Michael Ball (singer) solo concert at the classical music festival. Ball appeared in the Royal Variety Performance at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool on 3 December 2007 singing "You Can't Stop the Beat" with the rest of the cast from "Hairspray", the musical he was appearing in at the time. He continued in the role of Edna Turnblad in the musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 April 2009. On 2 March 2008, Ball appeared as the guest on the BBC Radio 4 show "Desert Island Discs", during which he talked about his early life and his career, including his struggle with stage
Swan Turnblad Swan Turnblad Swan J. Turnblad (October 7, 1860 – May 17, 1933) was an American newspaper publisher. Turnblad was the manager of the "Svenska Amerikanska Posten", a Swedish language newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Later in his life he donated property and money to help create the American Swedish Institute. Turnblad was born Sven Johan Olofsson in Tubbemåla, Vislanda, Kronoberg County, Småland, Sweden in 1860. His family were farmers but, following a series of bad harvests, they decided to immigrate to the United States in 1868. The family settled in Vasa Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota, where there was already a sizable