Broadway writing legend Arthur Laurentis has attacked director Sam Mendes, accusing the Oscar winner of destroying his musical 'Gypsy'.
Laurentis has returned to the New York stage with a new production of Gyspy at the age of 90, because he is so ashamed of the version Mendes staged in the Big Apple in 2003, starring Bernadette Peters.
The veteran - who also wrote West Side Story - tells the New York Post: "I thought Sam did a terrible disservice to Bernadette and the play, and I wanted a Gypsy seen in New York that was good.
"You have to have musical theatre in your bones and Sam doesn't. You can't put it there. I know. I tried. I gave Sam many notes, but he just couldn't do it".