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TLS signed “Andrew,” one page, 8 x 10, personal letterhead, April 9, 1986. Letter to award-winning lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner, in full: “I have just come back from a few days away to receive your letter. Naturally I am very saddened that it will not be possible for you to work with me on the Phantom, but the most important thing is that you recover speedily so that indeed we can write something together. I would truly love this as I have always regarded you as one of the very greatest writers in music theatre and it would be an extraordinary thing for me if we can eventually collaborate. I know you will recover from this and I think in many ways it is always better to know the worst and then set oneself to overcome it. Both Sarah and I send our greatest love to you both and I very much look forward to hearing what I know will be better news very soon.” In fine condition.
A remarkable, if not poignant, letter between theatrical luminaries, which dates to roughly two months before Lerner’s passing at the age of 67 from lung cancer. At the time of Lerner's death, he had been working with Gerard Kenny and Kristi Kane in London on a musical version of the film My Man Godfrey. A few months earlier, as this letter indicates, he had received an urgent call from Andrew Lloyd Webber, asking him to write the lyrics to The Phantom of the Opera. Lerner acquiesced and began working on the song ‘Masquerade,’ but soon thereafter, he informed Webber that he needed to leave the project due to his worsening illness.
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