‘Their stars were ascending and both have made a lasting impact on musical theatre. However, it was Howard Ashman, the young gay Jewish lyricist and playwright, who apart from being the driving force behind saving a major film studio from financial ruin, would go on to create some of the most enduring and well known…

‘Dad told me he was sick about a week after my eighteenth birthday in September. He sounded optimistic, though he didn’t seem positive. Over the next three months his condition will get worse. He had already stopped working by then, but now he will spend nearly every day in bed, and Steve will take time…