Michael Ball (born Michael Ashley Ball, on 27 June 1962 in Bromsgrove, England) is a British actor and singer, best known for musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, and Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Although born in England, Michael Ball is half Welsh, and says jokingly that he considers himself "Wenglish" and proud to be British [1]. He studied Drama at the Guildford School of Acting and graduated in 1984. His first major break was a star part in the production of The Pirates of Penzance at the Opera House, Manchester. Next came a brief stint in Rep. Cameron Mackintosh saw him and cast him as Marius in Les Misérables. Next came Raoul in the second casting of Phantom of the Opera, and Alex in Aspects of Love, both in London and on Broadway, and Giorgio in Stephen Sondheim's London production of Passion. Alone Together was Michael's one man show first performed at The Donmar Warehouse (which was reprised in 2004 for the Singular Sensations season at the Haymarket). In 2002 Michael took on the role of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which was largely considered his comeback role. In 2005, at 10 days' notice, he replaced Michael Crawford, who had to leave the show due to ill health, as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, and gave a popular and critically-acclaimed performance.
Other performances include singing at the BBC's St David's Day concert, at the Les Misérables Tenth Anniversary Concert in 1995, and the fiftieth birthday party of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1998. He is a dramatic baritone known for his range, expression and power.
Michael is an accomplished concert artist and tours frequently around the UK. He has also performed concerts in Australia and America. Since reaching the top of the British charts with "Love Changes Everything" (from Aspects of Love) Michael had small successes with follow up singles but in the main he has concentrated on releasing albums, all of which achieved Gold status within weeks, and in the case of The Movies album in 1998, Platinium in 7 weeks{was released Oct 26th confirmed Platinium status in interview on 12 Dec}. Michael represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, singing the song "One Step Out of Time", which finished second.
Michael has also turned his hand to presenting both on TV and radio and has presented The National lottery, Children in Need and This Morning, and had his own series on TV and radio (Ball over Broadway on BBC Radio 2) (which is in its fourth season), The Greenroom, and several specials for BBC Radio 2 on subjects such as Nat King Cole, Cameron Mackintosh, and Cy Coleman.
In September 2005, Michael made his NYC Opera debut as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience with the New York City Opera.
In October 2005 Michael released his latest album "Music". The album went into the UK charts at number 11, and spent 10 weeks in the top 75. The album finished the year the 99th best selling album of 2005.
In November, 2005, Michael returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, which transferred from London's West End. However, he was forced to leave the show due to a reported viral infection caused by the fat suit required for the role, which reportedly raised Ball's body temperature by several degrees during the show. The suit is also thought to have been the cause of Michael Crawford's premature departure from the show in London. The show closed early, in part due to the health problems of Ball and leading lady Maria Friedman.
Michael spent the first quarter of 2006 on complete vocal rest, following the illness that caused him the leave Woman In White on Broadway. By the middle of July, Michael had taken part in the Royals Court's celebratory performance of The Rocky Horror Show, recorded a new album (called "One Voice", due for release on 30 October 2006) and made a guest appearance on Julian Lloyd Webber's album "Unexpected song". Then came the summer concerts at Aberdeen, Bath, Southport, Oakley Hall and Cardiff. In August, Michael sat in for Michael Parkinson on his Radio 2 show. He was interviewed for Radio 3's "Stage and Screen" programme, and recorded a tribute to Anthony Newley at Hackney Empire, also for Radio 2. Michael then took part in 'Proms in the Park' in Singleton Park, Swansea. He sang two tracks from his forthcoming album, 'One Voice'; the title song and 'Hero'. Michael also sung show stoppers, 'This is the Moment', 'Anthem' and 'Love Changes Everything'. In November, Michael will be releasing a new DVD containing all the best songs from his 'Live in Concert' DVDs. They will be split into five sections: Musicals, Love Songs, Personal Favourites, Party Time and Unplugged. The DVD will also include a brand new "Unplugged" session which Michael has recorded with just 4 other musicians in the studio especially for this DVD. It will be released on November 20 2006. Six days later he will join Petula Clark in concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. (In 2004, he co-starred with her in a production of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard at the Cork Opera House in the Republic of Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC. Michael has lots of promotional activities coming up at the end of the year with the release of his new album 'One Voice'.
It has been announced that Ball will be taking the lead role in Kismet in June/July 2007 for the ENOdetails can be found on the English National Opera website.There will also be a tour but exact dates are not known yet{Michael confirmed this during his Stage and screen interview}.
He is currently sitting in for Johnnie Walker on his Sunday afternoon BBC Radio 2 show.
the climb
Michael Ball Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We can always do better
We can always do more
We can always go further
Than we've gone before
We can climb the stairway
To glory this time
Till there are no more steps to climb
We can always find reasons
To abandon our goals
But this time we won't falter
We will reach our souls
We can climb the stairway
To glory this time
Till there are no more steps to climb
This world is yours
This world is mine
The light inside us all is gonna shine
It's gonna shine
It is time to stop dreaming
It is now time to fly
We must not leave this moment
Our chance won't slip by
We can climb the stairway
To glory this time
Till there are no more steps to climb
We can climb the stairway
To glory this time
Till there are no more steps
There are no more steps left to climb
The lyrics of the song "No More Steps to Climb" by Michael Ball encourage listeners to push beyond their limits, to always strive for more, and to reach their full potential. The first stanza begins with the phrase "We can always do better," implying that there is always room for improvement. The repetition of "we can" throughout the song reinforces this idea of limitless potential. The chorus states that we can climb the "stairway to glory" and keep going until we've reached the end. This implies that there is no limit to what we can achieve if we keep pushing ourselves.
The second verse emphasizes the importance of not giving up on our goals, even when it seems difficult. The line "We can always find reasons to abandon our goals" acknowledges that it's easy to give up, but the song encourages listeners to persevere. The repetition of "we can climb the stairway" in both verses serves as a reminder that we have the ability to achieve anything we set our minds to.
The bridge introduces the idea of a common humanity, stating that "this world is yours, this world is mine." The light within us is meant to shine and be shared with others in order to encourage growth and success. The final verse is the most motivational, as it urges us to take action and seize opportunities rather than just dreaming about them. The repetition of "we can climb the stairway" throughout the song leads up to the final line, "Till there are no more steps left to climb," emphasizing that we should never stop striving towards our goals.
Line by Line Meaning
We can always do better
There is always room for improvement
We can always do more
There are endless possibilities for progress
We can always go further
There is no limit to how far we can go
Than we've gone before
We should strive to exceed our past achievements
We can climb the stairway
We can work our way up steadily
To glory this time
Towards a victorious outcome
Till there are no more steps to climb
Until we have reached the highest level of success
We can always find reasons
There is always an excuse to give up
To abandon our goals
To give up on achieving what we want
But this time we won't falter
We will not give up or lose hope
We will reach our souls
We will fulfill our deepest desires
This world is yours
We are all capable of great things
This world is mine
We each have our own unique potential
The light inside us all is gonna shine
Our inner strength and greatness will shine brightly
It is time to stop dreaming
The time for action is now
It is now time to fly
We are free to pursue our dreams
We must not leave this moment
We cannot waste this opportunity
Our chance won't slip by
We need to seize the moment before it passes
There are no more steps
The path to success has been fully achieved
There are no more steps left to climb
Success has been reached, no further progress can be made
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: DON BLACK, ROD ARGENT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Maguire
on Wherever You Are
This song was probably written by Graham Gouldman and Andrew Gold