost. Michael Ball
I tap my fingers and cheekbones before going on stage to calm down. But nerves are necessary; if you ever lose them, it’s a bad sign. Michael Ball
I never thought of myself as a particularly controversial figure. Michael Ball
You can’t get down and dirty at the opera. Michael Ball
You have to be on your game with a live audience because anything can change. Michael Ball
I have my family life and I think it’s important to be able to shut the door and keep the door shut, and that keeps you grounded. You stay in reality. Michael Ball
What does annoy me is when critics use me to ridicule my audience. All the stuff about ‘Tesco housewives’ and ‘the blue-rinse brigade.’ Michael Ball
The one I really get on with is Princess Anne. Talk about calls a spade a shovel! And she’s so clued-up. She’s a patron of a number of charities. I’ve been involved in a couple and she’s not just a name. She knows the research programmes that are going on. She really does her homework. Michael Ball
I saw ‘Hairspray’ in New York and had one of the best nights I’ve ever had in the theatre. Michael Ball
I’m not a big fan of Christmas, and I think there are a lot of people who feel a bit melancholy at the holiday. Michael Ball
I made a conscious decision to stop watching ‘Big Brother.’ I was an avid fan, but I felt it was time to move on. Michael Ball
That’s what distinguishes the pros from people involved in amateur theatre. You just go out and do it again and again. Michael Ball
How many millions of times have I sung ‘Love Changes Everything?’ But when I see how it matters to people, it gives me the impetus to rediscover it and remember how lucky I am to have a song like that. Michael Ball
I adore Dartmoor, where I grew up, and the Cotswolds are amazing. Michael Ball
I’m a fairly traditional British cook, as my partner Cathy doesn’t enjoy spicy food, although I like to experiment myself. Michael Ball
I like to walk around John Lewis or Selfridges window-shopping. Michael Ball
I love the idea of being on stage and people thinking they know who Michael Ball is, they’ve got an image and then not knowing and going: who’s that? I mean, that’s the best compliment ever. Michael Ball
For the millennium, we flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Pangkor Laut, a nearby island. Michael Ball
When I was starting, I was working with actors who came up through the rep system, and they understood the discipline required: you were never late for rehearsal, you were never not ready to go on, you were always prepared; it was about showing respect to the rest of the company. Michael Ball
You often take the mick out of the people you like best. Michael Ball
Music is music and there are only two types: good and bad. Michael Ball
Legally we have integration, social acceptance and diversity… but that doesn’t mean… everybody is down with it. Michael Ball
Wilbur Smith’s novels make terrific holiday reading. Michael Ball
I used to bottle things up. Michael Ball
All you have to offer as a performer is yourself. Michael Ball
The biggest myth I’d like to bust isn’t about me – it’s about musicals. So many people dismiss the entire art form through highbrow snobbery, but I think a lot of those people would be suprised if they actually saw some. Michael Ball
Leona Lewis made some really nice albums. Michael Ball
I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. But then a lady at the youth theatre asked me if I’d ever thought of going to drama school. Michael Ball
I can’t properly explain it, but I don’t mind admitting I suffered a breakdown. Michael Ball
I got involved in the Surrey Country youth theatre which led me to go to drama school where I realised that this was going to have to be my career, and I was really lucky to get big breaks early on. Michael Ball
Songs from the theatre can be taken and put on record in a commercial and contemporary way, be reinvented and become standout tracks on their own. Michael Ball
I particularly like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Both writers have wit and imagination and the breadth of stories they tell coupled with extraordinary artwork make for fascinating reading. Michael Ball
I’m really superstitious. Michael Ball
I’ve got soft features, curly hair with blonde bits and dimples. People think of me as a singer, an entertainer, someone who’s always there with a ready smile. Michael Ball
There’s something about the security and warmth of knowing that one person who, whatever happens, will always be on your side. Michael Ball
No-one has ever sung quite so beautifully as Karen Carpenter. Michael Ball
When you’re on stage and the stars are aligned and the audience is as one and you’re guiding them, steering them… It’s a feeling of incredible potency, of unity, of such, such joy. It’s almost overwhelming to know that you’re making that number of people feel better. Michael Ball
I spent my 40th birthday on the stage of the Palladium in ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.’ Michael Ball
I’d love to explore South America, but the security issues worry me. Michael Ball
Well, I try not to let people down in the work that I do or in how I conduct myself. Michael Ball
I had Steven Spielberg on my radio show. Michael Ball
Country songs are theatrical songs, they tell stories, and wear the hearts on their sleeves and they have great melodies. Michael Ball
There are certain fans who come to everything I do. Michael Ball
Working is learning. Michael Ball
I play roles, but when I’m off stage, I always try to be myself. Michael Ball
I’d rather take the mick out of myself before anyone else does. I know they’ll do it, so I’d rather get in there first! Michael Ball
When I was playing Marius in the inaugural production of ‘Les Mis,’ I contracted glandular fever which developed into a post-viral depression. I was 23 and I couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Michael Ball
Working every day isn’t hard if you love what you’re doing. Michael Ball
People will assume what a record is going to be like and they are loath to even give it a listen. Michael Ball
The first time I encountered Stephen Sondheim was like everyone else: through snatches of old songs people performed in drama school, through ‘Send in the Clowns,’ which everyone knew. I wasn’t aware at the time that he was the writing force behind ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Gypsy.’ Michael Ball
I understand the power of music, I understand the therapeutic nature of music, the sense of community that music engenders, so I totally understand why it still goes on, choirs come together as a focal point for a community. Michael Ball
We’ve all sort of been there: It’s coming on Christmas, all that preparation is going on, and you just want to escape. You don’t want to buy into it. It’s a time of year that brings up a lot of memories for people, and if you’re missing somebody, it’s hardest at this time of year. Michael Ball
To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are. Michael Ball
I do all the cooking at home and love it. Michael Ball
Having grown up in musical theatre, I know what works and what doesn’t. Michael Ball
The bravery and pioneering of early Hollywood was absolutely incredible. Michael Ball
Musicals aren’t two-dimensional froth. Michael Ball
As a person, Stephen Sondheim is a very funny, very dry and very shy man. I’ve never witnessed any diva-ish moments, he just always seems so thrilled people are doing his work. Michael Ball
It’s a mantra I’ve lived by for as long as I can remember. Nothing lasts for ever. Michael Ball
I absolutely love ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ and have never missed a series – but I would never appear on them. Michael Ball
Ah, ‘Kismet,’ or Carry On Camel, as we called it. I thought the show was shocking. It was the worst designed production ever but it’s got a fantastic score. It’s not an awfully good book though. You really have to work hard to eke out any laughs from that script. Michael Ball
I’ve never been fashionable, so I’ll never be out of fashion. Michael Ball
I just work so much and so hard that I love the idea of being around family, friends and my animals quietly at home, just chilling out. Michael Ball
The only thing I won’t eat is swede – I can’t bear it. Michael Ball
I don’t have hobbies. Other than watching telly and walking my dogs, what I do is work. That’s who I am. Michael Ball
I need to have a sleep before a show and a quiet hour. I need to get dressed following the same routine. And I like to smell right for a show. Michael Ball
It is as polar opposite as it comes for the man who was Edna Turnblad in ‘Hairspray’ to come back as Sweeney Todd. Michael Ball
That’s the only show where, if anyone says to me, ‘Is there a role you want to play?’, I say, yeah, I want to play Sweeney Todd. Stephen Sondheim’s so clever; it’s a profoundly brilliant piece of work. Michael Ball
I’d always had this hankering to try some opera. Michael Ball
