Jeremy Sams

Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957) is a British theatre director, composer, and lyricist.

Early life and education Born and raised in Croydon, London, Sams is the son of the Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eric Sams and his wife Enid (née Tidmarsh). He was educated at the independent Whitgift School.

Career At the start of his career, Sam 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. His first big break in theatre came about through working with Steven Pimlott in the early 1980s, when he was commissioned by Pimlott to write the music for his production of Ring Round the Moon at the Manchester Royal Exchange.

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 (2002) for both of which he received Laurence Olivier Award nominations; the 2002 Broadway production Amour, which he translated from the original French libretto by Didier Van Cauwelaert. His efforts earned him two Tony Award and two Drama Desk Award nominations. His directing credits also include Jason Carr and Gary Yershon's musical of The Water Babies at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2003. He directed the Jason Robert Brown Broadway musical13 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, on Broadway. He has also written and directed the stage adaptation of The Good Life based on the BBC TV sitcom which toured the UK in autumn 2021. He directed a stage adaptation of The Lavender Hill Mob based on the 1951 Ealing comedy film which began touring in autumn 2022.

Sams' many translations include plays by Botho Strauß; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Puccini's La Boheme, and Wagner's The Ring Cycle for ENO; The Merry Widow for Covent Garden; Les Parents terribles, The Miser and Mary Stuart for the Royal National Theatre; The Threepenny Opera for the Donmar Warehouse; and What's in a Name? for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Sams' composing credits include the 1995 BBC film adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, for which he won the British Academy Television Craft Awards for Best Original Music. Other scores include 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 (Royal National Theatre) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Royal Shakespeare Company).

Honours In 2013, Sams was awarded an honorary degree by Birmingham City University and was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.

Personal life Sams has one child with his former partner, actress Maria Friedman.

Works

Published play texts

Awards and nominations