Everybody's Doing It

Nadim Naaman is best known for playing Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera in the West End, though he has also appeared in shows like Sweeney Todd, Titanic and Chess. He has released a solo album, Sides, and has just co-written his first musical with Qatari composer Dana Al Farden. Broken Wings is based on a poetic novel by Khalil Gibran about forbidden love, gender equality and religion in 1912 Lebanon.

Maury Yeston, the composer and lyricist best-known for Nine and Titanic, visited the West End a few months before the West End opening of his new musical, Death Takes a Holiday. Based on a film (which was based on a play) this story tells of how Death changed his perspective. He used to not quite understand why everyone he came to collect was quite so aggrieved to die, until he met a particular woman who allowed him to realise quite what makes life worth clinging to. The side effect of Death's occupation being, though, that he can't collect anyone else while he's so distracted - Death the person and death the concept take a break!  Maury was kind enough to discuss his musical background, some of his better-known works and his latest venture for the stage.