| Authors > Mem Mic > Michael Ball 1-10 Quotations of 13 Michael Ball quotes
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    “[Ball is one of the few musical comedy artists to have distinguished himself
equally as an interpreter of both Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim, who would seem to be
polar opposites as songwriters.] I'm very lucky that I've gotten to work with both of them, ... I was in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th party concert at the Albert Hall. That same year I was in
a special show called Hey, Mr. Producer , a celebration of Cameron Mackintosh's work. There
was a Sondheim section, and Cameron asked if I'd be part of it. I'd already recorded 'Losing My Mind'
from Follies , which is one of my favorite songs of Steve's. But I hadn't yet done a particularly
traditional treatment of it. Steve said he wanted me to do it absolutely straight, the way it was
heard in the original show, which I was delighted about. And he worked with me on it--just him, and
me, and a pianist in a tiny room, for an hour-and-a-half master class on this song. I came away knowing
every nuance; why he wrote everything that he did; why every note was in its place; why the phrasing
was like this--can you imagine how thrilling that was? And he is so articulate in explaining his
work; you can be under no illusion why something is there. When you have that understanding, that
is when his work opens up to you. Of course, they put me between Judi Dench singing 'Send in the Clowns'
and Bernadette Peters doing 'Being Alive.' You try holding your own in that company!” |  Michael Ball quote
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