‘JEKYLL’ LYRICS

I am the original co-author of the musical “Jekyll & Hyde” (composer Frank Wildhorn and I co-wrote both book and lyrics) and was both pleased by Jan Herman’s article (“Break a Leg, Mr. Hyde,” Aug. 20) and perplexed by certain information in it. Since my contribution to the work is still quite evident in the show, I wish to correct the record.

Leslie Bricusse, the show’s current lyricist, says of the original version (co-written by Frank and me), “Lyrically, it was nothing at all.” If this is true, why does a substantial amount of the original work remain in the recently released complete double CD?

The version Frank Wildhorn and I wrote was nearly on Broadway in 1988. In November, 1987, a month after the stock market crashed, the show was being cast. By the beginning of 1988, the show’s single financial backer pulled out and it went into limbo.

Over the past seven years Wildhorn and Bricusse have done fairly good work on the show, and I wish them the best of success with both the current tour and on Broadway when it lands there. But I don’t understand why Mr. Bricusse has chosen not to give credit where credit is due.

STEVE CUDEN

Simi Valley