"I just signed the contract with [producer] Bill Kenwright to do Cyrano in London in spring of '06," Wildhorn told Playbill.com columnist Harry Haun. "It will open in Birmingham first and then move on to the West End."

The show is a musical version of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. Wildhorn is penning the show for the Tony-nominated star of his Scarlet Pimpernel, Douglas Sills. "Doug did such a terrific job on the demo we made of the show. I'd just love to see him get this role."

Wildhorn's lyricist and bookwriter on Cyrano is Leslie Bricusse ("Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Scrooge," "Dr. Dolittle" as well as Victor/Victoria, Stop the World — I Want to Get Off and The Roar of the Greasepaint — the Smell of the Crowd).

Several composers have attempted to translate Rostand's classic love story into a musical. The most recent Broadway staging was Koen and Ad Van Dijk's Cyrano—The Musical, which played 137 performances at the Neil Simon Theatre in 1993. That version starred Bill van Dijk as Cyrano and Anne Runolfsson as Roxane.

Douglas Sills made his Broadway debut as Percy in Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel, earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as well as a Theatre World Award for his performance. He starred in the Kennedy Center's mounting of A Little Night Music, the first national tours of The Secret Garden and Into the Woods and the Los Angeles premiere of Chess.