Picture: Roy Tan
Triple Tony Award-winner Charles Strouse has passed away at the age of 96 at his home in New York. The death of the composer whose most famous work was the much-loved musical Annie was announced by his four children.
Widely regarded as one of Broadway’s greats, Strouse won his first Tony in 1960 for his first Broadway show Bye Bye Birdie. Inspired by the drafting of Elvis Presley into the US Army, the musical also marked the beginning of a successful, long partnership with lyricist Lee Adams.
The duo’s next Broadway show All American which featured a book by Mel Brooks was nowhere near as successful, closing after just 80 performances, but it featured the poignant ‘Once Upon a Time’. The song became an American standard recorded by legendary singers including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan.
In 1964, Strouse and Adams provided the music for the musical version of Clifford Odets’ play Golden Boy starring Sammy Davis Jnr. The DC comic-inspires It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman followed in 1966.
A second Tony Award for Best Musical followed for the 1970 musical Applause – inspired by the movie classic All About Eve, the production starred Hollywood great Lauren Bacall who won a Tony for her showstopping performance.
The composer’s third Tony Award came in 1977 with Annie. Featuring lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan, the production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and also won the Grammy for Best Cast Show Album.
Strouse’s numerous musical theatre credits also included Charlie and Algernon, Dance a Little Closer, Rags, Charlotte’s Web, Nick & Nora, Marty and Minsky’s.
In 1996, Strouse and Adams won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics for the song ‘Let’s Settle Down’ from the TV film adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie.
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, film, Strouse also worked in film and television, providing the distinctive score for the classic 1967 crime movie Bonnie and Clyde, and writing the theme music for the long-running sitcom All in the Family.
A prolific composer, Strouse was able to move almost effortlessly between music genres – from pop songs through to opera, and chamber music. His ‘Concerto America’, written to honour the resilience of New Yorkers and commemorate those lost in the September 11 terrorist attacks, premiered at the Boston Pops in 2002.
Born on 7 June 1928, Strouse grew up in New York. A graduate of Eastman School of Music in 1947, he also studied under Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger. In 1964 he married the dancer and choreographer Barbara Siman. The couple were married for almost 60 years until her death in 2023. They had four children.
Angela Thomas
In 1996 Musical Theatre Review editor Lisa Martland spoke to Charles Strouse and his wife Barbara for The Stage, following a London production of the composer’s 1986 musical Rags, a collaboration with Joseph Stein and Stephen Schwartz.
Some admirers of Strouse see Rags as his finest work. Strouse commented: “I suppose Rags is something that came from a deeper part of my soul, but I work so hard at everything. Nothing comes easily to me, so it is hard to say it’s the best. It is perhaps a little bit more complex, both psychologically and emotionally, than, say, the score for Annie.”
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