Michael Ball to Launch Concert Tour Sept. 12; Royal Albert Hall Performance Planned

By Mark Shenton
09 Sep 2009

Michael Ball, who recently completed his longest-ever continuous run in a West End musical when he played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre from the time it opened in October 2007 to July 2008, will hit the touring concert road with his new show Past and Present.

It will kick off at Oxford's New Theatre Sept. 12, and continue with dates in Bristol, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, London, Notitngham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Birmingham, Blackpool and Plymouth, ending Oct. 9. The London dates will be at Royal Albert Hall, Sept. 18-19.

In 2009 Ball marked the 25th anniversary of his professional stage debut, and in a press statement, he remarks, "I can't think of a better way of celebrating than going on tour and having a party with all my fans up and down the country. I'll be performing songs from Les Mis, Phantom, Aspects of Love, Hairspray, Kismet and we're planning a fabulous Jesus Christ Superstar tribute. I've got some fantastic guests coming on tour – there's Ben James-Ellis, who played Link in Hairspray, Adrian Hansel who played Seaweed, Emma Williams who was my Truly Scrumptious in Chitty and Louise Marshall who's a brilliant R&B singer and musical arranger. I'm also delighted to welcome on board Louise Dearman, a terrific West End performer and singer."

Ball's show Past and Present is named after his current best-selling Universal CD, which was released in March 2009 and went into the Top Ten in its first week.

To book tickets and see the full tour dates, visit www.livenation.co.uk.