I think Barry Gibb would be a wonderful person to work with. Because he just writes good tunes.

He's a very natural chap. The public David Essex is the same as the private one. He's laid-back, charming, funny. There's no side to him.

Although I've got lots of pals in showbiz, I haven't got that many close friends.

Most of my friends tend to be people who I've known since I was at school.

If you now have 20 previews, you will regard 19 of them as super-rehearsals, which is fine, except you are being watched by thousands. I remember suggesting on more than one show over the years, 'Let's not have any previews.' But no one agreed with me. If you could do that, however, it would be a great gimmick - no previews, just opening night.

I am sure if you went back to the days of 'My Fair Lady,' they would have had one public dress rehearsal, and that is it. And in a way, I would like to go back to that.

I do enjoy Singapore very much.

Two songs I like are 'High Flying Adored' and 'Another Suitcase Another Hall,' both from 'Evita.'

There was so much on 'Superstar' that we didn't intend. I mean, there were things that we did which were innovative, but some of them were forced on us because we couldn't get anybody to do the show. 'Evita' was much more sophisticated. That doesn't make it better, but it does make it different. We knew what we were doing.

I always think 'Pity the Child' is a goodie. And I've always liked a song called 'Heaven Help My Heart,' which is quite a corny number.