YUSUF ISLAM: Moonshadow music Islam returns to the stage

NEVER ONE TO DO THINGS BY HALVES , Yusuf Islam is returning to the stage for the first time in 33 years, not just with a tour but with a musical as well.

"It's very simple," explains promoter Harvey Goldsmith, who first worked with Islam as Cat Stevens back in 1974. "He's written a musical, Moonshadow, which is his passion. So I said we should do some concerts which incorporate a 30-minute preview of the musical."

Moonshadow undoubtedly is Islam's passion, the final realisation of a childhood dream to create a theatrical fantasy to stand alongside the musicals which inspired him in his early years.

"Living in the West End, I got to hear a lot of musicals first- hand," Islam points out. "West Side Story was one of the biggest musical influences in my life. That changed me, because it was about the street - street life."

While he was back home in New Oxford Street, recovering from tuberculosis in 1968, another revolutionary stage show captured his imagination. "The first hippy musical, Hair, was on right across the road from my front door and that was another big impact - the form of the musical itself."

In 1969 he made his first serious attempt at a musical with Revolussia, a tale of life in revolutionary Russia which, although it was never staged, provided one of his best-loved songs, Father And Son.

Discussing his new musical, Yusuf explains, "It's about a boy who lives on a planet of perpetual night-time. He dreams of a world of sunshine and happiness, everything that a wonderful and natural world can offer. In his world, though, everybody has to work hard to pay for light and heat and I realised that fitted perfectly with what a lot of my songs are saying."

Nick Stewart, Islam's music and records manager, says that initial approaches to UMTV about a Moonshadow soundtrack album have met with a favourable response.

Meanwhile, November 15 will see Islam return to the stage with the first date of his I Guess I'll Take My Time tour at Dublin's O2 and for AEG Live senior vice president Rob Hallet, who is promoting the tour, it represents the fulfillment of a long-held desire to see him play live again.

"Basically the show will be in three parts," Hallet explains. "Yusuf will start it off, then there's a middle section previewing his musical, Moonshadow, with the cast from the stage show, then a triumphant greatest hits set to close the evening."

Stewart observes that, although plans are already in hand to take the tour to Germany and Australia, "Doing five dates and feeling his way back in rather than announcing 40 nights at The O2 seems a sensible way of setting out. He looks great but he's also very conscious that he is in his sixties now, so small steps to begin with is the right way to go about it."

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