NEW YORK — Three-time Tony Award-winner Charles Strouse, Broadway’s industrious, grasp melody-maker who composed the music for such traditional musical theater hits as “Annie,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Applause,” died Thursday. He was 96.
Strouse died at his residence in New York Metropolis, his household stated.
In a profession that spanned greater than 50 years, Strouse wrote greater than a dozen Broadway musicals, in addition to movie scores and “These Had been the Days,” the theme tune for the sitcom “All within the Household.”
Strouse turned out such well-liked — and catchy — present tunes as “Tomorrow,” the optimistic anthem from “Annie,” and the equally cheerful “Placed on a Comfortable Face” from “Bye Bye Birdie,” his first Broadway success.
“I work on daily basis. Exercise — it’s a life power,” the New York-born composer advised The Related Press throughout an interview on the eve of his eightieth birthday in 2008. “While you take pleasure in doing what you’re doing, which I do very a lot, I’ve one thing to stand up for.”
Deep into his 90s, he visited excursions of his exhibits and met casts. Jenn Thompson, who appeared within the first “Annie” as Pepper and directed a touring model of “Annie” in 2024, recollects Strouse coming to auditions and shedding a tear when a younger woman sang “Tomorrow.” She stated: “He’s so gorgeously beneficiant and sort. He has all the time been that manner.”
His Broadway profession started 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, advised the story of an Elvis Presley-like crooner named Conrad Birdie being drafted into the Military and its impact on one small Ohio city.
Strouse not solely wrote the music, however he performed piano at auditions whereas Edward Padula, the present’s neophyte producer, tried to draw monetary backers for a manufacturing that might ultimately price $185,000.
“We by no means stopped giving auditions — and folks by no means gave cash in any respect. The concept of utilizing rock ‘n’ roll — all people was so turned off,” Strouse stated.
Lastly, Padula discovered Texas oilman L. Slade Brown. When he heard the rating, he stated, in a Texas twang, “I like these songs,” pushed Strouse apart and picked out the tune of “Placed on a Comfortable Face” on the piano.
Brown then stated, “How a lot do you fellas want?” and wrote out a examine for $75,000 to cowl the beginning of rehearsals. “All of a sudden, the world turned Technicolor,” Strouse remembered.
The recognition of “Birdie” spawned a movie (with Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margret) in 1963 and a tv adaptation with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams in 1995.
Strouse and Adams gave a number of non-musical theater stars, together with Sammy Davis Jr. and Lauren Bacall, stage successes for “Golden Boy” and “All About Eve,” respectively.
But it surely was “Annie” (1977) that proved to be Strouse’s most sturdy — and long-running — Broadway hit (over 2,300 performances). Chronicling the Despair-era adventures of the celebrated caricature character Little Orphan Annie, the musical featured lyrics by Martin Charnin and a ebook by Thomas Meehan.
It starred Andrea McArdle because the red-haired moppet and Dorothy Loudon, who gained a Tony for her riotous portrayal of imply Miss Hannigan, who ran the orphanage. The musical contained gems corresponding to “You’re By no means Absolutely Dressed With no Smile” and “It’s the Onerous Knock Life.”
The 1982 movie model, which featured Carol Burnett in Loudon’s position, was not practically as well-liked or well-received. A stage sequel referred to as “Annie Warbucks” ran off-Broadway in 1993. The present was revived on Broadway in 2012 and made into a movie starring Quvenzhané Wallis in 2014. NBC put a model on community TV in 2021 referred to as “Annie Dwell!”
Strouse and Charnin, who each gained Grammy Awards for the “Annie” solid album, discovered shards of their work included in Jay-Z’s 1998 Grammy-winning album “Vol. 2… Onerous Knock Life.”
“Tomorrow” has been heard on soundtracks from “Shrek 2” to “Dave” to “You’ve Obtained Mail.” In 2016, Lukas Graham used components of the refrain from “Annie” for his “Mama Mentioned” hit.
Strouse had his share of flops, too, together with two exhibits — “A Broadway Musical” (1978) and “Dance a Little Nearer,” a 1983 musical written with Alan Jay Lerner, that closed after one efficiency. Amongst his different less-than-successful musicals have been “All-American” (1962), starring Ray Bolger, “It’s a Fowl… It’s a Aircraft… It’s Superman” (1966), directed by Harold Prince, and “Deliver Again Birdie” (1981), a sequel to “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Amongst Strouse’s movie scores have been the music for “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) and “The Evening They Raided Minsky’s” (1968).
Theater beckoned when he and Adams acquired an opportunity within the early Fifties to jot down songs for weekly revues at an Adirondacks summer season camp referred to as Inexperienced Mansions. Such camps have been the coaching floor for dozens of performers and writers.
“I might write a tune and I might orchestrate it and duplicate the components,” he stated within the AP interview. “And rehearsal was the following day at 9, so at 4 within the morning, I’m crossing the lake with the components nonetheless moist. I simply beloved it. I by no means was happier.”
His spouse, Barbara, died in 2023. He’s survived by 4 kids, Ben, Nick, Victoria and William.
