My mom was sort of involved in amateur dramatics like Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, and played the violin. My dad played banjo and piano and sang as well, so there was all this music in my childhood.
My father was from Belfast; my mother was from Crossmolina. I grew up in Dublin.
Tom Hooper did an amazing job in capturing the feel of Victor Hugo's book. I thought some of the performances were incredible. I thought the Bishop would be a nice part to play, and they all made such a fuss of me being there.
'Bloodless' reminded me a bit of 'Les Miserables' when it first came out.
There's nothing like being in front of a live audience and getting that vibe from them, and I love people to join in the singing, and I love people to clap their hands.
People ask me how I sang the role of the 'Phantom' 1,700 times. And I say that it's down to good material. If it did not have good material, I would have had a major problem doing it for that length of time.
Hal Prince and Andrew actually asked me if I would be interested in continuing with 'Phantom', but obviously I was under contract to 'Les Mis' by then.
As a journeyman singer, I have to go to where the work is.
The movie has called it closed. I'm not saying I won't ever listen to 'Les Miserables' again. But it closed the door for me. It's gone its own way.
There have been lots of attempts to make a movie of 'Les Miserables' over the years.
'Les Miserables', the book, 'Les Miserables', the musical - it's about giving; it's about goodness. It's about compassion and love.
Have you seen the Broadway version of 'The Lion King?' Go and see it. That's where the future of musical is.
The 'Donny and Marie' show is incredible. It's not a musical, but for sheer entertainment value and energy, it's a real 10 out of 10.
I don't keep a lot of memorabilia around.
Eighty per cent of my time is spent on paperwork, hiring musicians, putting bands together, setting up concerts, and 20 per cent is spent on the music. That's the part that you really enjoy, but you can't afford to spend 80 per cent on your music; otherwise, it's not going to happen.
The great saints were always great innovators... They had to be very strong people... principled people. And, apart from their principles, with great tenacity they had to have great reserves of patience.
For myself, personally, I am never really aware of timing or anything because I am passionate about what I do, so I have found that if you really love what you do, then time flies.
