Ben James-Ellis - Weekly Diary

Ben (who will be playing the part of LINK LARKIN), originates from Scarborough in North Yorkshire.  In 2005 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Italia Conti Academy of Performing Arts in London.

In 2007 he successfully auditioned for the BBC TV show Any Dream Will Do – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s search for the new ‘Joseph’ where he reached the semi finals.

This is his diary ......

Three words best describe the first week of Hairspray... Oh My God. No one ever told me it was going to be this tough!!! I’ve never sweat so much in my whole life - I think i’ve lost three stone already.

On the first day I walked into a room filled with people I’ve never seen before in my life, and as if by magic a familiar face appeared from the crowd - Michael Ball!  (You have to understand how amazing this was for a small town country boy, bumping into one of his all time idols!  I couldn’t believe what I was doing....

Jerry Mitchel (the choreographer) and Jack O’Brien (the director) are two of the most amazing, funny and inspiring people i’ve ever met in my life. Jack is a great person, i’ve never seen a director work the way he does. He comes into a room and the whole company are all ears, the respect he has within a week of rehearsals says it all for me. And Jerry... god where do I start? What a guy! He's so full of energy all the time. He’s the kind of guy who has two hours sleep on a night and can’t wait to get up in the morning. He has such tremendous passion for what he does. With Jack and Jerry pushing us we are getting so much done in a day. Obviously they have the Broadway show of Hairspray up and running so they know exactly what they want and what works. The support and enthusiasm is fantastic!

Within the first week the whole company has bonded as a team. The atmosphere in rehearsals is great, no friction, no bitching just hard (fun) work! I go to bed on a night and can’t wait to get up on a morning, and I lets just say I am not a morning person! It’s going to be such a great show, everyone is so talented and fully committed to what they are doing. I’m very honoured to be a part of such a great show, and I know you will all love it.