The Unmissable List: Tim Rice

Lloyd Webber collaborator, lyricist and cricket fan Tim Rice -who is hosting the Royal Albert's Halls The Night of 1,000 Voices - reveals his top choices for arts events in London.

FILM: ABOUT A BOY Everyone ought to see About a Boy because I have a starring role. The Hugh Grant character watches Countdown on TV a lot, and there are a couple of scenes in which the Countdowns he's watching are ones I'm in. The makers have made a generous donation to the Lord's Taverners - the charity I support that helps disadvantaged children - for the use of my image, but I'm still worried about my billing, which I think should be just below Hugh Grant. It's not often that you have two major English sex symbols in one movie.

About A Boy , released 26 April at cinemas across London.

MUSICAL: WE WILL ROCK YOU

I'm very keen to see Ben Elton's show about Queen as I'm a mega fan of the band. Some of their material is as good as anything written by any Broadway composer. Freddie Mercury's fantastic performance was a huge factor in Queen's success, and nobody could do those songs better. But, some years ago, Elaine Paige recorded an album of the songs in a completely different and very sophisticated style, and it worked really well. The success of We Will Rock You will depend on whether the story works. However great the score, the story has got to be good.

We Will Rock You , Dominion Theatre (020 7413 1713). Previewing from 26 April, opens 14 May.

BOOK: THE BIG SHIP By Gideon Haigh

Top of my reading list is Gideon Haigh's book about Warwick Armstrong. Armstrong was captain of the Australian cricket team just after the Second World War, and an important character in cricket history who has never been studied in detail. Haigh is Australian and a brilliant cricket writer. His knowledge of history is immense; he writes of the sport, but against a much wider background. You feel you are in the 1920s, not just reading about someone who happened to operate in that period.

The Big Ship - Warwick Armstrong and the Making of Modern Cricket (The Text Publishing Company, £20).

POP: HANK MARVIN ON TOUR

I had a pop group at school called the Aardvarks - mainly so we would be top of any alphabetical bill. We modelled ourselves on Cliff Richard and the Shadows. My friend Pete Romyn played lead guitar, and Hank was his hero. I was Cliff. Since those dim and distant days I've got to know Cliff and the Shadows pretty well. I'm joining some pals and going to see Hank on what is rumoured to be his farewell tour, though I hope it's not. Pete and I haven't been to see Hank together since we were schoolboys. The great thing is we can now go and see him afterwards.

Hank Marvin : Dacorum Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead (Friday); Hexagon, Reading (Monday); Fairfield Halls, Croydon (Tuesday); Brentwood Centre (next Friday).

CABARET: MUSIC TO WATCH BOYS BY

From the rare occasions I have been to cabaret, it seems you get the same old Broadway stuff every time. Kate Dimbleby is very capable of doing that, but her material for this show is much more interesting. The best songs are not always the best known - there are songs of mine that I love in shows that never got off the ground. We get to do some of my flops next week at a charity show at the Royal Albert Hall, but mainly the hits. I don't knock it: we sold out the evening performance, so we've put in a matinée, which should bring in cash for the Lord's Taverners.

Music to Watch Boys By , Bridewell Theatre, EC4 (020 7936 3456), until 11 May.

Tim Rice hosts The Night of 1,000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall on 5 May. Tickets: 020 7589 8212.