Jeremy Sams

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Jeremy Sams (born January 12, 1957 in London, England) is a British director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist.

Sams studied Music, French, and German at Magdalene College, Cambridge and piano at Guildhall School of Music. Early on he worked as a freelance pianist and coach, giving frequent recitals and tours and doing stints as a repetiteur at opera houses in Brussels and Ankara.

Sams first came to prominence as director of the Michael Frayn farce Noises Off, which he mounted in London's West End in 1982. Although Michael Blakemore replaced him as director for the New York City opening two years later, Sams was given the opportunity to helm the 2001 Broadway revival.

Among his other directing credits are the West End musicals Spend, Spend, Spend (1999), the story of Viv Nicholson, who squandered a fortune won in the British lottery, and a stage adaptation of the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, called simply Chitty the Musical (2002), starring Michael Ball, for both of which he received Laurence Olivier Award nominations, and the 2002 Broadway production Amour, for which he wrote the lyrics for Michel Legrand's score and co-wrote the book with Didier Van Cauwelaert. His efforts earned him two Tony Award and two Drama Desk Award nominations.

Sams' many translations include Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, The Magic Flute and Wagner’s The Ring Cycle for ENO, The Merry Widow for Covent Garden, and Les Parents Terribles, The Miser and Mary Stuart for the Royal National Theatre.

Sams' composing credits include the BBC film of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Music. Other scores include Persuasion (1995), The Mother (2003), and Enduring Love (2004).

Sams has written, arranged, and directed music for some 50 theatre productions, including The Wind in the Willows and Arcadia (RNT) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC).

Sams was the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eric Sams. He has one child with actress Maria Friedman.