Charles Strouse

A long-standing member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in January 2002, an inductee into The Theater Hall of Fame, Charles Strouse's first Broadway musical, BYE BYE BIRDIE (1960), won him a Tony® Award and the London Critics Best Foreign Musical Award. In 1970, APPLAUSE, starring Lauren Bacall, achieved the same honors and his smash hit, ANNIE (1977), also won a Tony® for Best Score as well as two Grammy Awards®. Some of his other musicals include ALL AMERICAN, GOLDEN BOY (starring Sammy Davis Jr.), IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN, I AND ALBERT, directed in London by John Schlesinger, and DANCE A LITTLE CLOSER, written with Alan Jay Lerner. CHARLIE & ALGERNON won a 1981 Tony® nomination for Best Score, as did RAGS in 1987 and NICK AND NORA in 1992. He wrote both the music and lyrics for off-Broadway's MAYOR, and teamed again with Martin Charnin to create ANNIE WARBUCKS, the sequel to ANNIE. His film scores include BONNIE & CLYDE, THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S, and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN. Those Were The Days," the theme song for TV's ALL IN THE FAMILY is a Strouse song, with lyrics by his most frequent collaborator, Lee Adams. Born Too Late", a 1958 pop song written with Fred Tobias, was a top-10 BILLBOARD chart hit and is still heard on many oldies stations. The quadruple platinum album title song by Jay-Z, Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)", won the 1999 Grammy for the best Rap album, charted for more than a year and won the BILLBOARD 1998 R&B Album of the Year Award. Strouse's far-ranging talents include chamber and orchestral works, a piano concerto, a two-piano sonata, and operas. His latest choral work, The Child In Us All", premiered in Spring, 2000. NIGHTINGALE, an opera based on the Hans Christian Andersen story for which he wrote music, book and lyrics, was recorded by Sarah Brightman. Strouse was commissioned in 2001 to write CONCERTO AMERICA for the pianist Jeffrey Biegel. The work premiered in June 2002 with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. Charles Strouse created the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop in New York, where he encouraged the talents of countless young composers, writers and performers. In 1999, Strouse received the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award for Career Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre. In December, 1995, a tv reinterpretation of the classic BYE BYE BIRDIE (starring Jason Alexander and pop-star Vanessa Williams) aired on ABC-TV. The 1995/96 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics was given to the new song written for and performed by Vanessa Williams: Let's Settle Down". Another tv interpretation in 1999, ANNIE, aired on ABC's Wonderful World of Disney, swept the ratings by winning over 40 million viewers, won the 1999 Peabody Award and 2 Emmy Awards. The show starred Kathy Bates, Audra McDonald, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber, Andrea McArdle and Alicia Morton as Annie and ranked #1 as movie of the year. A revised GOLDEN BOY was produced by the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven (November, 2000); and the ENCORES! Series presented the show in March, 2002. Future projects: GOLDEN BOY will be performed at the Greenwich Theatre in England in June, 2003. THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S, which Charles Strouse originally scored for film, has been turned into a full-length musical. The Broadway-bound version has a book by the late Michael Okrent and Evan Hunter, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. The Manhattan Theatre Club has scheduled the show for its 2003-04 season. An adaptation of the Paddy Chayevsky film MARTY, had a successful regional theatre run at Huntington Theatre in Boston in September, 2002. The show reunites Strouse with Lee Adams as lyricist; the book is by Rupert Holmes. John C Reilly starred in the Huntington production and will later again star when the show comes to Broadway next season.
Author's Shows
Questions & Answers
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Leapin' Lizards! Annie will tour in 2023. #annie t.co/ZQupfLLvJn
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We’re proud to support the @StilesandDrewe Mentorship Award! Huge congrats to @AfterElijahUK on a wonderful first s… t.co/KiTgvhQQ0s
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RT @SSAPerforming: WOW!!! What an amazing opening night for our summer production High School Musical Jr @MTIEurope our students blew… t.co/7doXwPZEY0
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We can't wait for this to open! Billy Elliot the Musical at @CurveLeicester #billyelliotthemusical t.co/dUst0UseWk
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RT @HaslemerePlayer: WHAT A PICTURE📸 We'll definitely be sticking these in the family album🤩 A few snaps from last night's dress rehear… t.co/t71LDdT6Bb
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Do you love musicals and want to work at MTI? We're searching for a new Licensing Assistant / Receptionist. Find ou… t.co/UsmmlDbpEV
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RT @JackMapleProds: "I wish I may...!" ✨ Not going to forget what we achieved last night for a very long time. Thank you everyone!… t.co/gdkTXuNySB
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Earlier this month Company, co-directed and starring Antonio Banderas, received the top prize of Best Musical 2022… t.co/3V2VQ7vzLy
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JTF is making the news! @skynews @FYI_SkyTV came to Birmingham last month to share the power of jazz hands and spir… t.co/WyLJMVvU9r
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We're loving these gorgeous photos from @canfordschool's December production of Into the Woods at the Lanyard Theatre. What a wonderful design. We hear it was a fantastic production, so congratulations to everyone! Set design by @kbwilkins #intothewoods #schoolmusical #sondheim #theatre
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It's phantasmagorical - CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG JR is now available for licensing! Filled with amazing stage spectacle and unforgettable songs, including the Academy Award nominated title song, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang JR. is a high-flying fun-filled adventure that will dazzle audiences and Broadway Junior Stars alike. Further details: https://www.mtishows.co.uk/chitty-chitty-bang-bang-jr
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Earlier this month, @ntpaplano enchanted audiences with Disney's Beauty and the Beast JR. We're giving the cast, crew, and director @itsjessiebooth a #curtaincall! Bravo on telling the tale as old as time #Repost @theatrephotodad #mtishows #beautyandthebeast #disneyonbroadway #taleasoldastime #disneymusical #beourguest #belle #wearebroadwayjunior #beautyandthebeastjr
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"December 24th. 9pm. Eastern Standard Time." Here on in -- We're putting the spotlight on Rent at @sigtheatre. Christopher Mueller and Margot Schulman #mtishows #rent #december249pmeasternstandardtime #seasonsoflove #lavieboheme #jonathanlarson
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Today is your last day to apply to the DreamWorks Theatricals/Musing Theatre International Emerging Writers Program! Submissions are due at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Click on our link in bio to apply! #DWTMTIEmergingWriters #mtishows #DreamWorksTheatricals #GTDI #UniTalentDev #HereYouCan [Image description: Against a sparkling blue background, a smiling animated giraffe is on the right side of the image. Next to the giraffe, blue text reads final day to apply! (submissions due 11:59 PM PT). In the upper left corner, a light blue box has text that reads DreamWorks Theatricals/Musing Theatre International Emerging Writers. The DreamWorks and MTI logos are in the lower right corner.]
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"The cold never bothered me anyway." It's the first day of winter, and Elsa's reign begins! Disney's Frozen JR. at @smithtownpac. Photo by @clicksbycourt Digital background by @broadwaymedia #mtishows #frozenjr #frozen #letitgo #thecoldneverbotheredmeanyway #disney #disneymusical #wintersolstice [Image description: A young woman stands onstage singing. She is wearing a sparkling blue gown. Another young woman wearing a pink cloak watches her. A blue and purple background shows a magical, frozen kingdom.] #Repost @smithtownpac "We can't wait to come back!" Audiences of all ages can't get enough of Frozen Jr. Performances NOW - January 17th! : smithtownpac.org #spac #longisland #longislandtheatre #frozenjr #frozen #anna #elsa #smithtowntheatre
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Take a look back at #AllTogetherNowMTI at @alltogethernowbrazil! @dennynaka Over 2,000 organizations from all 50 states and 31 countries participated in the weekend-long celebration last month. Nearly 5,000 individual performances were seen by approximately 500,000 audience members and raised over 6.2 million dollars (adjusted for local currencies) used in support of the producing organizations. Bravo to everyone! #Repost @alltogethernowbrazil WERE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER solistas: @gigihchris @fernanda_yafa @titokamei @pedrinho_fss @dennynaka #alltogethernowmti #mtishows #alltogethernowbrazil #highschoolmusical #wereallinthistogether
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"All Good Gifts All around the world! Godspell Original Off-Broadway Version, 2012 Broadway Revival Version, and Godspell JR. are now available to license globally! Shown here: @saintjoehigh's March 2021 production of Godspell. Head to our link in bio or: https://www.mtishows.com/godspell http://www.mtishows.co.uk/godspell http://www.mtishows.com.au/godspell [Image description: A group of actors are standing apart, wearing masks, with their arms crossed over their chests. Another masked actor upstage of them is wearing an orange construction vest and hard hat. Behind them, an actor stands in a rectangular case with a cross on top.] #mtishows #godspell #godspelljr #daybyday
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From the top of the number to the bottom of our hearts, thank you for making All Together Now! such a special event. We couldnt have made this possible without you. Take a bow! #AllTogetherNowMTI *estimated amount of money raised adjusted for local currencies*
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ONE MORE WEEK to Move It and get those applications in! The deadline for DreamWorks Theatricals/MTI Emerging Writers Program is 12/22! To learn more about the opportunity to share your voice with the unique perspectives of the DreamWorks team, click the link in our bio. #DWTMTIEmergingWriters#mtishows#DreamWorksTheatricals#GTDI#UniTalentDev#HereYouCan [Image Description: Against a sparkling blue background, a smiling animated zebra is sitting in the lower left corner. Next to the zebra, blue text readsApplications close in one week! (final day to apply 12/22). In the upper left corner, a light blue box has text that reads DreamWorks Theatricals/Musing Theatre International Emerging Writers. The DreamWorks and MTI logos are in the lower right corner]
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