“There are things I can’t bear to throw away,” he said. From Miss Saigon, “something Alain and Claude-Michel found when they went to Vietnam – the most beautiful Vietnamese umbrella, which I have at my swimming pool. It’s exquisitely made. I love having that. And one of those Vietnamese puppets they’re very famous for, from Hanoi.”
From the set of the Les Miserables movie, which he also produced, he’s kept “the great elephant that Gavroche lives in. It’s made of polystyrene, but for me, it’s a work of art. They were going to throw it away. I said, ‘No, no, no, I can’t bear it.’ It still strides through my garden.”
From Phantom, “I have one of the original elephants and chandeliers up in an area of my house where I keep all my costumes.”
At the same time, he reminded us, “My other job is, I’m technically a farmer. I have two huge dairy farms. Incredible quality milk. I make my own cheddar cheese.” In short, “My mind might be in the theatre, but my mind is in the countryside.”
His other passion, closely linked, is cooking. “Last night, I cooked a beautiful piece of turbot with lovely fresh herbs grown in my garden. Chervil, parsley, lemon butter sauce. I had my own potatoes – new potatoes from the garden. I boiled them until they were all done, and then I mashed them, and I put some butter on them and baked them in the oven with a little, tiny bit of wild garlic pesto, which we made earlier in the year. And then, fresh peas from the garden, which I shelled myself.”
After all, where he is in life, it’s his vision, not his physical presence, that’s needed in the great no-business-like-show-business. “I’ve always been good at taking holidays,” he quipped.
“I think being on holiday is as important as working. I’m incredibly privileged. Almost 60 years, I’ve been producing. I’m still as enthusiastic as I was as an eight-year-old” seeing Salad Days for the first time and deciding to become a theatre producer. “I can hone in and still keep my enthusiasm for that little bit of extra magic dust that only I can bring, whilst I’m still fit and healthy.”
Catch Miss Saigon at the Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Tickets from S$60 to S$250 via Marina Bay Sands, Sistic or Klook.
