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.Collection: Amazing
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.Collection: Smile
I spent my 40th birthday on the stage of the Palladium in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'Collection: Birthday
I adore Dartmoor, where I grew up, and the Cotswolds are amazing.Collection: Amazing
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.
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.
It's a mantra I've lived by for as long as I can remember. Nothing lasts for ever.
I play roles, but when I'm off stage, I always try to be myself.
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.'
To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are.
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.
No-one has ever sung quite so beautifully as Karen Carpenter.
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.
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.
Try to leave people feeling better for having met you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I can't properly explain it, but I don't mind admitting I suffered a breakdown.
I made a conscious decision to stop watching 'Big Brother.' I was an avid fan, but I felt it was time to move on.
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.
Working is learning.
All you have to offer as a performer is yourself.
Working every day isn't hard if you love what you're doing.
I don't have hobbies. Other than watching telly and walking my dogs, what I do is work. That's who I am.
I've never been fashionable, so I'll never be out of fashion.
I do all the cooking at home and love it.
I absolutely love 'Big Brother' and 'Celebrity Big Brother' and have never missed a series - but I would never appear on them.
I send a text every day to my partner Cath, saying 'I love you.'
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.
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.
Wilbur Smith's novels make terrific holiday reading.
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.
You must never ask or expect anyone to do anything that you would not be prepared to do yourself.
You can't make a star - they just have it.
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!
There are certain fans who come to everything I do.
Anyone who's suffered from panic attacks knows how frightening they are.
I have far ascended beyond every ambition my 16-year-old self ever had.
Music is music and there are only two types: good and bad.
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.
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.
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.
What does annoy me is when critics use me to ridicule my audience. All the stuff about 'Tesco housewives' and 'the blue-rinse brigade.'
I saw 'Hairspray' in New York and had one of the best nights I've ever had in the theatre.
It is as polar opposite as it comes for the man who was Edna Turnblad in 'Hairspray' to come back as Sweeney Todd.
I've recorded a few Bacharach songs over the years and performed some in concert and always felt they suited me.
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.
I love the genre of early Hollywood. It gives you everything.