Sir Tim Rice performs in Cornwall after visiting for 50 years

World-famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice has set out on a new tour, reflecting on his well-established career in musical theatre.

The show, which will be performed at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro on Wednesday, is set to include numbers from stage shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Chess.

Sir Tim said he loved the county and had been visiting “for 40, 50 years now”.

The songwriter said he had got “to know the Helford River area particularly well” after playing a lot of cricket in Cornwall.

He described the tour, My Life In Musicals – I Know Him So Well, as a “retrospective of my fortune and experience in the musical theatre world”.

“I’m obviously a frustrated performer that I wasn’t good enough to sing and I certainly can’t act, but I’m quite good at remembering what I’ve got up to and reminiscing,” he added.

“I can talk about Andrew Lloyd Webber, I can talk about Elton John, Bjorn and Benny and Alan Menken, Mike Batt, all the great composers I’ve worked with – it’s fun.

“I’ve been very lucky to work with some of the very best.”

He said: “One writer I admire enormously is Barry Gibb but Barry Gibb is brilliant because he writes great words as well as great music so he wouldn’t need me.

“I just need somebody who writes brilliant music but gets stuck on the lyrics.”

Sir Tim said the show, which tours the UK until the end of May, will be performed by “four wonderful singers”.

“I chat in between the songs and rabbit on whatever comes into my head,” he added.

The lyricist said the show would also include “big flops, strange songs and different versions” as well as the possibility of singing himself.

“Sometimes you need a bad voice to illustrate a bad lyric and I fit that perfectly,” he said.