Life's a
Apr 25 2009 by Gordon Barr, The Journal
North lad Ben Forster looks set to make big waves in the music industry. Gordon Barr meets up with the entertainer who was born to perform
AS a teenager, Ben Forster spent hours in his bedroom listening to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Elton John and Michael Jackson.
He could only dream of one day being in their shoes – performing to thousands, selling millions of CDs and being a household name.
He’s come one step closer to fulfilling that dream and, in many ways, is indeed in the shoes of Jacko – as one of the star performers in the hit West End musical Thriller Live.
Next month, he also releases his debut single, Fall Apart, on Schizofreniks Records, followed by an album in July. The dream is now becoming a reality for Sunderland lad Ben.
“When I was growing up, I sang to a lot of different styles,” he says. “I sang a lot of musical theatre and I was always involved in stuff at school (Thornhill), so theatre influenced me. But I was always drawn to really strong vocalists, like Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Elton John.
“Maybe it was just sitting in my room over the years, singing along to all of them as a teenager, that created my tone. I’m lucky.”
His is a real-life Billy Elliot story. “My sister Abbey was into the performing arts, as was my cousin, who dragged me to an audition and, because I was a boy – they never had boys – it was like ‘yes you can be in it’. I was only 11 and everyone else was 15 or 16. That’s where it started, once you get a little bit of success and people tell you that you are good at it, you just carry on doing it,” recalls Ben, whose dad Ted was a plumber and mum June a community worker.
Spending his youth in Millfield, Sunderland, where his parents still live, Ben attended Diamond Hall school and then Thornhill. “Growing up, I remember going to dance every Saturday with my sister. I never did the class, but I went and watched. Then my sister got into a few shows at the Empire and some pantomimes. To feed her hunger for it, we started amateur dramatics with Seaham Vane Tempest and after a year or two my parents got involved, my mum was on stage and dad helped backstage. We went every Monday and Thursday night.
“Growing up, I was full-time performing at every opportunity. I did a commercial for Newcastle Building Society, my first professional job, and at 14 I decided to enter myself in Search for a Star, between the local comprehensive schools in Sunderland.
“I had always been in the ensemble, the chorus, in the amateur dramatics, and with Search For A Star it was the first time my parents had heard me sing seriously. I sang Starlight Express and I won the competition. My music teacher, Mrs Bennett, gave me a form for the National Youth Music Theatre and I applied for that and came down to London and got into it. It was a fantastic experience – other young people, especially other young men, who were willing to do it.
“I was the only one of my kind at that point, in 1995. Young guys from Millfield didn’t get up and sing and dance – it was a Billy Elliot kind of story.
“I’ve got to put my hands up to Thornhill. They were absolutely brilliant, the extra curricular activity there was amazing. I used to be there until 5.30pm most nights, with the drama teacher and singing teacher. They just gave tireless hours to helping us put shows on. We were constantly working on a show. That kind of dedication from a teacher is how they churn out people who have talent and love doing what they do.”
Ben is making reference to his friend, Gary Watson, who was two years his junior at Thornhill, but who is also living the dream, performing in the international tour of Mamma Mia!. “When I started at Thornhill there were no boys in the productions. It just wasn’t something you did. Hopefully I helped lead the way.”
Ben left school at 16 and worked for a graphic designer, but office work wasn’t for him. “It brought it home to me that I needed to perform,” he says.
His next step was to apply to the Italia Conti stage school in London, for which he auditioned, got offered a place, but at the cost of £30,000.
“Our house wasn’t even worth that back then. So my parents said they would help as much as they could and re-mortgage, but if I could get a scholarship that would help. I got a half scholarship, so my parents downgraded their car, re-mortgaged their house and sent me off to London.
“They did everything, as they had to pay half the fees and also pay for me to live. The rent at the time was £125 a week, and their mortgage was nowhere near that a month. They completely sacrificed everything. For them to be able to do that for me is just incredible.
“But they are so proud of me. I have been lucky, there hasn’t been a moment in the last 10 years when I haven’t been in employment. From the day of leaving college I’ve completely been able to make my own living. In this business it is very hard to have a career and make money. Even in the worst times when I’ve had to go out and look for stuff, I’ve been able to sit in a pub and the pub have paid for me to sing.”
Ben soon made a name for himself at Italia Conti. He was one of the strongest male singers and soon found himself in the third years’ production of Fame, despite still being in the first year.
Then fate leant a helping hand. The BBC arrived at the stage school with the prospect of featuring it in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, and heard about Ben. “They based the pilot around me. Then I started filming with the BBC and they followed me every day for a year for The Dream Academy. Because I had the cameras on me, it opened a few more doors. It was luck. I was sent up for a West End show in my second year at college and I got it – La Cava.
“Third year is a performance year anyway, and there is nothing better than being in a show in the West End, and so I started my career at 18.”
Making his West End debut on his 18th birthday, the show ran for nine months. He then landed a year-long role in the Beatles musical All You Need Is Love, after which the documentary was aired.
“I hooked up with a few songwriters. I spent a few months doing that then was asked to do Grease, and I played Doody for a year in the West End,” continues Ben, who is in a long-term relationship. “While I was in Grease, I got offered a record deal with an independent label in Carlisle, but just as we were finishing the album, the label went bankrupt.”
He then spent several months looking for new management and a few years working on his music, doing lots of gigs, before signing with American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe in LA.
They wanted Ben to ‘do’ country, but he was never happy with it and returned to London. “I had a few different managers, then got a record deal in London, with Schizofreniks. I had written my EP and album with them, and was then asked by the casting director to come into Thriller Live.
“It is an absolutely brilliant job. I started it in January, and we’ve had some excellent reviews.
“I think if you are a singer and you grew up in that generation, you have to be in awe of Michael Jackson.”
Ben continued: “It is a busy time right now, with my CD about to come out. Because I’m in the show, still doing eight shows a week in the West End, I am trying to fit in as much as I can around that.
“I am in front of 1,000 people a performance in Thriller, but I have found MySpace is incredible. I can’t get over the power of MySpace, I get messages from all over the world, from Mongolia to the Bronx in New York.
“The power the internet has for singers is incredible. If there are any singers in the North East thinking ‘what do I do, how do I step forward in climbing up the ladder in the music industry’ it is MySpace first.
“I’ve got 21,000 fans the last time I checked and every day it goes up and up and up.”
Check Ben out on My Space at www.myspace.com/benforstermusic. His debut single Fall Apart is released on May 25.
