Sunderland - 'what a beautiful, romantic word'
BBCWorld-famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice is returning to theatres across the UK with a new tour. But it is a date at the Sunderland Empire that he is most looking forward to because the Oscar-winner has been a die-hard Sunderland football fan since the age of seven.
Now 80, Sir Tim recalls how he went in a different direction from his schoolfriends in the Home Counties who supported local teams like Luton Town and Watford.
He looked down the list of clubs in the old Division One and saw the name Sunderland.
"What a beautiful, romantic word - conjures up images of beaches and palm trees swaying in the wind," he says. "And I thought that's it, my team's Sunderland.
"I found out about six weeks later that I'd picked the team the furthest away I could have done. I couldn't change at that point.
"You can change everything in life but you can't change your football team, even when you're seven."
He has remained loyal ever since and has been a trustee at the Foundation of Light, the club's charitable arm, for 20 years, where he tries to tie in visits with a home game at the Stadium of Light.
Foundation of LightSir Tim says he first visited the North East when he was sent up by music industry executives in London in the 1960s to uncover hidden talent in the region.
"I was looking for fledgling rock stars," he says.
"There was a group called the Gas Board, with a singer by the name of Bryan Ferry.
"I did not spot that Bryan was going to be a megastar."
'Hits - and flops'
Sir Tim's tour, My Life In Musicals - I Know Him So Well, which also has dates at Darlington's Hippodrome, sees him reflect on his illustrious career in musical theatre.
Performances include numbers from stage shows including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Chess, plus the Disney productions The Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
"The band play the hits - and some flops - and I just talk through my good fortune in my career," he says.
"I chat about how the songs got written. I talk about the people I've written with - because I only do the words.
"I've written with some great composers - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Alan Menken, Bjorn and Benny, Mike Batt, John Barry - and I reveal what they're like to work with."