Interview: Mark Ballas on His Chicago Return and Holding it Down for the Broadway Nerds on Dancing with the Stars

As a three-time Mirrorball Trophy winner and one of the most recognizable faces of Dancing with the Stars, it’s easy to forget that Mark Ballas is also a certified triple threat. A graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Ballas made his Broadway debut in 2016 as Jersey Boys’ final Frankie Valli and returned to the New York stage in 2018 as Charlie Price in Kinky Boots.

And yet, his most headline-making Broadway turn came earlier this year when he and his season 34 DWTS partner Whitney Leavitt (breakout star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) came to the Ambassador Theatre for what became a box office-busting run in Chicago. Opposite Leavitt’s Roxie Hart, Ballas played shyster attorney Billy Flynn, a role he’s reprising this summer from July 20-August 16 just as he also returns to TV screens as a judge on Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.

Hoofer, teacher, actor, singer-songwriter. The man wears many hats and TheaterMania chatted with him about them all ahead of his Chicago return. And as a bona fide Broadway Nerd, we couldn’t let Ballas get away without sharing who tops his list of stage favorites and which Chicago number might be ballroom-bound.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

You’ve had a bit of a full-circle journey with Chicago. Can you tell me about your first time auditioning for the show in London?
That was one of my first auditions out of theater college. I was maybe 18. I tried out for the ensemble and got three or four callbacks. I ended up being too short for the lineup which was a huge drag. But it was a really great learning experience to see some of London’s best and to make it that far. So, I remember it very clearly. I didn’t get the gig then, but fast forward nearly 20 years and I’m here playing the guy!

How do you feel you’ve evolved as a performer since those early days?
Just nuance, experience, detail, confidence, and the ability to relax. Of course, there are still nerves. It’s good to be nervous before you perform. But I’ve just been doing it so long now and I’ve had so many types of live performing experiences that I feel like most performers don’t get: Broadway, touring music, live television. I’m able to really harness all of that experience into my performances now. I think the challenge to doing a Broadway show is not getting stuck in a hamster wheel. It’s the same with Dancing with the Stars. Even though you’re doing the show every night, your audience isn’t the same every night, so you’ve got to create that magic every time. That’s what makes it fun. But for me, I was raised in the old-school discipline of “the show must go on and you must deliver.”

What’s your take on Billy Flynn? The suave, slimy lawyer feels like a very different lane than Kinky Boots’ sweet Charlie Price or even Jersey Boys’ tortured Frankie Valli.
Frankie was a bad boy. [Laughs]

True. Do you see some of that in Billy too?
He’s a bad boy. On the front, he’s selling you a car. But he did grow up rough. He came from the wrong side of the tracks. I think there’s an element to the way I play him where you can just see it in the eyes. Like, “Don’t cross that line because you don’t want me to bring out the other guy.” But think about what he’s doing. He’s getting people off for heinous crimes that we all know they did. That’s pretty sinister. Even his songs. When you dive into the theory of these songs, there’s a darkness to it. I love that. I feel that way with Bob Fosse’s choreography. That’s also inherently who I think I am as an artist. There’s a sense of torture in there. I definitely try to tap into those moments in the show where you’re like, “Oh, I wouldn’t mess with him.”

Did you ever scare Whitney when she was your Roxie?
No, because we know each other so well. But we definitely let each other have it in a couple of the scenes. There were definitely nights where it was hotter than others.

You’ve had two Dancing with the Stars partners go on to land roles on Broadway—Charli D’Amelio in & Juliet and Whitney in Chicago. As a mentor and teacher, how does it feel for you to see people you’ve coached reach those career milestones?
It was very cool to see Charli dance in & Juliet. As a dancer, it’s one of the goals—to be in a Broadway show. I was very proud to watch her do that. And with Whitney, getting to star with her in the show was just a dream come true. If you had told me last season when we started, “In a few months you guys are gonna be on Broadway together,” I would have never believed you. It was a Dancing with the Stars first.

Aside from being a Broadway performer, you’re also a Broadway fan. Right now, who is the actor you go out of your way to see onstage?
Brian d’Arcy James. Been a fan of him since he was in The Wild Party off-Broadway. The Andrew Lippa version. That album is a slam dunk. I danced to “Let Me Drown” on Dancing with the Stars years ago. It wasn’t his version because the band had to cover it—I would have loved to have had his voice booming through the halls. But he invited me to see him in Something Rotten! and my wife and I went and he was just amazing. [Also] J. Harrison Ghee, who was my Lola in Kinky Boots. I went to see them in Hadestown recently. Amazing.

Are there any other pros on Dancing with the Stars who like to nerd out about Broadway?
Not really. Derek, because we went to theater school together. But Derek doesn’t really count as a pro anymore, right? He’s a judge. Yeah, mostly Derek. We can nerd out about it. But I’m the biggest nerd. I just referenced Andrew Lippa. [Laughs]

You and Whitney did some “Cell Block Tango” this past season, but what’s the next Chicago number you can see coming to Dancing with the Stars?
The overture for sure. We’ve had so many songs from Chicago on the show, “Cell Block” being a big hit. But that overture—there’s something about it. It’s got Charleston and Quickstep written all over it.