This week, we explore the music of Charles Strouse. Long-time listener, Sharon Kahn, made a generous contribution to the Sounds of Broadway studios and earned herself the right to create a playlist for our streaming radio station or serve as a guest host for this podcast.
She chose the latter and talks about the career of Charles Strouse. We play a generous number of selections from the musicals for which he composed the music.
Charles Strouse (1928–2025) was a legendary, three-time Tony Award-winning American composer and lyricist whose career spanned decades across Broadway, Hollywood, and television. He was a master of the “Golden Age” musical theater sound, known for crafting distinct, hit-filled musical universes.
Before conquering Broadway, Strouse received a classical music education at the Eastman School of Music and studied under legendary composers like Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger. Though he initially aimed for a classical career, he found his true calling in theater and popular music.
Strouse is best known for composing the scores to some of the most culturally enduring musicals in American history including Bye Bye Birdie (1960), Applause (1970), and Annie (1977).
Along with Lee Adams, he wrote the “Those Were the Days,” the iconic, piano-side theme song sung by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton which opened every episode of TVs All in the Family. He also composed the the music for several major motion pictures, most notably the classic 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
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