Getting into drag for the role of the domineering mother in the stage adaptation of John Waters' cult film comedy marks a distinct change of style for Ball to say the least. The role of Edna Turnblad was played in the original movie by gay icon Divine, while Ball is best known for his dashing roles in shows such as The Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love. "The secret is to play Edna as a woman and not as a man in drag," Ball told The Daily Mail. "You behave like a woman and you convince people and find the pathos, the way Dustin Hoffman did in Tootsie.”"
Among his long list of achievements in musical theater, Ball starred in The Woman in White and Aspects of Love both in London and on Broadway. Other London credits include Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Pirates of Penzance, Passion and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1999, the actor was presented with the Theatregoers Club of Great Britain's Award for Most Popular Musical Actor of the last 21 years. He has also established himself as a recording artist, releasing a dozen solo albums. He was named The Variety Club of Great Britain's Best Recording Artist in 1998. Ball starred in the New York City Opera's production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience in 2005.
With music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan and direction by Jack O'Brien, the show became an immediate Broadway smash when it premiered at the Neil Simon Theatre in the summer of 2002, where it continues to run. The U.S. production received five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, as well as seven Drama Desk Awards and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical. A film of the musical, starring John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, will be released this summer.