The Official Michael Ball Website

What The Critics Are Saying…

Michael Ball "Divas At The Donmar" Sept. 17- 29 2001

"An audacious and largely electrifying cabaret debut…Ball tightens his grip over the intimate Donmar Warehouse, relying not on chitchat or a hand mic but on sheer empathy with his material, an audience member can be forgiven for checking the program. Can this really be Michael Ball? It is, and yet different - a darker, more burnished figure…Throughout, a questioning impulse fires up the bravura just as more than one number - Leiber & Stoller's "Is That All There Is," among them - casts the audience as de facto therapist to an avowedly self-analytical, searching Ball. The program mixes Sondheim, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa with a version of John Lennon's "Mother" that is as heartstopping as a subsequent "Happy Talk" is glistening with delight…Ball, in theory anyway, repped just the sort of mainstream arena artist who wouldn't seem to need the Donmar and vice versa…Imagine, then, one's surprise - and pleasure - at Ball's Donmar format, as cleverly devised and directed by Jonathan Butterell" Matt Wolf Variety

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"A journey worth taking…The voice remains pure and admirably precise, but the mood is darker, the romance laced with sardonic humour…with no talk linking the songs, Ball has to work harder than ever. His manic, foot-stamping version of "Padam Padam" makes Piaf sound almost reticent" - Clive Davis The Times

"Ball is already a big star but with this performance he goes for broke and catapults himself into the company of the all-time greats…Ball reveals a capacity to delve into the lyrics to reveal layers of pain, loss, and loneliness…He opens with Sondheim asking "Why Am I Here", whistles a few happy tunes to lead into "Where Or When" and then firmly presses the sensational button to sock across a show-stopping version of Piaf's Padam…Opening the second half with a breathtaking medley of dozens of the best popular songs of the twentieth century, he dazzles at a speed not seen since Danny Kayes's manic delivery… It's always thrilling to see an artist challenging himself and his audience and pushing his talent into a superior category and that is what Ball does here" - Christopher Downes West End Extra

"What makes this evening into more than just a star trawling through the highs and lows of 100 years of musical theatre is the shyly self-deprecating twinkle that he brings to the whole event…It's a finished artist who can make something new of "There's No Business Like Show Business", sung here very slowly, almost as a lullaby until the inevitable wow finish…The highlight of the evening is the opening of the second half, a hectic songfest, snatching phrases from about 50 standards to make up a collage of verbal and rhythmic nuances" - Patrick O'Connor The Telegraph

"The Divas At The Donmar' have been largely male this year, and none is more interesting than Michael Ball. In an all-new show, Ball abandons his usual amiable chat in favor of a song-by-song recital that intelligently tells the story of a man's mid-life quest for something better.Whether belting through 100 numbers in a breathtaking 10-minute marathon, turning Garland's "The Man That Got Away" into a lament for his own better beginning, or "There's No Business Like Show Business" from the usual anthem to a wry commentary on those who take it up for a living, Ball makes us rethink the songs we thought we knew too well" - Sheridan Morley International Herald Tribune, The Spectator

"A joy from beginning to end, not just because of the breadth of material but also for the reason that Ball has a wonderfully relaxed technique. The fact that he sings so many of his numbers sotto voice, for example, is a smart move because he forces you to listen...Most remarkably he has no linking patter, instead he regales us with a marvellously eclectic mix. There is a spot of Sondheim to begin with but also songs by newer writers like Adam Guettel and, more notably, from David Bowie and even Radiohead. He makes numbers like The Man That Got Away and Say a Little Prayer non-gender-specific, takes old show tunes at an unusual tempo and ends, cutely but appositely, with After the Ball" - Peter Hepple The Stage

"Michael Ball, the best musical theatre tenor of his generation, in a knockout programme, splendidly accompanied by Jason Carr on piano." Daily Mail

"There's a lot of emoting going on this pelt through songdom... and Ball manages it all with ease, from stage show to pop." Time Out

"There are effective refits of Bowie's "Life On Mars" and Radiohead's "Nice Dream"…On the evidence of the steamrolling medley of showtunes with which he kickstarts the second act, his telegraphed soulfulness won't woo the new audiences that he's after, but his talent might" - Brian Logan The Guardian



			What The Critics Are Saying… *Michael Ball "Divas At The Donmar" Sept. 17- 29 2001* "An audacious and largely electrifying cabaret debut…Ball tightens his grip over the intimate Donmar Warehouse, relying not on chitchat or a hand mic but on sheer empathy with his material, an audience member can be forgiven for checking the program. Can this really be Michael Ball? It is, and yet different - a darker, more burnished figure…Throughout, a questioning impulse fires up the bravura just as more than one number - Leiber & Stoller's "Is That All There Is," among them - casts the audience as de facto therapist to an avowedly self-analytical, searching Ball. The program mixes Sondheim, Adam Guettel and Michael John LaChiusa with a version of John Lennon's "Mother" that is as heartstopping as a subsequent "Happy Talk" is glistening with delight…Ball, in theory anyway, repped just the sort of mainstream arena artist who wouldn't seem to need the Donmar and vice versa…Imagine, then, one's surprise - and pleasure - at Ball's Donmar format, as cleverly devised and directed by Jonathan Butterell" Matt Wolf Variety *_________________* "A journey worth taking…The voice remains pure and admirably precise, but the mood is darker, the romance laced with sardonic humour…with no talk linking the songs, Ball has to work harder than ever. His manic, foot-stamping version of "Padam Padam" makes Piaf sound almost reticent" - Clive Davis The Times *_________________* "Ball is already a big star but with this performance he goes for broke and catapults himself into the company of the all-time greats…Ball reveals a capacity to delve into the lyrics to reveal layers of pain, loss, and loneliness…He opens with Sondheim asking "Why Am I Here", whistles a few happy tunes to lead into "Where Or When" and then firmly presses the sensational button to sock across a show-stopping version of Piaf's Padam…Opening the second half with a breathtaking medley of dozens of the best popular songs of the twentieth century, he dazzles at a speed not seen since Danny Kayes's manic delivery… It's always thrilling to see an artist challenging himself and his audience and pushing his talent into a superior category and that is what Ball does here" - Christopher Downes *West End Extra* *_________________* "What makes this evening into more than just a star trawling through the highs and lows of 100 years of musical theatre is the shyly self-deprecating twinkle that he brings to the whole event…It's a finished artist who can make something new of "There's No Business Like Show Business", sung here very slowly, almost as a lullaby until the inevitable wow finish…The highlight of the evening is the opening of the second half, a hectic songfest, snatching phrases from about 50 standards to make up a collage of verbal and rhythmic nuances" - Patrick O'Connor The Telegraph *_________________* *"The Divas At The Donmar*' have been largely male this year, and none is more interesting than Michael Ball. In an all-new show, Ball abandons his usual amiable chat in favor of a song-by-song recital that intelligently tells the story of a man's mid-life quest for something better.Whether belting through 100 numbers in a breathtaking 10-minute marathon, turning Garland's "The Man That Got Away" into a lament for his own better beginning, or "There's No Business Like Show Business" from the usual anthem to a wry commentary on those who take it up for a living, Ball makes us rethink the songs we thought we knew too well" - Sheridan Morley International Herald Tribune, The Spectator *_________________* "A joy from beginning to end, not just because of the breadth of material but also for the reason that Ball has a wonderfully relaxed technique. The fact that he sings so many of his numbers sotto voice, for example, is a smart move because he forces you to listen...Most remarkably he has no linking patter, instead he regales us with a marvellously eclectic mix. There is a spot of Sondheim to begin with but also songs by newer writers like Adam Guettel and, more notably, from David Bowie and even Radiohead. He makes numbers like The Man That Got Away and Say a Little Prayer non-gender-specific, takes old show tunes at an unusual tempo and ends, cutely but appositely, with After the Ball" - Peter Hepple *The Stage* *_________________* *"Michael Ball, the best musical theatre tenor of his generation,* in a knockout programme, splendidly accompanied by Jason Carr on piano." Daily Mail *_________________* *"There's a lot of emoting going on this pelt through songdom...* and Ball manages it all with ease, from stage show to pop." Time Out *_________________* "There are effective refits of Bowie's "Life On Mars" and Radiohead's "Nice Dream"…On the evidence of the steamrolling medley of showtunes with which he kickstarts the second act, his telegraphed soulfulness won't woo the new audiences that he's after, but his talent might" - Brian Logan The Guardian