Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer who composed 22 stage musicals including the 1977 Broadway production, Annie, which has been called one of the top Broadway Shows of all time. Strouse has won numerous Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Awards including Best Musical/Score Tonys for the Broadway Musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie. In 1977, he founded the ASCAP Musical Theatre New York Workshop through which many young composers and lyricists have found a forum for their work. He was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1985, received the ASCAP Richard Rodgers Award in 1999, inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2001, received the Dramatists’ Guild Frederick Loewe Award in 2005, and the Library of Congress Music Division Honors in 2008.
Charles Strouse was born in New York City on June 7, 1928. He began piano lessons at the age of 10 and received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Rochester, NY Eastman School of Music at the age of 19. He studied under Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, MA, Nadia Boulanger in Paris, France, and David Diamond in New York City. Early on he played piano for rehearsals, auditions, dance classes, and nightclubs, toured the South with a number of performers, and composed music for 20th Century Fox in New York City.
In the mid-1950s Strouse composed regularly at the Green Mansions summer resort in the Adirondacks, NY, and teamed with lyricist Fred Tobias to publish the top pop hit, “Born Too Late”. He also began collaborating with his lifelong lyricist friend Lee Adams, and in 1958 he and Adams were chosen to compose the score for a new musical about United States teenagers. The show, ultimately titled Bye Bye Birdie, opened on Broadway in 1960 and won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical. It produced the notable songs “A Lot of Livin’ To Do”, “One Boy”, and “Put On A Happy Face”.
For the next 40 years Charles Strouse composed music for stage and screen musicals, and for many of these years simultaneously headed up the music department of a large New York Advertising agency. Among many others, he composed the stage musicals All American 1962 (with lyricist Lee Adams - notable song “Once Upon A Time”), Golden Boy 1964 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “This Is The Life”), It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman 1966 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “You’ve Got Possibilities”), Applause 1970 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “Smashing New York Times”), Annie 1977 (with lyricist Martin Charnin - “Maybe”, “N.Y.C.”, “Tomorrow”, “It’s The Hard Knock Life”), Dance A Little Closer 1983 (with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner “Dance A Little Closer”, “There’s Never Been Anything Like Us”), and Marty 2002 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “My Star”).
Charles Strouse also composed songs for film and television, and his versatility extended into orchestral works, chamber music, piano concertos, and opera. The notable films included Bonnie and Clyde 1967, The Night They Raided Minsky’s 1968, and All Dogs Go to Heaven 1989. The television productions include Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 1987 and All In The Family 1968 for which he composed the lead song “Those Were The Days” with lyricist Lee Adams.
Charles Strouse lives in New York City and continues to compose music. His 2008 autobiography Put On A Happy Face tells his life story and gives a complete bibliography of his musical works. To this day his masterpiece, Annie, continues its revivals in musical theaters around the world.
Stage Musicals
Film and Television Music
Musical Revues
Charles Strouse was born in New York City on June 7, 1928. He began piano lessons at the age of 10 and received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Rochester, NY Eastman School of Music at the age of 19. He studied under Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, MA, Nadia Boulanger in Paris, France, and David Diamond in New York City. Early on he played piano for rehearsals, auditions, dance classes, and nightclubs, toured the South with a number of performers, and composed music for 20th Century Fox in New York City.
In the mid-1950s Strouse composed regularly at the Green Mansions summer resort in the Adirondacks, NY, and teamed with lyricist Fred Tobias to publish the top pop hit, “Born Too Late”. He also began collaborating with his lifelong lyricist friend Lee Adams, and in 1958 he and Adams were chosen to compose the score for a new musical about United States teenagers. The show, ultimately titled Bye Bye Birdie, opened on Broadway in 1960 and won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical. It produced the notable songs “A Lot of Livin’ To Do”, “One Boy”, and “Put On A Happy Face”.
For the next 40 years Charles Strouse composed music for stage and screen musicals, and for many of these years simultaneously headed up the music department of a large New York Advertising agency. Among many others, he composed the stage musicals All American 1962 (with lyricist Lee Adams - notable song “Once Upon A Time”), Golden Boy 1964 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “This Is The Life”), It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman 1966 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “You’ve Got Possibilities”), Applause 1970 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “Smashing New York Times”), Annie 1977 (with lyricist Martin Charnin - “Maybe”, “N.Y.C.”, “Tomorrow”, “It’s The Hard Knock Life”), Dance A Little Closer 1983 (with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner “Dance A Little Closer”, “There’s Never Been Anything Like Us”), and Marty 2002 (with lyricist Lee Adams - “My Star”).
Charles Strouse also composed songs for film and television, and his versatility extended into orchestral works, chamber music, piano concertos, and opera. The notable films included Bonnie and Clyde 1967, The Night They Raided Minsky’s 1968, and All Dogs Go to Heaven 1989. The television productions include Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 1987 and All In The Family 1968 for which he composed the lead song “Those Were The Days” with lyricist Lee Adams.
Charles Strouse lives in New York City and continues to compose music. His 2008 autobiography Put On A Happy Face tells his life story and gives a complete bibliography of his musical works. To this day his masterpiece, Annie, continues its revivals in musical theaters around the world.
Stage Musicals
- Bye Bye Birdie (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1960
- All American (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1962
- Golden Boy (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1964
- It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1966
- Applause (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1970
- Six (Lyrics: Charles Strouse) 1971
- I and Albert (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1972
- Charlotte's Web (Lyrics: Charles Strouse) 1973
- Annie (Lyrics: Martin Charnin) 1977
- A Broadway Musical (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1978
- Flowers for Algernon (Lyrics: David Rogers) 1979
- Bring Back Birdie (Lyrics: Lee Adams) 1981
- Nightingale (Lyrics: Charles Strouse) 1982
- Dance a Little Closer (Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner) 1983
- Mayor (Lyrics: Charles Strouse) 1985
- Rags (Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz) 1986
- Nick & Nora (Lyrics: Richard Maltby, Jr) 1991
- Annie Warbucks (Lyrics: Martin Charnin) 1993
- An American Tragedy (Lyrics: David Shaber) 1995
- Marty (Lyrics: Lee Adams and Charles Strouse) 2002
- Minsky’s (Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead) 2009
- Martin: A New American Musical (Lyrics: Charles Strouse) 2011
Film and Television Music
- Alice In Wonderland 1966
- Bonnie and Clyde 1967
- The Night They Raided Minsky's 1968
- All In The Family (Theme Song “Those Were The Days”) 1971
- Just Tell Me What You Want 1980
- Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 1984
- All Dogs Go to Heaven 1989
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 1990
- A Child’s Garden of Verses 1992
Musical Revues
- ShoeString 1957
- Medium Rare 1960
- By Strouse 1977
- Upstairs at Oneal’s 1982
- Can’t Stop Dancin’ 1994
- A Lot of Livin’ 1996