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The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ champion opens up to PEOPLE about coming back to the stage and the emotional full-circle moment he shared with the person who inspired his love for theater to begin with
NEED TO KNOW
- Mark Ballas returns to Broadway’s Chicago as Billy Flynn after breaking box office records earlier this year
- The Dancing with the Stars champion tells PEOPLE he dreams of performing alongside his wife BC Jean in Chicago and envisions her as a rock-inspired Roxie Hart
- He also reflects on his theater roots and the special moment his grandmother saw him perform
Mark Ballas is back where he belongs.
The Dancing with the Stars champion has returned to Broadway’s Chicago for a four-week encore as smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn after his previous engagement earlier this year became a runaway success, breaking the musical’s box office record every week and delivering its highest-grossing performances in nearly three decades.
Now, as he slips back into the pinstripe suit through Aug. 16 at New York City’s Ambassador Theatre, Ballas tells PEOPLE he’s excited to dive even deeper into the iconic role. But he’s already dreaming about the next time he might step onto the Chicago stage — and exactly who he’d want standing beside him.
“My wife and I, a goal of ours — and this is before I even joined Chicago — I was like, ‘God, one day we’d love to do a Lisa Rinna and a Harry Hamlin and play Billy and Roxie together,’ ” Ballas, 40, says of his wife, singer-songwriter BC Jean.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen a rock singer tackle Roxie Hart,” he continues, explaining that his wife’s voice has “a little bit of a Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks texture” to it. “It’s a little rough, but it’s very smooth at the same time. And she’s got some moves in there, you know? And what do I do for a living? I teach people how to dance, so I can help her out with that1”
His dream title for the production? “‘Rock and Roll Roxie,’ ” he laughs. “Come on, let’s go.”
The idea isn’t just wishful thinking for Ballas, whose Broadway résumé has steadily grown since making his debut as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys in 2016 before starring as Charlie Price in Kinky Boots two years later.
His first stint in Chicago earlier this year also marked a full-circle moment, as he shared the stage with former Dancing with the Stars partner Whitney Leavitt before illness forced him to miss several performances after a flu outbreak swept through the company.
“I was sad to miss a few shows,” he says. “But we are human beings, and sometimes we get sick.”
In fact, he says the virus spread so quickly that it sidelined seven cast members and four musicians in the orchestra. “If a flu is in the theater, it’s taking out a load of you,” he says with a laugh. “But we made it through.”
Now, he’s excited for another chance to spend more time with Billy Flynn and looking forward to discovering even more layers to the character.
“What I love about Billy is that not everything is as it appears to be,” Ballas says. “Billy is slick, he’s suave, he’s cool. He’s a know-it-all. He is working you at all times, a master manipulator. However, he is self-made. He comes from the wrong side of the tracks and he’s built this whole persona and this business that he has.”
“You don’t want to mess with him,” the actor, dancer and choreographer continues. “He’ll draw that line, and he’s a little dangerous. I think that’s something kind of fun to dive into with his character.”
While Broadway has become a major chapter of his career, Ballas says nothing compares to the life he’s built offstage with BC Jean.
The couple, who perform together as the indie-pop duo Alexander Jean, will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary this November. They also welcomed their first child together in November 2023, a milestone Ballas says has transformed him in ways he never expected.
Asked what he loves most about his wife, Ballas doesn’t hesitate. “Just her selflessness,” he says. “She’s just so loving and kind and caring. Her care for others, her care for nature and animals and how wonderful of a mother she is.”
“She’s my best friend,” he adds. “She’s my ride or die. We just get each other. I love her more and more every day. She’s, as we’d say in England, a really, really good egg.”
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He laughs that becoming a father to son Banksi Wylde has also unlocked a softer side of himself. “I just cry now,” he says with a smile. “Out of nowhere, I’ll be scrolling on TikTok and these dad posts will come up and I’ll just be a mess. I’m so soft now.”
Watching his wife embrace motherhood, he says, has only deepened his admiration for her. “Seeing her as a mom is just... it’s beautiful. It’s sexy. It’s everything,” says Ballas. “Watching them together and just doing our family stuff, it’s the most important thing in my life.”
Returning to Chicago has also reminded Ballas just how long this dream has been in the making.
Growing up in England, he spent nearly every Saturday at theater school after his grandmother faithfully rode the train with him from the time he was 4 years old until he was old enough to travel on his own.
Years later, she finally made the trip to New York to watch him fulfill that childhood dream to see him in Chicago. “My nan hasn’t been able to travel to the States for a while,” he says. “Having her make the trip... she saw five shows in a row. It was just so special.”
For Ballas, it was impossible not to think back to those early weekends learning songs like “All That Jazz” and “Razzle Dazzle” as a little boy in jazz shoes.
“To remember learning all that in theater school and now I’m playing Billy Flynn on theater’s biggest stages,” he says, “that was a very, very proud moment for me.”
Tickets to Chicago are now on sale.
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