Latest news with #Strouse
Los Angeles Times
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Charles Strouse, Broadway composer of ‘Annie' and ‘Bye Bye Birdie,' dies at 96
NEW YORK — Charles Strouse, the three-time Tony Award winner and Broadway master melody-maker who composed the music for 'Annie,' 'Bye Bye Birdie' and 'Applause,' died Thursday. He was 96. Strouse died at his home in New York City, his family said. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Strouse wrote more than a dozen Broadway musicals, as well as film scores and 'Those Were the Days,' the theme song for the sitcom 'All in the Family.' Strouse turned out such popular — and catchy — show tunes as 'Tomorrow,' the optimistic anthem from 'Annie,' and the equally cheerful 'Put on a Happy Face' from 'Bye Bye Birdie,' his first Broadway success. 'I work every day. Activity — it's a life force,' the New York-born composer told the Associated Press during an interview on the eve of his 80th birthday in 2008. 'When you enjoy doing what you're doing, which I do very much, I have something to get up for.' Deep into his 90s, he visited tours of his shows and met casts. Jenn Thompson, who appeared in the first 'Annie' as Pepper and directed a touring version of 'Annie' in 2024, recalls Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a young girl sang 'Tomorrow.' She said: 'He's so gorgeously generous and kind. He has always been that way.' His Broadway career began in 1960 with 'Bye Bye Birdie,' which Strouse wrote with lyricist Lee Adams and librettist Michael Stewart. 'Birdie,' which starred Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, told the tale of an Elvis Presley-like crooner named Conrad Birdie being drafted into the Army and its effect on one small Ohio town. Strouse not only wrote the music, but he played piano at auditions while Edward Padula, the show's neophyte producer, tried to attract financial backers for a production that would eventually cost $185,000. 'We never stopped giving auditions — and people never gave money at all. The idea of using rock 'n' roll — everybody was so turned off,' Strouse said. Finally, Padula found Texas oilman L. Slade Brown. When he heard the score, he said, in a Texas twang, 'I like those songs,' pushed Strouse aside and picked out the tune of 'Put on a Happy Face' on the piano. Brown then said, 'How much do you fellas need?' and wrote out a check for $75,000 to cover the start of rehearsals. 'Suddenly, the world turned Technicolor,' Strouse remembered. The popularity of 'Birdie' spawned a film (with Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margret) in 1963 and a television adaptation with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams in 1995. Strouse and Adams gave several non-musical theater stars, including Sammy Davis Jr. and Lauren Bacall, stage successes for 'Golden Boy' and 'All About Eve,' respectively. But it was 'Annie' (1977) that proved to be Strouse's most durable — and long-running — Broadway hit (over 2,300 performances). Chronicling the Depression-era adventures of the celebrated comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, the musical featured lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. It starred Andrea McArdle as the red-haired moppet and Dorothy Loudon, who won a Tony for her riotous portrayal of mean Miss Hannigan, who ran the orphanage. The musical contained gems such as 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile' and 'It's the Hard Knock Life.' The 1982 film version, which featured Carol Burnett in Loudon's role, was not nearly as popular or well-received. A stage sequel called 'Annie Warbucks' ran off-Broadway in 1993. The show was revived on Broadway in 2012 and made into a film starring Quvenzhané Wallis in 2014. NBC put a version on network TV in 2021 called 'Annie Live!' Strouse and Charnin, who both won Grammy Awards for the 'Annie' cast album, found shards of their work included in Jay-Z's 1998 Grammy-winning album 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.' 'Tomorrow' has been heard on soundtracks from 'Shrek 2″ to 'Dave' to 'You've Got Mail.' In 2016, Lukas Graham used parts of the chorus from 'Annie' for his 'Mama Said' hit. Strouse had his share of flops, too, including two shows — 'A Broadway Musical' (1978) and 'Dance a Little Closer,' a 1983 musical written with Alan Jay Lerner, that closed after one performance. Among his other less-than-successful musicals were 'All-American' (1962), starring Ray Bolger, 'It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman' (1966), directed by Harold Prince, and 'Bring Back Birdie' (1981), a sequel to 'Bye Bye Birdie.' Among Strouse's film scores were the music for 'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967) and 'The Night They Raided Minsky's' (1968). Theater beckoned when he and Adams got a chance in the early 1950s to write songs for weekly revues at an Adirondacks summer camp called Green Mansions. Such camps were the training ground for dozens of performers and writers. 'I would write a song and I would orchestrate it and copy the parts,' he said in the AP interview. 'And rehearsal was the next day at nine, so at four in the morning, I am crossing the lake with the parts still wet. I just loved it. I never was happier.' His wife, Barbara, died in 2023. He is survived by four children, Ben, Nick, Victoria and William. Kennedy writes for the Associated Press.
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Broadway legend Charles Strouse who worked on musicals Annie and Applause dies
Broadway superstar Charles Strouse - who composed music for Annie and Applause - has died at 96. The composer's career spanned more than five decades and he became a leading player in classic musical theatre. He won three Tony Awards, including the 1970 gong for Best Musical for Applause. His publicist announced the musician died at his home in New York City on Thursday. He was born in the city in 1928 and had a huge influence on the theatre since there, writing more than a dozen Broadway musicals, including Bye Bye Birdie and its sequel Bring Back Birdie 21 years later. His scores, including pieces for films and TV shows, were catchy and popular. The optimistic anthem for Annie won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Original Score. Mr Strouse's upbeat numbers helped drive his zest to forge a long career in the industry, writing scores until 2011 at the age of 83. During an interview on the eve of his 80th birthday in 2008, Mr Strouse said: "When you enjoy doing what you're doing, which I do very much, I have something to get up for. I work every day. Activity — it's a life force." The composer, who is survived by his four children, visited tours of his shows and met casts in the 1990s. Jenn Thompson, who appeared in the first Annie as Pepper and directed a touring version in 2024, recalls Mr Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a young girl sang Tomorrow. She recalled: "He was tearing up and he put his hand on mine. And he leaned in to me and very quietly said, 'That was you. That used to be you.' And I thought I would die. I thought my heart would drop out of my shoes... He's so gorgeously generous and kind. He has always been that way." Some of the composer's later pieces were praised too. The music for Nick & Nora was nominated for a Tony in 1992 after impressing audiences in Broadway. The play told the story about a high society couple attempting to solve the murder of a bookkeeper on a film production in Hollywood. It was a steel reflected in Mr Strouse, who throughout his career remained determined and optimistic. He saw Annie become of the most popular musicals Broadway has seen. There has been more than 2,300 performances of the musical, based on the book by Thomas Meehan. It has toured frequently in the UK, including in 2023. Jay-Z was even a fan, and he used shards of the work for his 1998 Grammy-winning album Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. Even Ms Strouse's flops contained impressive music, particularly Rags in 1986, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and I and Albert in 1972, a musical about Queen Victoria which had a three-month run in London and was one of Mr Strouse's personal favorites. All-American also had a memorable ballad Once Upon a Time. Among Mr Strouse's film scores were the music for Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 and 1968's The Night They Raided Minsky's. One of his last musicals was Minsky's. A love story set against the backdrop of the fabled burlesque empire, it was the brainchild of English director Mike Ockrent, who died of leukemia in 1999 before the project was completed. By then, Strouse and lyricist Susan Birkenhead had written some dozen songs. The composer's wife, Barbara, died in 2023. They had been married for more than 60 years and had four children; Ben, Nick, Victoria and William, together.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charles Strouse Dies: Prolific Composer Of Broadway's ‘Bye Bye Birdie,' Film's ‘Bonnie & Clyde' And TV's ‘All In The Family' Theme Was 96
Charles Strouse, the musical composer for such Broadway hits as Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and Annie, films including Bonnie and Clyde (1967) The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989) and for the TV series All In The Family, died at his home in New York City on May 15. He was 96. His death was announced by his children Benjamin, Nicholas, Victoria, and William Strouse. (He was predeceased by his wife, the choreographer Barbara Siman, to whom he was married from 1962 until her death in 2023. More from Deadline Robert Benton Dies: Oscar-Winning Director of 'Kramer Vs. Kramer' & Co-Screenwriter Of 'Bonnie And Clyde,' 'Superman' Was 92 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries Jasmine Amy Rogers Is The Life Of The Cartoon Party In 'Boop! The Musical' - Deadline Q&A As a prolific musical composer across media and genres, Strouse added mightily to the size of the American songbook, with instantly recognizable melodies such as 'Put on a Happy Face' from Bye Bye Birdie, 'Tomorrow' from Annie and, from All In The Family, 'Those Were The Days,' one of TV's most famous opening theme songs, sung by stars Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton in character as Archie and Edith Bunker. The nostalgic 'Those Were The Days' lyrics, written by frequent collaborator Lee Adams, began with instantly familiar 'Boy the way Glenn Miller played.' The song was performed at an upright piano by actors Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker and Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, and it introduced more than 200 episodes of Norman Lear's groundbreaking series Over the course of a career spanning seven decades, he won three Tony Awards (for Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie), and was nominated for Golden Boy, Charlie & Algernon, Rags, and Nick & Nora. Strouse was born on June 7, 1928 in New York City, the son of Ethel (Newman) and Ira Strouse. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1947, he received two scholarships to Tanglewood, where he studied under composer Aaron Copland. Subsequently, Copland arranged for Strouse to get a scholarship with legendary teacher, Nadia Boulanger, in Paris. Strouse met songwriting partner, lyricist Adams, at a party in 1949, and the duo began a longtime collaboration starting with writing songs for summer resorts in the Adirondacks. Strouse and Adams contributed material to numerous Off-Broadway musical revues, including Catch a Star, Shoestring Revue, The Littlest Revue and Kaleidoscope, and wrote specialty material for Kaye Ballard, Carol Burnett, Jane Morgan and Dick Shawn. In 1958, Strouse and lyricist, Fred Tobias wrote the chart-topping pop song 'Born Too Late' (recorded by The Poni-Tails), and it was in that same year that Strouse and Adams had their Broadway breakthrough. They were hired by producer Edward Padula to write a satirical musical about rock and roll and teen idol culture. The show, Bye Bye Birdie, became their first Tony Award-winning hit. The production starred Chita Rivera and Dick Van Dyke and won four 1961 Tony Awards including Best Musical, earning Strouse the first of his three Tony Awards. The show introduced the world to such songs as 'Put On A Happy Face,' and 'A Lot of Livin' to Do.' A 1962 movie version, starring Ann-Margret, was one of the top-grossing films of the year, and featured Margret's now iconic performance of the film's newly added title song, 'Bye Bye Birdie.' Strouse would later win a 1996 Emmy Award for the new song, 'Let's Settle Down,' written with Adams and added for the musical's 1995 TV adaptation, starring Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams. DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO: Additional collaborations with Adams include the Mel Brooks musical All American (1962) starring Ray Bolger. Though the show was not a commercial success, it featured what would become the popular American standard 'Once Upon a Time' (recorded by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and many others). Golden Boy (1963), a musical adaptation of the play by Clifford Odets starred Sammy Davis Jr., garnered Strouse his second Tony Award nomination. It's a Bird…It's a Plane… It's Superman! (1965, written by David Newman & Robert Benton, who died earlier this month on May 11) gave audiences another popular Strouse & Adams song, 'You've Got Possibilities' (first recorded by Linda Lavin). And in 1970, when the team wrote the score for Applause (based on the film All About Eve and Mary Orr's The Wisdom of Eve and starring Lauren Bacall), Strouse would win his second Tony Award. Strouse's biggest Broadway success was with collaborators Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan on Annie (1977), based on the comic strip, 'Little Orphan Annie,' by Harold Gray. The Depression-era musical about a plucky red-headed orphan girl who wins the heart of billionaire Oliver Warbucks, was one of Broadway's biggest hits of the 1970s, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and garnering Strouse his third Tony Award and a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. Strouse's score included 'Tomorrow,' 'It's the Hard–Knock Life,' 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,' and 'I Don't Need Anything But You.' Annie ran for over 2,300 performances on Broadway, where it has been revived twice and has inspired hundreds of worldwide productions. It has also been adapted for two film and two television productions. Strouse was passionate about collaboration and would earn Tony Award nominations for his scores with lyricists: David Rogers, Charlie & Algernon (1980), based on the novel Flowers for Algernon, Steven Schwartz, for Rags (1986), with book writer Joseph Stein starring Teresa Stratas, and Nick and Nora (1991), a musical based on Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man characters, written with Richard Maltby, Jr. Strouse's film scores include Bonnie and Clyde (1967) starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (and with a screenplay by Newman and Benton; the soundtrack for the '30s era crime romance included songs by bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs, but it was Strouse's score, sometimes jaunty, sometimes elegiac, perfectly captured the madcap, bloody tone of the film. Other film credits included The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968), There Was a Crooked Man (1970), with Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas, Sidney Lumet's Just Tell Me What You Want, and the animated feature All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989). In addition to his awards, Strouse was the recipient of several honorary doctorates. He was a longtime member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, inducted in 1985, and the Theatre Hall of Fame. Strouse also composed orchestral works, chamber music, piano concertos, and an opera. His original piano work, Concerto America, was composed in 2002 to commemorate 9/11 and premiered at The Boston Pops in 2004. His opera Nightingale (1982), starring Sarah Brightman, had a successful run in London, followed by many subsequent productions. In 1977, Strouse founded the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, through which many young composers and lyricists honed their craft and developed their work. Strouse authored the autobiography Put on a Happy Face: A Broadway Memoir, published by Union Square Press in July 2008. In addition to his four children, Strouse is survived by eight grandchildren, Sam and Arthur Strouse, Navah Strouse, Vivian, Weston and Ever Brush, and Owen and Theodore Strouse. A private ceremony will be held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City. Best of Deadline 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries Where To Watch All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies: Streamers With Multiple Films In The Franchise Everything We Know About 'My Life With The Walter Boys' Season 2 So Far
San Francisco Chronicle
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Charles Strouse, Broadway composer of 'Annie' and 'Bye Bye Birdie,' dies at 96
NEW YORK (AP) — Three-time Tony Award-winner Charles Strouse, Broadway's industrious, master melody-maker who composed the music for such classic musical theater hits as "Annie," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Applause," died Thursday. He was 96. Strouse died at his home in New York City, his family said through the publicity agency The Press Room. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Strouse wrote more than a dozen Broadway musicals, as well as film scores and "Those Were the Days," the theme song for the sitcom "All in the Family." Strouse turned out such popular — and catchy — show tunes as "Tomorrow," the optimistic anthem from "Annie," and the equally cheerful "Put on a Happy Face" from "Bye Bye Birdie," his first Broadway success. "I work every day. Activity — it's a life force," the New York-born composer told The Associated Press during an interview on the eve of his 80th birthday in 2008. "When you enjoy doing what you're doing, which I do very much, I have something to get up for." Deep into his 90s, he visited tours of his shows and met casts. Jenn Thompson, who appeared in the first 'Annie' as Pepper and directed a touring version in 2024, recalls Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a young girl sang 'Tomorrow.' 'He was tearing up and he put his hand on mine,' she recalled. 'And he leaned in to me and very quietly said, 'That was you. That used to be you.' And I thought I would die. I thought my heart would drop out of my shoes.' 'By Bye Birdie' lifts him up His Broadway career began in 1960 with 'Bye Bye Birdie,' which Strouse wrote with lyricist Lee Adams and librettist Michael Stewart. 'Birdie,' which starred Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, told the tale of an Elvis Presley-like crooner named Conrad Birdie being drafted into the Army and its effect on one small Ohio town. Strouse not only wrote the music, but he played piano at auditions while Edward Padula, the show's neophyte producer, tried to attract financial backers for a production that would cost $185,000. 'We never stopped giving auditions — and people never gave money at all. The idea of using rock 'n' roll — everybody was so turned off,' Strouse said. Finally, Padula found Texas oilman L. Slade Brown. When he heard the score, he said, in a Texas twang, 'I like those songs,' pushed Strouse aside and picked out the tune of 'Put on a Happy Face' on the piano. Brown then said, 'How much do you fellas need?' and wrote out a check for $75,000 to cover the start of rehearsals. 'Suddenly, the world turned Technicolor,' Strouse remembered. The popularity of 'Birdie' spawned a film (with Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margret) in 1963 and a television adaptation with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams in 1995. He helped others shine Strouse and Adams gave several non-musical theater stars, including Sammy Davis Jr. and Lauren Bacall, stage successes. For 'Golden Boy' (1964), based on the Clifford Odets play, Strouse and Adams had to get Davis' OK for everything. 'His agents would not let him sign the contract until he approved every word and note that Lee and I wrote,' the composer told the AP. 'Which meant that we had to, at great expense to the producer, follow Sammy all over the world. ... We spent three years of our lives, a week or so each month, out in Las Vegas, playing songs for him.' 'Applause' (1970) was adapted from the Mary Orr short story that became the cinema classic 'All About Eve.' It was Bacall's musical-theater debut, and the actress won a Tony for her performance, as did Strouse and Adams for their score. But it was 'Annie' (1977) that proved to be Strouse's most durable — and long-running — Broadway hit (over 2,300 performances). Chronicling the Depression-era adventures of the celebrated comic strip character Little Orphan Annie, the musical featured lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. It starred Andrea McArdle as the red-haired moppet and Dorothy Loudon, who won a Tony for her riotous portrayal of mean Miss Hannigan, who ran the orphanage. The musical contained gems such as 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile' and 'It's the Hard Knock Life.' The 1982 film version, which featured Carol Burnett in Loudon's role, was not nearly as popular or well-received. A stage sequel called 'Annie Warbucks' ran off-Broadway in 1993. The show was revived on Broadway in 2012 and made into a film starring Quvenzhané Wallis in 2014. NBC put a version on network TV in 2021 called 'Annie Live!' Jay-Z was a fan Strouse and Charnin, who both won Grammy Awards for the 'Annie' cast album, found shards of their work included in Jay-Z's 1998 Grammy-winning album 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life.' 'Tomorrow' has been heard on soundtracks from 'Shrek 2″ to 'Dave' to 'You've Got Mail.' In 2016, Lukas Graham used parts of the chorus from 'Annie' for his 'Mama Said' hit. Strouse had his share of flops, too, including two shows — 'A Broadway Musical' (1978) and 'Dance a Little Closer,' a 1983 musical written with Alan Jay Lerner, that closed after one performance. Among his other less-than-successful musicals were 'All-American' (1962), starring Ray Bolger, 'It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman' (1966), directed by Harold Prince, and 'Bring Back Birdie' (1981), a sequel to 'Bye Bye Birdie.' Yet even his flops contained impressive music, particularly 'Rags' (1986), with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and 'I and Albert' (1972), a musical about Queen Victoria that had a three-month run in London and was one of Strouse's personal favorites. 'All-American' also had a memorable ballad, 'Once Upon a Time.' Among Strouse's film scores were the music for 'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967) and 'The Night They Raided Minsky's' (1968). One of Strouse last musicals was 'Minsky's.' A love story set against the backdrop of the fabled burlesque empire, it was the brainchild of English director Mike Ockrent, who died of leukemia in 1999 before the project was completed. By then, Strouse and lyricist Susan Birkenhead had written some dozen songs. 'Minsky's' languished until Birkenhead ran into director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw, who asked Bob Martin, star and one of the authors of 'The Drowsy Chaperone,' to write a new book. It opened in Los Angeles in 2009 but never made it to Broadway. How he got his start Strouse always wanted to be a composer and studied very seriously — first in the late 1940s at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, with composer Aaron Copland at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts and with composer, conductor and music professor Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Theater beckoned when he and Adams got a chance in the early 1950s to write songs for weekly revues at an Adirondacks summer camp called Green Mansions. Such camps were the training ground for dozens of performers and writers. 'I would write a song and I would orchestrate it and copy the parts,' he said in the AP interview. 'And rehearsal was the next day at nine, so at four in the morning, I am crossing the lake with the parts still wet. I just loved it. I never was happier.'
South Wales Argus
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Charles Strouse, Broadway composer of Annie and Bye Bye Birdie, dies aged 96
Strouse died at his home in New York City, his family said through the publicity agency The Press Room. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Strouse wrote more than a dozen Broadway musicals, as well as film scores and the song Those Were The Days, the theme song for the sitcom All In The Family. Strouse turned out such popular – and catchy – show tunes as Tomorrow, the optimistic anthem from Annie, and the equally cheerful Put On A Happy Face from Bye Bye Birdie, his first Broadway success. 'I work every day. Activity – it's a life force,' the New York-born composer told The Associated Press during an interview on the eve of his 80th birthday in 2008. 'When you enjoy doing what you're doing, which I do very much, I have something to get up for.' Deep into his 90s, he was visiting tours of his shows and meeting casts. Jenn Thompson, who appeared in the first Annie as Pepper and directed a touring version of Annie in 2024, recalled Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a young girl sang Tomorrow. 'He was tearing up and he put his hand on mine,' she recalled. 'And he leaned in to me and very quietly said, 'That was you. That used to be you.' And I thought I would die. I thought my heart would drop out of my shoes.' She added: 'He's so gorgeously generous and kind. He has always been that way.'
