Celebrity

MICHAEL BALL: STAGE FRIGHT

THE MUSICAL THEATRE STAR, TV AND RADIO PRESENTER BRINGS HIS OWN THEATRE EXPERIENCE INTO HIS DEBUT NOVEL

Musical theatre star Michael Ball is recalling when he took to the stage in Les Miserables in the West End – and literally froze.

He had been performing the role of Marius Pontmercy for months, when crippling stage fright caused him to walk out of the production.

“The first couple of times, it came from nowhere. You ’ re doing what you know, and then something happens in your head. It’ s almost like another voice going, ‘You don ’t know the next line, you don ’t know what’ s going on ’ , ” he explains.

“You have a physical reaction. Your heart starts pounding, you start getting tunnel vision, sweating, you can’t breathe. Your mind goes into a panic and it’s fight or flight.”

Today, the award-winning singer and broadcaster – famed for roles in Hairspray, Sweeney Todd and The Phantom Of The Opera, as well as hit solo albums and collaborations with singing and touring partner Alfie Boe, plus his Sunday morning BBC Radio 2 show – seems warm and confident, exclamations peppering his genial conversation, laughing loudly, talking relatably and entertainingly.

Yet he vividly recalls drying up on stage during that dark time. “I was singing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, which I’ ve sung a hundred times, and I couldn ’t remember it. I don ’t know how I got to the end of the show. I just thought, I can ’t face feeling like this again. ”

Those stage fright feelings began to happen when he was on his way to the theatre.

“It’ s only because [theatre producer] Cameron Mackintosh had faith in me and after a period of time said, ‘You need to get back on the horse, or you ’ll never

know ’ – and I did and I managed to control the anxiety and the panics. ”

Finally, his agent persuaded him to take on a job singing one song on live TV on Miss England, while the votes were being counted.

“It was awful but I got through it and it put it all into perspective. It also coincided with Cameron turning up and saying, ‘We’re recasting after the first year of The Phantom Of The Opera – you need to see if you can do this’. And I got on top of it.”

This all happened in the 1980s, but Ball has explored the subject in his debut novel, The Empire, set in the 1920s –about the on and off-stage dramas among a cast of characters, whose world revolves around the eponymous fictional theatre in the north of England. There’s the glamour and the greasepaint as well as treachery and rivalry, in an industry Ball has made his career.

To deal with his own panic attacks, Ball learned to breathe properly, to ride the wave of stage fright, to distract his mind. “It still happens now when I’m stressed or very tired or not on top of my game.”

Despite the triggers of overworking, his schedule seems massive – there are stage projects, albums, broadcasting, more tours. He agrees he finds it difficult to turn down work.

“Every actor or performer, when they do their last show, says, ‘Will anyone ever employ me again?’ You’re always worried about the next gig. And I love a challenge.

Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.

It doesn’t feel like work. I love the Radio 2 show. I feel like I’m connecting with mates, I’m having a chat and I’m playing nice music. I don’t find that a pressure. And I have a good home balance,” he reasons.

He lives in London with his partner of 30 years, journalist and broadcaster Cathy McGowan.

“She’s my rock,” he says earnestly. “She’s been there for all the ups and downs. We have a wonderful family and are private about it.

“She’s not remotely interested in fame. She’s immensely proud of what I do and is great at giving advice, she has no ambition herself, only for me.

“We have a real life. I do the shopping and the cooking.

“If you’ve got people in your life who are intuitive, sensitive and understand what makes you tick, and who you are able to talk to, that’s what I need. Cath sees the warning signs in me.”

He’s immensely proud of his family (he is stepfather to Cathy’s daughter, Emma, godfather to Emma’s son and step-grandfather to her daughter), and says he finds it easy to switch off after work, enveloping himself in family life.

He turned 60 in June, which he says “sort of sucks”.

Ball adds: “When I got my Freedom Pass, I went, what? And prescriptions are free now – and my God do we need more prescriptions! Everything hurts!”

He has a knack of being able to make things happen – like the book. “I had plot ideas, I knew what I wanted to write and, like so much in my career, you make the right phone calls and then just knuckle down and see if anything comes of it.”

He says the pandemic enabled him to expand creatively, writing songs and an album, Together In Vegas, with Alfie Boe, whom he hopes to tour with again in 2024. He’ll be back in the West End next year (though he won’t reveal what for) and has a second novel to write to fulfil his two-book deal.

He and Boe remain firm friends outside of work. “We’re not Ant and Dec,” Ball says wryly. “We are very different in so many ways, but we just get each other.”

Unlike his singing pal, however, he wouldn’t appear on reality shows like Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof, he says with a laugh. “I love reality shows and there have been approaches made, but I’m too competitive and it’s not for me.”

In any case, it doesn’t seem he’d have time for reality TV in his jam-packed schedule.

“I’ve never just sat around and waited for something to happen,” Ball observes.

n The Empire by Michael Ball is published by Zaffre, priced £20. Michael Ball and Alfie Boe released their new album Together In Vegas in October on Decca.

Michael Ball in Hairspray.

ON WITH THE SHOW

ANDY RICHARDSON CHATS WITH THE PROMOTERS OF A FESTIVAL PLANNED AT LUDLOW CASTLE

When Ben Stone and his old mate, Colin Oliver, put tickets on sale for a concert at Ludlow Castle, they hoped for the best while expecting the worst.

After all, agreeing to meet the costs of one of Britain’s most successful indie rock bands, while paying for the expensive infrastructure that a major gig requires, hits even the deepest of pockets.

And so they waited to see what happened when tickets went on sale.

And, to their delight, the 3,500 earlybird tickets sold out in less time than it takes to say ‘the tickets went like hot cakes’.

Whether they’d repeat the feat, however, when the remaining 1,500 tickets went on sale was a different matter. And yet, to their delight, the tickets sold out even quicker than the previous 3,500, giving Ben and Colin a sell-out gig in the county’s premier location. Win flippin’ win. For Ben and Oliver, it was the culmination of years of hard work. They’d planned and dreamed, dreamed and planned – all the while being unsure whether or not their ideas would make it off the drawing board and into reality.

They’d known one another for decades. The fiftysomething gig promoters had knocked around in Ludlow, back in the day, and while Ben had gone onto carve out a successful career in a digital media and marketing agency, that he owns, Oliver had had to move away. He’d realised very early on that his chosen career in music would be unsupported by a sleepy, south Shropshire market town and instead he’d decamped to Leeds, where he’d created the

Ben Stone.

successful music business, Futuresound.

Ben says: “Colin and I have always been good friends, going back years. We worked together years ago but Colin had to move away to follow his path. He’d put on little gigs back in the day but when he couldn’t find a career in Ludlow, he set up shop in Leeds. He set up Futuresound

Bastille will play at Ludlow Castle next summer.

The stage at Ludlow Castle for Ludlow Festival in 1995. and he basically booked the complete who’s who of Britpop.

“His business went from strength to strength and he formed record labels, record presses, manufacturing companies and management companies and got into bars and venues. He does big events like Live At Leeds and Slamdunk Festival.”

Ben, meanwhile, stayed local. He forged a career in Ludlow as a website developer, marketeer and digital media consultant, operating Visual Works. The business flourished as he won a series of awards while securing work with a number of big name brands, in addition to local companies.

Well-connected, popular and highly creative, he found a successful formula and somehow managed to succeed from offices in a rural part of the district –instead of having to move to Birmingham, London or further afield.

MEETINGS

Ben’s ability to stay local meant he got involved in a number of popular events, from Ludlow Food Festival to the nowdefunct Ludlow Arts Festival, which ran for 53 years before running out of cash.

“The Arts Festival was great for a long time and after a while it wanted me to be involved in the committee meetings as well as doing the marketing.

“They’d always previously put bands from the 1960s on. I had a chat with Colin and he said he could help them find acts. So we had a few meetings with them and we offered them some really good acts, like Ellie Goulding, in the year she broke and got her Brit Award.

“There were other acts, like Human League, who had just started touring again. They went with Shakin’ Stevens. It didn’t sell out and then the festival folded.”

A few years later, there were other ideas to bring big name artists to Ludlow. The Kaiser Chiefs had started touring and were planning to play racecourses. Their singer, Ricky Wilson, was keen to play venues with more character, so Colin booked them for Kirkstall Abbey, in Leeds. Ben and Colin approached Ludlow Castle about doing something similar in Shropshire – only to find the doors firmly shut.

Hope dies last and Ben and Colin refused to give up. They felt denied, having put forward a series of good plans

Some of the artists who’ve performed elsewhere in the county in the past. Clockwise from top left, Tom Jones, The Vamps, Madness and Boyzone

for the town. A change of management at Ludlow Castle, however, meant the plans were revived.

“We went back to them and they were really receptive. The doors were open and here we are today, with Bastille to play at Ludlow Castle in summer 2023.”

Ben and Colin have a sell-out show on their hands – and plans for other bigname acts further up the road. But the overriding purpose isn’t simply to have fun; it’s to enable the next generation of Bens and Colins to do their thing, too.

Ben says: “What we’re seeing in Ludlow is that there are far fewer opportunities for young people. We see a huge amount of young people leaving the town to find opportunities.

“For a long time, me and Colin have been talking about the idea that we come from the wrong side of the tracks. So the idea behind the Bastille gig is that we generate enough cash to set up some sort of foundation or charity, which helps other people like us, who want to be creative.

“We want to provide a resource for education and learning in Ludlow, particularly for people who are from the wrong side of the tracks and would have trouble finding their way in other ways. It will be arts and culture and sport-related.

“We’re all very, very keen on doing it. Part of the reason we’re doing the show in the castle is to take money from ticket sales and put that into an organisation. We’re looking to take kids with troubled histories or who are volatile and provide them with mentoring and help them with their mindset.”

It’s a laudable ambition from two local lads – and one that will be given a kickstart when thousands of fans gather for a sold-out gig.

WALK HEAD FOR THE HILLS

BY ANDY RICHARDSON

As we head towards Christmas, those who don’t normally leave the sofa will be preparing for a leisurely walk with family and friends. And one of the best places for beginners to walk is Haughmond Hill, just outside Shrewsbury.

Haughmond Hill is a large woodland that is very popular with dog walkers and visitors wanting easy walks with nice views. It has many rough paths, two surfaced trails and a good car park. There are few places better, for people looking for easy terrain and the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors.

With parking for more than 100 vehicles, its nearness to Shrewsbury means there is plenty of independent bars, coffee shops and restaurants for post-walk refreshments.

Two trails are particularly good for newcomers. The Corbett Trail is a 1.3km circular trail on a broad, hard-surfaced path. There are plenty of benches around the trail where you can sit and enjoy the wood. In one or two places the gradient is steep for short distances. Experienced walkers recommend that newcomers follow the route in a clockwise direction.

The Bardon Trail is a 1.3km linear trail that passes the Quarry viewpoint. There are plenty of benches around the trail where you can sit and enjoy the wood. There is a 25-metre long, steep incline to the Quarry viewpoint. Both trails are challenging for unassisted wheelchair users.

In many ways, Haughmond Hill is ideal for those who don’t walk regularly. It is open dawn to dusk, disabled parking spaces are available, wheelchair-accessible picnic benches are available, there is

Haughmond Abbey. Photo:JudySmith View from Haughmond Hill. Photo:RobertGwilliamShrewsbury

excellent access from the car park to paths and well-controlled dogs are welcome, with dog bins provided.

The hill itself is steeped in history. Haughmond Hill is made up of ancient turbidite sediments from the late Precambrian era which once cascaded off the edge of a continent into the ocean that surrounded it.

The villages of Uffington and Upton Magna lie below and the B5062 Shrewsbury to Newport road runs through the northern half of the woodland.

Deer can be found in the woods, which are mixed deciduous/coniferous and are to some extent used for forestry to this day.

The hill has several dubious connections with the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Queen Eleanor’s Bower is a small enclosure on the hill from which the wife of Henry IV of England supposedly watched the battle’s progress.

Finally, the “bosky hill” mentioned in Act V Scene I of Shakespeare’s Henry IV part 1 is almost certainly Haughmond, which looms to the east of the battlefield:

How bloodily the sun begins to peer

Above yon bosky hill?

The day looks pale

At his distemperature.

Also nearby is Haughmond Abbey, now a ruin, and Ebury Hill, a prehistoric fort. The summit has the ruins of Haughmond Castle, a folly originally built about 1780 that collapsed in 1931.