My friend Frank Lazarus, who has died aged 86, was a versatile actor, pianist and, most of all, writer of musicals, with a play that enjoyed a long run on Broadway.
In 1979 he teamed up with the comedy writer Dick Vosburgh in a Marx Brothers-inspired double-header, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. Frank composed the music and Vosburgh wrote the book and lyrics. It journeyed from the small New End theatre in Hampstead, London, to the May Fair theatre in the West End, followed by 17 months on Broadway (at the John Golden theatre in New York) and a tour of the US and Canada.
