Michael Ball News

Michael Ball talks exclusively to BWW:UK about Spamalot - and his West End return...

Double Olivier Award winner Michael Ball joined the West End company of Spamalot Monday night to raise money for the Royal Theatrical Fund, taking the role of God for the week and joining the cast on stage for the final curtain call.

West End veteran Michael Ball will be the next star to join the cast of SPAMALOT, beginning tonight at the Playhouse Theatre, as 'God' on screen. Past participants have included Hugh Bonneville, Bradley Walsh, Barbara Windsor, Simon Callow, Christopher Biggins, Michael Palin, Larry Lamb, and Brian May, who have taken part in the 'The Summer of Charity Spamalot Gods (in 2D).' All play 'God' on screen during Spamalot for a week at a time, with money being donated to their nominated charities.

All Star Productions presents DAYS OF HOPE, with Music and Lyrics by Howard Goodall and Book by Renata Allen.

Musical theatre royalty paid tribute to lyricist Don Black at the Royal Festival Hall last night as he celebrated 50 years in showbiz.

All Star Productions has announced full casting and creatives for DAYS OF HOPE, with Music and Lyrics by Howard Goodall and Book by Renata Allen.

Perfect Pitch and Royal & Derngate, Northampton, are offering British writers and composers the chance to create a brand new musical.

Il Divo, the record-breaking classical crossover group who has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide, met with the press today at Sardi's ahead of their limited run of live Broadway performances at The Marquis Theater with special guest, Heather Headley, beginning November 7, 2013. The band is set to release their 6th studio album A Musical Affair, on Syco/Columbia Records on November 5th. All four met the press yesterday and you can check out what they had to say to BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge below!

Il Divo, the record-breaking classical crossover group who has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide, met with the press yesterday at Sardi's ahead of their limited run of live Broadway performances at The Marquis Theater with special guest, Heather Headley, beginning November 7, 2013. The band is set to release their 6th studio album A Musical Affair, on Syco/Columbia Records on November 5th. BroadwayWorld brings you full coverage of their meet and greet below!

Il Divo, the record-breaking classical crossover group who has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide, met with the press today at Sardi's ahead of their limited run of live Broadway performances at The Marquis Theater with special guest, Heather Headley, beginning November 7, 2013. The band is set to release their 6th studio album A Musical Affair, on Syco/Columbia Records on November 5th. Check out photos of the marquee below!

Il Divo, the record-breaking classical crossover group who has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide, met with the press today at Sardi's ahead of their limited run of live Broadway performances at The Marquis Theater with special guest, Heather Headley, beginning November 7, 2013. The band is set to release their 6th studio album A Musical Affair, on Syco/Columbia Records on November 5th. Check out photos from the press conference below!

On last night's season finale of AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, champion Kenichi Ebina danced to a stirring rendition of 'The Lion King's' 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' performed by Il Divo and Heather Headley. Check it out below!

Australian producer Enda Markey presents a stellar international cast in the Asia-Pacific premiere of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

Kathryn catches up with Kerry Ellis to chat about gigs, conservation and upcoming events.

El popular cuarteto presentará su nuevo trabajo, 'A Musical Affair', en una serie de conciertos en New York el próximo mes de noviembre. La actriz de musicales Heather Headley se unirá a ellos sobre el escenario.

Il Divo is set to release their 6th studio album A Musical Affair on November 5 th. The album release will raise the curtains on a limited run of live Broadway performances at The Marquis Theater with special guest, Heather Headley,

Gary Naylor enjoys a splendid farewell to an unexpectedly lovely summer.

LIVE BY THE LAKE, the hotly anticipated series of outdoor summer concerts at Kenwood House, marks the welcome return of the English Heritage concert season. Produced by the young dynamic agency, Rouge Events, Live By The Lake's outstanding lineup of world class music is scheduled over six days - August 23rd-25th and August 30th-September 1st; each show promises to attract up to 10,000 music and film lovers to enjoy the music and share a picnic with friends and family in more than 100 acres of Kenwood House's beautifully landscaped gardens. Boasting the perfect mix of pop, rock, soul, classical, musical theatre and film, LIVE BY THE LAKE promises something special for every music lover in the land. Tickets are now on sale at www.kenwood.seetickets.com and there are a limited number of discounts for residents in many of London's northwest postal districts. Ticket holders will be able to choose a variety of reasonably priced tickets for each concert and to decide whether or not to bring their own picnic and all-weather paraphernalia! For those who want to rock up unhampered, the best of Carluccio's Italian picnics can be ordered in advance and picked up on the day of each orchestral concert. (NB: Suede and Keane concerts will be standing room only, so picnics and chairs should be left at home and a range of drinks and delicious food will be available from the on-site concession stands. PROGRAMME at a glance: August 23rd: SUEDE and special guests BRITISH SEA POWER August 24th: ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY and the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 25th: KEANE and special guest LAURA MVULA August 30th: 'SINGIN' IN THE RAIN' - film screening, score performed by the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 31st: ANA MARIA MARTINEZ and the ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA September 1st: MICHAEL BALL and friends sing GERSHWIN Nathan Homan of Rouge Events says: "We are absolutely delighted to be producing the first LIVE BY THE LAKE at Kenwood House in association with English Heritage. We've got a wonderful lineup of world class performers and I think Kenwood's beautiful grounds are the perfect setting for what promises to be a seriously great series of summer concerts. Even in this digital age, the appetite for live performance is greater than ever - the calibre of artists who are appearing at Live By The Lake is a testament to their own enjoyment of playing outdoor concerts and I think audiences across the six nights will love every minute of it." Publicity: judy.lipsey@premiercomms.com and Robbie.wilson@premiercomms.com 020 7292 8330 www.livebythelake.co.uk THE PROGRAMME in detail: Kicking off proceedings today August 23rd are the multi-platinum selling, mighty SUEDE (left), Britpop progenitors, one of the world's most exciting rock bands and whose sixth studio album 'Bloodsports' was released in March, after a ten year gap, to much critical acclaim. Suede's special guests are the splendid Brighton-based indie rockers BRITISH SEA POWER, the title of whose current album, 'Machineries of Joy', was inspired by a collection of short stories by the great sci-fi author, Ray Bradbury. The band recently performed their soundtrack for the documentary film 'From the Land to the Sea', directed by Penny Woolcock, at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival at the 02 and at the Sheffield Documentary Festival. On Saturday August 24th it's a feast for classical music lovers with the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk, performing a wonderful selection of arias from, among others, Carmina Burana, Madame Butterfly, Verdi's Requiem and many more. The night will end with a spectacular firework display. Roderick Dunk will be well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as the BBC Concert Orchestra's regular guest conductor for the long running Today Night is Music Night. To complete the perfect first weekend on August 25th the Brit Award winning, Grammy nominated, 10 million selling KEANE will take to the stage; fronted by the charismatic Tom Chaplin, the band's fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012 and immediately topped the UK charts. KEANE are delighted to have as their special guest the uniquely gifted soul singer/songwriter LAURA MVULA, whose debut album, 'Sing To The Moon', was released this year and instantly catapulted her into the musical stratosphere and a headlining slot at this year's Isle of Wight Festival. Today August 30th offers a truly rare opportunity to film fans: the screening of the 1952 musical romantic comedy 'Singin' In The Rain' to a LIVE score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Starring the legendary Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly, the film offers an entertaining depiction of a 1927 Hollywood caught up in the transition from silent films to talkies. The RPO, conducted by Neil Thomson, will bring the film's iconic soundtrack to life while the re-mastered film is shown on the big screen. Saturday August 31st is Opera Alfresco night with the English National Opera Orchestra and a special appearance by the incomparable Grammy Award winning American soprano, Ana Maria Martinez whose lyrical, elegant style has seen her grace all the grand opera houses around the world. The ENO together with principal soloists Wynne Evans, Fiona Murphy, Kai Ruutel and David Webster will perform some of the world's greatest and most popular arias from the works of Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and more. On Sunday September 1st MICHAEL BALL, double Olivier Award winner ('Hairspray', 'Sweeney Todd'), multi-platinum recording artist, and radio and TV presenter will close Live By The Lake's programme of events with a special evening of music by George and Ira Gershwin. Britain's top musical theatre star will be inviting friends from the West End stage such as Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck, and David Shannon to join him in performing some of the Gershwin's best loved songs including Summertime, I Got Rhythm, S'Wonderful, Shall We Dance, and many more.

On October 3, Royal Festival Hall will present A LIFE IN SONG: LYRICS BY DON BLACK- a celebration of one of the world's most versatile lyricists, the Oscar-winning Don Black, with the man himself in attendance.

Today it is announced that Michael Ball will lead the stellar guest line up to perform and pay tribute at A Life In Song, Lyrics by Don Black at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 3rd October 2013 to the backdrop of the BBC Concert Orchestra. Only Men Aloud, Marti Webb, Mary-Jess Leaverland and Sir Richard Stilgoe will also to take to the stage.