Alfie Boe and Michael Ball share surprising 'Les Miserables' link from early in their careers
In their careers Michael Ball and Alfie Boe were both told by their agents early that there was no suitable role for them in Les Miserables, despite the show going on to be pivotal for both singers.
The pair spoke to Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time about what makes their Together collaboration so successful, and the parallels in their early careers which got them where they are now.
Alfie Boe made his name in Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème, which he was approached for after Luhrmann had spent two years looking for a lead for the Broadway production. Boe now has four top ten solo albums to his name.
Ball said when he heard about a production of Les Miserables early in his career he called his agent right away to see if there would be a chance of an audition in the show. He was told there was no part for him in the show, but through Bonnie Langford's agent he managed to get an audition.
WATCH: Alfie Boe and Michael Ball recall how their agents tried to stop them from auditioning for Les Mis
Boe said: "You were with an agent that said that there was no role in Les Mis for you? I was with an agent in New York, when they were doing the revival on Broadway.
"I said: 'Can I go and audition for it? Can I give it a shot?' And he said exactly the same, he said: 'There's no role in it for you, Alfie, there's no role in Les Miserables for you it's pointless going to do it.'
"And then it was you Michael, that got me the role."
Ball persuaded Cameron Mackintosh to come and see Boe in a production of Kismet they were both doing at the London Coliseum and from there he was cast in the 25th anniversary show.
Boe said: "I was so lucky to get the role of Les Miserables because there's so many wonderful guys out there that played Jean Valjean already, that pulled out the bag to do such a wonderful job, and could have done an amazing job on the 25th anniversary."
The pair also talked about what makes their collaboration work and how it first came about. They are currently touring their Together at Christmas album.
Ball said: "I think we knew that we would enjoy it. We knew with our work ethic, the music that we like, the music we found that would work together, that we'd enjoy it.
"Of course, you never know something's going to succeed, if something is going to capture people's imagination. And I think that's one of the reasons why it did because it was truly an organic thing.
"It started off with us just saying, let's do some gigs together and see what happens. A record company found out and said: 'Why don't you make a record?' So we did and it just mushroomed that first tour."
WATCH: Alfie Boe and Michael Ball on what they think is the key to their successful partnership
