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We want to thank those of you who have taken the time to fill out our Broadway Fans Survey. For those of you who haven't had the chance yet, remember that 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 7th is the deadline in order to be eligible for our $225 Broadway Visa® Gift Card™ drawing.

The survey is completely anonymous. However, a valid e-mail address is required in order to enter the drawing.

Multi-platinum recording artist Michael Ball is one of Britain's best-known musical theatre stars. He is currently appearing as the evil Count Fosco in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Woman in White at the Marquis Theatre, a part he previously played in London. Mr. Ball returns to Broadway after last appearing here in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Aspects of Love . Ben Pesner caught up with him by phone from his dressing room following a Wednesday matinee performance.

Ben Pesner: Is Count Fosco as much fun to perform as he is to watch?

Michael Ball: He's even more fun to perform. When you get an evil bastard who's also funny and collects rats and sings arias, they don't come much better than that. It gives you a license to “play” on the stage, which I've never had before. I absolutely relish doing it. The great thing is he's not just very funny, but he's also really sinister. I thought it was very important that he wasn't just a buffoon. He's a very, very clever man, a brilliant tactician, and a great understander of the human psyche. His one weakness is his voracious appetite for everything, including women.

He is also a lover of animals, which puts you onstage with live mice, birds, and a rat!

becomes entirely spontaneous, because you can't train a rat to do exactly the same thing every night. It makes it very funny, because the audience knows that she's not doing exactly what she's meant to do.

You also wear a costume that adds a few pounds. Does the fat suit make it harder to sing?

I'm in it now - not in the costume, but all the prosthetic makeup. It's so soft and well made and blended into the contours of my face that it doesn't affect the voice at all.

The set for The Woman in White is certainly unique, relying on projected images in a way never before seen on Broadway.

Yes, I love it. Moments are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. But it is controversial. Isn't it great that we're still trying to push boundaries? I think Bill [Dudley, the scenic, video, and costume designer] is a very clever man, and I think the whole production was very brave to use these techniques. I think it's really paid off.

You have worked with some of the greatest theatrical composers of our time, including Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. You must have a terrifically collaborative relationship with them.

Oh, for sure. For example, the famous high note at the end of “Love Changes Everything” [in Aspects of Love ] was, sadly, my idea. It was right at the top of my range, and I said, “Wouldn't it be good, Andrew, if it went up there?” He said, “Do you think you could do it?” And I did it, and he said, “Right, that's it.” So he wrote it into the show, and I had to do it eight times a week! [Laughs] With Steve, when we did Passion , I knew that what I needed to make the role work was a big 11th-hour number,

which he expanded and rewrote and changed for me for the London production. You find that with anyone who's a great writer. They play to everyone's strengths, and are open to ideas, because this is a very collaborative art form.

Are you enjoying being back on Broadway?

I've wanted to come back since I was last here, but the opportunity has never arisen. When I was asked to reprise Count Fosco here, I felt really honored. It's such a great community here, and I really am loving it. I walk out of my stage door and there I am on Times Square. There's no place like this.

View a list of Michael Ball's Broadway credits.

Get tickets and information for The Woman in White.

Two of Broadway's most illustrious stars, the legendary Chita Rivera (now performing at the Schoenfeld Theatre in Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life) and the debonair David Hyde Pierce (currently starring in the smash musical, Monty Python's Spamalot), will be joined by cast and company members from

virtually every Broadway and Off Broadway show to celebrate and share in the joy of the holiday season when they flip the switch to light the 2005 Broadway Holiday Tree. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 7, at 5:00pm in Father Duffy Square (Broadway and 46th Street). The event is free and open to the public.

Get more details on the tree lighting here.

Ft. Lauderdale

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is the crown jewel of Fort Lauderdale's Arts and Entertainment District. Whatever your tastes -- Broadway musical or serious drama, modern dance or ballet, classical music or Grammy-winning pop concerts -- the Broward Center will have something for you.

Miami Beach

West Palm Beach

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts is one of the premier performing arts centers in the Southeast. Many regionally based arts organizations call the Kravis Center their home including Ballet Florida, Miami City Ballet, Palm Beach Broadway Series, Palm Beach Opera, and the Palm Beach Pops.

Looking for ways to give the gift of Broadway this holiday season? Here are some suggestions:

•  Great gift for kids – buy tickets to Kids' Night on Broadway® for January 31 or February 1. Some shows still have tickets available, but only through December 15! See website for the latest availability updates.

•  Visit the Broadway Ticket Center™ inside the Times Square Information Center on Broadway between 47th and 48th and pick up a Citarella Dinner Promotion for a 10% discount off lunch or dinner at Josephs by Citarella.

•  Take the family on a Broadway Open House Tour and learn about the history of Broadway theatres, shows and performers. Through December 31, 2006, receive a 25% discount with coupon OR 50% off with a Broadway ticket stub! Your exclusive peek behind the Broadway curtain is presented by Visa®. Find out more about the tour here.

•  New Broadway Cast Recordings are available since last season and make great gifts, including The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sweeney Todd (2005 cast recording), Sweet Charity (2005 Broadway Revival), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, All Shook Up, Little Women: The Musical, and Monty Python's Spamalot.

  Want to surprise your friends or family members with theatre tickets for the holidays and eliminate the guesswork? — Did they already see this show? Can they go on this date? — Give the Gift of Broadway with the Broadway Visa® Gift Card™ - an innovative way to give Broadway tickets as a gift, offering ultimate flexibility. This easy to use card is the perfect “last minute” gift idea and makes a great stocking stuffer! It can be used to purchase tickets to any show at the 39 Broadway playhouses in New York, as well as at theaters in the 140 other cities across the US that touring Broadway shows visit every year. Get additional information about the Card here.