Tony Finnegan: My biggest regret is Ireland in the 80s didn't make it easy for a gay couple to have children

I'm not a great sleeper – I only need about four hours – so, I get up and work on the laptop or do some administrative work. As well as directing musicals, I run a musical theatre company with my husband and there's lots of book/paper work to be done.

'Real' orange juice, 'proper' coffee and either pancakes or toast, usually with a banana.

I don't usually eat lunch, but, if I do, it'll be a chicken/meat/salad wrap and a Coke Zero. I drink far too many Coke Zeros every day.

Vivian (my husband) is a fabulous cook, so I always have a gorgeous evening meal, usually consisting of meat, potatoes/rice/pasta and vegetables.

I don't take any health supplements. The nutritional value of food never really bothers me – and I know it should – as Viv's cooking tends to take care of that. I got Covid pneumonia in 2020 and was hospitalised on two occasions. I lost a lot of weight and then my doctor prescribed lots of health supplements and vitamins. I'm a rule follower, so I took them.

Constantly – I'm a binger. I always struggled with my weight (after the teenage years) and went through phases of dieting. They always worked because I'm very disciplined when I set my mind to something. The problem is, I'm also very impulsive, so I tend to overdo everything... including eating. There's also the knowledge that I can lose weight easily... which allows me to eat like a horse when I'm not dieting.

My life doesn't split into weekday/weekends. There's no real difference. I'm as likely to work at the weekend as I am during the week. However, to answer this question, my treat would be lemon cannoli from Aldi. Sublime.

Physically, I walk. I am also a very physical director and seldom direct from a seat. I'm always up and annoying the actors at close quarters. The Evita cast will testify to this. I'm sure they'd prefer it if I kept myself to myself and retreated behind my desk. As for my fit mental health – my mind jumps from project to project and is quite agile. I overthink everything which is terribly exasperating but, although I can work it out rationally that this doesn't help, I can't stop myself.

Walk. Swim. Keep active. Don't watch too much television.

I'm a hopeless athlete. I adore all sports (except cricket) and will watch golf/football/horse racing into the wee hours. However, I'm so uncoordinated that it's actually laughable. It even makes me laugh. I did play hockey in school and actually was quite good at it. I made the school first team and I think I even played for Banbridge Town. They are a very good team and my glory days were short-lived.

Oh, tipple... I love Guinness, Hop House 13 and I adore gin.

The lift – stairs are a health hazard.

I usually don't read books – I read scripts – but, as luck would have it, I'm off on my holidays so I bought a book at the airport: The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan. It may remain unthumbed, but I felt very sanctimonious as I approached the counter to pay for it.

I'm afraid I don't really watch TV, unless it's Sky Sports.

That I'm not content unless I have a project. I need to do things.

Not really. I'm just the same old, same old... just older. And 'samey'.

I really don't. I'm not good at that sort of thing but I watch sport and I love cutting my grass.

I don't set goals, other than always trying to do the best job I can on every project. I'm very self-critical. My goal for 2024 is to slow down a bit, maybe get a hobby...

I go to sleep about 2am and waken about 6am. I think you get as much sleep as you need.

My biggest regret is that the landscape in Ireland in the 80s didn't make it easy for a gay couple to have children. I would have adored to have adopted two kids. I love them and I'm very good with them. I work with a lot of children. I shoehorn them into every production and always use too many – we have 16 children in Evita, 170 in Oliver!, which I'm directing in the Grand Opera House in July, and there are 78 in The Sound of Music which I'm directing at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, at Christmas. We also have 90 children in summer workshops, again in Dublin.

No, and therein lies a problem. I need to change my priorities – away from my obsession with work and diverting to having a life outside of that world.

As I've said, I was very ill during Covid and maybe then I started to question my mortality. But, as usual, I easily forget what's gone on in my past and I look to the future. I'm very well aware that, at 61 years of age, my better days are behind me – but I plan to pack in quite a few moments in the forthcoming years.