Leslie Bricusse Withdraws From 'SLEEPLESS' Musical Citing Creative Differences

Double Oscar and Grammy winning author-composer-lyricist Leslie Bricusse announced today that he is withdrawing from the intended stage musical of "Sleepless in Seattle," due to creative differences with the shows producer and director.

Producer David Shor had announced back in March of this year the he is developing Sleepless in Seattle-The Musical through his entity Sleepless in Seattle Management, LLC. Shor acquired the rights to produce a play based on the hit TriStar motion picture and has brought in his longtime partner Jeff Arch, who penned the film's original story and co-wrote the screenplay, sharing 1994 Oscar, BAFTA and WGA nominations with Nora Ephron and David Ward. Arch will write the book for the show.

The American Film Institute (AFI) lists "Sleepless in Seattle" among the Top 10 best romantic comedies of all time.

Bricusse is maintaining a demanding production schedule that will see him working on no less than 4 major shows open in the next 24 months in theaters throughout the world. Bricusse is heavily involved as author, composer and lyricist in preparations for his upcoming original musical "Sammy" which rehearses next month prior to its late September world premiere at The Old Globe theater in San Diego. Bricusse and Davis were close friends for 30 years and Sammy recorded over 60 of Bricusses songs during that time.

Bricusse returns to London in October for the opening of the UK revival of his musical "Scrooge," for which he also provided book, music and lyrics. "Cyrano de Bergerace, Bricusses latest collaboration with Frank Wildhorn, with whom he wrote the international success "Jekyll & Hyde," had its world premiere in Tokyo 2 months ago, with further productions in the US and Spain scheduled to follow in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Leslie Bricusse is a double Oscar and Grammy winner who has written more than forty musical shows and films. As a writer/composer/lyricist, his musicals include Stop The World, I Want to Get Off, The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Henry's Wives, Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes, Jekyll and Hyde, Noah's Ark, Sammy, Cyrano De Bergerac, Kennedy and Victor/Victoria. He has also written songs and/or screenplays for such films as Doctor Dolittle, Scrooge, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, Superman, Home Alone, Hook and various Pink Panther films. His songs include "What Kind Of Fool Am I?," "Once In A Lifetime," "Who Can I Turn To?," "Talk To The Animals," "Goldfinger," "On A Wonderful Day Like Today," "Pure Imagination" and "The Candy Man." In 1989 Bricusse was inducted into the American Songwriters' Hall of Fame, only the fourth Englishman to be so honored after Noel Coward, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

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