David Essex in All The Fun Of The Fair at Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday

The singer is bewitched by the magic of funfairs and is proud of the fact his grandmother was an Irish traveller.

“I am still fascinated by funfairs and that undercurrent of violence while it is all fun on the top,” he said. “My grandmother died the week I was born. Her father’s occupation was a travelling tinkerman.”

The singer teamed up with Jon Conway to create the musical around his songs. The story is a rollercoaster ride of romance, mysticism, and rock ‘n’ roll based on the relationship between Levi, the owner of a travelling funfair, played by David, and his rebellious teenage son, Jack, played by Paul Ryan Carberry.

David’s real son, Billy, is also in the company.

“He is on the poster. He came over from America to do it and is now understudy to Paul,” said David.

The singer admitted that they had a bit of a problem finding the right Jack.

“We needed someone with a counter edge and most drama school graduates are all teeth and smooth jazz, but Paul is really great,” he said.

David worked on the script and music with Jon, creating the surround sound effects by using Soundscape.

“We took a chance. It is not a juke box musical. It is more a play with music,” said David. The show features many of the singer’s hits, such as Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You A Star and Rock On.

Before he moved to America, David was the patron of Britain’s National Gipsy Council, which worked for equal rights, education and services for Romany and Irish Travellers.

He said that when making the musical they were careful to treat the travellers and fairground culture with respect.

The singer shot to fame when he played Jesus in the hit musical Godspell. He went on to star in the movie That’ll Be The Day in 1973 and began notching up top 10 hits. He also starred in the sequel Stardust and the hits kept on coming.

He appeared on Jeff Wayne’s musical album The War Of The Worlds and played Che, based on Che Guevara in the original version of Evita.

But if David hadn’t fallen in love with the blues as a youngster he may never have trod the boards at all. In fact, he played football for West Ham United Juniors.

“I could have been signed for Leyton Orient when I was 14,” he said. “But I was besotted by the blues and playing the drums. I was forced into singing, I actually wanted to hide behind the drums.”

Along with his sparkling career the singer is also caring for those less fortunate and for six years was an ambassador for Voluntary Services Overseas.

“It is a grass roots way of helping the Third World. We pass on skills to a counterpart. It is really worthwhile. I did teaching in Uganda and lived in a mud hut. I still get letters from the teachers there,” he said.

- Flicky Harrison