A Backstage Betrayal

Michael Ball

THERE'S no business like showbusiness especially when it comes to life in the theatre... but when there are dark secrets lurking behind the curtains, the drama isn’t always just on stage.

Take your seats, dim the lights and enjoy the show as singer, actor, presenter, and now author, Michael Ball (pictured below) brings his thirty years of musical theatre wit and wisdom to the second ‘act’ of an exhilarating series played out against the fascinating back and front stage life of a Yorkshire theatre in the Twenties.

Packed with insider knowledge, a dazzling cast of diverse characters, and a plot that would be worthy of any stage performance, The Empire series is turning out to be a theatrical treat that has won a multitude of hearts and plenty of reading encores. Top of the bill are 46-year-old Lady Lillian Lassiter, widowed co-owner of the Empire, her son Jack Treadwell, the manager and erstwhile proprietor, and his playwright wife Grace, and the year is 1926 when times are hard at the theatre in the Yorkshire town of Highbridge.

The post-war period has brought with it a lot of turbulence and Jack, Lillian, and Grace know they need to get things back on track. So what could be better than the annual pantomime and an all-singing all-dancing talent contest, showcasing the best performers around.

But could Lillian’s new admirer, Grand Duke Nikolai Kuznetsov of Marakovia, be bringing disaster in his wake, will the Empire get caught up in the scandal surrounding West End star Stella Stanmore, and what are their enemies in Highbridge planning? While Jack and Grace fight to ensure the show does go on, a high-ranking British royal visitor raises the stakes, and a young widow called Sally Blow dares to dream that the talent contest might be her big break. But as the contest draws closer, tragedy strikes... it seems that amid the sequins and sparkle there are strange goings-on, and a plot is afoot. Is everything Jack and Grace have worked so hard for about to come crashing down, and could this be curtains for the Empire?

The inner workings of the magical world of theatre spring to glorious life in this glitzy, glamorous but also gritty and down-to-earth tour of the majestic Empire and the many and varied people who work to keep the stage lights burning and the show alive and kicking. Ball certainly knows his stuff and it shines through in this mesmerising and authentic portrayal of theatre life as we peer into the backstage ups and downs, tread the boards with the actors, witness the cut-throat nature of theatre management, and follow the staff and players’ personal and professional dramas and dilemmas.

Stars of the show are undoubtedly Jack – whose blood fizzes and thrums to the beat of the theatre –and his feisty wife Grace, the Empire’s young stalwarts whose exuberance and addictive enthusiasm add extra zest to the performance and bring a welcome light to some of the darker corners of the story.

With secrets and scandals, intrigue, glamour and romance, and all the excitement and vibrancy of a theatre with its heroes and villains, there is never a dull moment from curtain rise to the final, action-packed showdown. Indeed, you might say that the Empire has everything a top-notch production requires… the next act can’t come a moment too soon!
(Zaffre, hardback, £20)