Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15756 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review

“Charles Strouse is one of the most talented composers ever known to Broadway. His life in music makes for truly wonderful reading.”

—Mel Brooks (Book writer for All-American, 1962)

“Charles Strouse is an American treasure. Put on a Happy Face tells the remarkable story of his amazing life and achievements, with hefty doses of Charles' trademark humor and humility.”

—Carol Burnett (Miss Hannigan in the film version of Annie, 1989)

“I have vivid and marvelous memories of working with Charles Strouse, first on his revue By Strouse and then in the Broadway cast of Annie. He is a great writer, a completely musical person, and a great teacher.”

—Sarah Jessica Parker (Annie in the original Broadway run of Annie, 1979)

“Charles is one of the great ones.”

—Dick Van Dyke (Albert Peterson in the original Broadway run of Bye Bye Birdie, 1960)

“Charles has enriched Broadway and our lives with his remarkable talent.”

—Chita Rivera (Rose Alvarez in the original Broadway run of Bye Bye Birdie, 1960)

“Charles Strouse's music goes down in Broadway history--it's as apple pie as you can get!”

—Vanessa Williams (Rose Alvarez in the television movie Bye Bye Birdie, 1995)

"Strouse's superb backstage memoir deserves a standing ovation."--Publishers Weekly

"[a] lively, highly readable memoir...One finishes the book utterly charmed by the man and his wit. —Booklist

About the Author
Charles Strouse is the Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer of, among other works, Bye Bye Birdie (1960, with long-time collaborator Lee Adams), All-American (1962, with Mel Brooks), Golden Boy (1962, starring Sammy Davis Jr.) Applause (1970, starring Lauren Bacall) and Annie (1977). He has won three Tonys® (and been nominated an additional four times), two Grammys® and one Emmy®. In addition, he is a three-time Drama Desk nominee; recipient of the Richard Rodgers, the Oscar Hammerstein and the Frederick Lowe Awards, and has been elected to both the Theater Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Customer Reviews

A candid entertaining and heartwarming autobiography
A must-read for all fans of musical theatre, this heart-warming candid and funny autobiography provides a fascinating look into the world of showbusiness. Charles Strouse writes candidly about his ups-and-downs in showbusiness, the nagging insecurities that have followed him throughout his career and of course provides juicy tidbits about Teresa Stratas, Arthur Laurents, Leondard Bernstein and more.

Fascinating, impossible to put down
Well written, funny as hell, and eminently readable "Put On a Happy Face" is as entertaining as any of Charles Strouse's best shows. In this book, whose title is taken from one of his many standards, Strouse takes us on a journey through the Broadway musical theater of the last fifty years. Along the way we meet the legends with whom he has worked (and with whom he has occasionally battled): David Merrick, Mel Brooks, Lauren Bacall, Dick Van Dyke, Gower Champion, Joshua Logan, Mike Nichols, Arthur Laurents, Alan Jay Lerner. He demonstrates how tough it is to write a musical and how much tougher it is to get it produced, only to have the critics break your heart. But he also shows the exhilaration and thrills when the show is a smash hit, like Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, or Annie.He clears up the confusion regarding his (and Lee Adams') contributions to Hello, Dolly!, especially laying to rest once and for all (one hopes) the rumors concerning the true authorship of "Before the Parade Passes By."
Strouse has had a fabulous career. Besides the hit shows, so many of his songs have become standards: "Tomorrow," "You've Got Possibilities," "Once Upon a Time," "Kids," "A Lot of Livin' To Do," and others. Buffs worship his score for Rags. His title song for Dance a Little Closer is gorgeous. His theme song for All in the Family --- "Those Were the Days" is one of the best known tv themes ever. If you analyze "The Telephone Hour" measure by measure, you will be astonished by the musicianship. In person, Charles Strouse is warm, gracious, and, to borrow the title of one of his songs, a "perfect gentleman." All that talent and honest personality come through in the pages of this book.
Don't miss it.

A Must For Musical Theatre Fans!
Charles Strouse is one of the last of a generation of great tune smiths. Broadway composers who could, as Richard Rodgers said, "piss good melodies." No matter what the show, Strouse could be counted upon to come up with great singable, hummable and even memorable tunes. He didn't always have hit shows, but when he did they were shows like Bye Bye Birde and Annie. This book tells a lot about the hits and also offers some wonderful anecdotes and insights into the various flops. Strouse isn't afraid to say what is one his mind and ruffle some feathers. The sections on Golden Boy and Sammy Davis Jr. and especially the Nick and Nora chapter that tells us more than we knew about Arthur Laurents are especially tasty. Unlike many memoirs, Charles personal life is handled very well and I was not bored for a second at the part I usually like to skip: the childhood. Charles ties it all in to his career and how the music was made and where it came from. One of the best memoirs to come down the pike in a while. Highly recommended to anyone interested in theatre, music or film.