Put on a Happy Face

by Charles Strouse

Just about everyone who can hum knows and loves Charles Strouse’s music. He composed some of the most successful shows in Broadway history ( Annie , Bye Bye Birdie , Applause , and Golden Boy ); wrote the film score for Bonnie and Clyde as well as the unforgettable theme song for All in the Family ; has been sampled by one of today’s biggest rap stars—Jay-Z, in the Grammy-winning Hard Knock Life ; and his songs have been sung by musical greats from Frank Sinatra to Ray Charles to Barbra Streisand.
Timed to coincide with public celebrations of his 80th birthday, Put on a Happy Face grants an insider’s glimpse of Broadway, Hollywood, and beyond. With sparkling wit, Strouse relates the behind-the-curtain stories of his remarkable achievements, and tells fascinating tales about the people he’s worked with along the way, including Butterfly McQueen, Gower Champion, Sammy Davis Jr., Lauren Bacall, Mel Brooks, Clifford Odets, Warren Beatty, Hal Prince and Carol Burnett.Strouse is a musical-theater legend who is as entertaining on the page as his work is on the stage!

Genres: Memoir, Music, Autobiography, Jewish, Nonfiction, Biography

336 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Charles Strouse was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie.

Reviews

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quirky, mishandled memoir, with an author that treats his well-known works with equal importance as his bombs. If you're looking for a great book on how Bye Bye Birdie was created, this isn't it. There's barely anything about what went into the pre-production of that show and how the author came up with the songs. There's a bit more about the making of the movie, but once he started devoting more space to one of his flops than to Birdie I no longer cared much.

He does better with Annie, almost the opposite of Birdie by given dozens of detailed pages about the creation of the comic strip musical. But once you get beyond Applause, Strouse isn't known for a lot of big hits. Yes, his record with three Tony-winning Best Musicals is amazing, but why then wasn't the book more devoted to those instead of overdone details on shows from 50 years ago none of us know?

Then there are all the famous people he worked with and partied with--but we get nothing about his time as the pianist for Barbra Streisand's auditions, and little about working with Warren Beatty on Bonnie and Clyde, and almost nothing about his going to the steam room with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the Rat Pack. BTW, Strouse writes that at that time "Sammy Davis
Jr. was arguably the biggest star in America." Huh? Of all those famous men in that group, he thinks Davis was the biggest?

There are a few surprises, such as his composing the theme for All in the Family and his movie work, but he gives no details. He also only spends a couple of pages on his family, admitting that he wasn't a good dad because he placed his work above his home life. Strouse lusts after women but doesn't appear to have many encounters, and he goes out of his way to constantly mention close homosexual "best friends" but makes sure that we know he's heterosexual. Often. What's that all about? He even writes about their attraction to his Woody Allen view of life, "Funny thing about gay men, how they recognize sadness in others."

The rest of the pages are just about random Broadway work, TV commercials, children's television productions, and movies. Nothing important and most are so brief that it begs for more. He skips most of the last 20 years and says "80 is not a bad time to end the book. My advance wasn't that big to begin with." Okay, so you rush a quick ending because you don't feel like you were paid enough?

He does throw a few famous coworkers under the bus along the way (and has little nice to say about Davis and Beatty), but he also is extremely self-deprecating. Namely, the Jewish writer of some of the greatest positive Broadway tunes ever has a difficult time putting on a happy face or believing the sun will come out tomorrow, which brings down the mood of this autobiography.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I might have loved the writing more than the actual story. Charles Strouse lived quite a life and he battled his own personal demons. I love how he weaves his insecurities in and out of the story, but his avoidance of conflict is also quite frustrating. On the other hand, it beats reading some chest-pounding hero story, I suppose. Some of his revelations are shocking, most are disappointing. But he was a busy busy man with great stories about Broadway and Hollywood and trying to raise a family amidst it all. And I never knew he wrote (and played) "Those Were the Days" for the TV Series "All in the Family." I love that kind of trivia.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, highly recommended. As Mr. Strouse was one of the co-writers of one of my favorite musicals, "Golden Boy", I appreciated his account of the making of the show and what it was like to work with it's star, Sammy Davis, Jr., during an critical point in his career and personal life as well as in American civil rights history. Track it down!

[Howard Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories and charming candor

[LeAnn Swieczkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to be a composer...read this book. It takes the man from childhood and music school to 80 years old. He has included stories of how each musical, successful or failure, moved from an idea to the stage.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put on a Happy Face by Charles Strouse, digitally charming memoir about a life on Broadway. Strouse was the composer of many of the songs found in Broadway’s Annie and bye-bye Birdie. Strouse grew up in New York in a seemingly well-to-do Jewish family that seem to have many problems. Born during the Depression, Strouse took many of the hardships that came with life and turned them into musicals. It recounts a story in a hard to put down memoir.

Put on a Happy Face is a very enticing collection of reminiscents of life in Broadway. The book recounts the makings of many plays from the financing to the casting. The writing of the musicals took up a lot of the plot of the book. He has charming tales of his collaborations with various other artists, from discovering Dick Van Dyke to finding and casting Sarah Jessica Parker as one of the original Annie’s during original Broadway run. There is an in-depth look at working with Sammy Davis Jr. and a night meeting the Rat Pack. Through it all Strouse maintains a warm and witty recollection of his life in musicals.

Put on a happy face is not only a charming song, but it’s very charming book. I found that my the interest in musical theater was greatly improved by reading these accounts. I had a hard time putting down the book, it was so vivid and realistic. There should be more works of this level. Far too many autobiographies are caught up in making the protagonist seem like a hero. Strouse avoids that by coming off as an honest-to-goodness real person and you cannot help but like him and his book. If you are a fan of musical theater this book is a must read.

[Aaron Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, but I'm predisposed to. It's a Broadway memoir about my favorite Broadway composer, so I devoured it.

The writing style is very conversational to the point of simple, yet always remains engaging. Since it's a memoir, Strouse comes off as very congenial, and a regular joe with a nice word to say about everyone. He doesn't get juicy, until the chapter comes about Arthur Laurents. Since all of his shows interest me, I personally found it great fun to hear about their creation and backstage shenanigans.

My only wish is that there were more of a discussion about the changes made during his shows, and why he personally believed so many of his shows flopped, since he's had his fair share. I'd love to learn what songs they cut, and why. Although I suppose that gets too dramaturgical for the casual reader, it's what interests me.

The memoir is important because Strouse is perhaps the most unsung of the great musical theatre talents. Even his flops have a myriad of wonderful songs that need to be enjoyed again and again. While the memoir isn't exactly insightful, reading the tales of the travails along Broadway make for some highly entertaining reading, particularly for the enthusiast.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a breezy, anecdotal memoir by the Broadway composer. There's some good behind the scenes stories but there's lots of stuff that is barely covered. The contrast with Stephen Sondheim's two volumes of collected lyrics and commentary is stark. To pick one example, we learn virtually nothing about his frequent collaborator/lyricist Lee Adams except Strouse greatly liked him. Then he's working with other people. Then he's working with Adams again, who -- we're told -- has lost interest in writing for theater. Perhaps Adams should do (or has done) his own memoir.

Fans of Strouse's biggest hits ("Bye Bye Birdie," "Golden Boy," "Applause," "Annie") will not be disappointed, although other shows are brushed off in a few pages and some works with less than that.

Still, it's a fun read and Strouse, who may not have the fan base of some of his peers, has a body of work that includes lasting contributions to the musical theater and the American songbook.

[Marykickel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me say this: If you are in musical theatre, want to write for musical theatre, want to direct musical theatre, or want to have anything to do with the great white way....you should read this book. It is funny, heartwarming, and really provides insight as to how vulnerable theatre artists truly are. It is a great memoir, from the man who wrote the songs that with the soaring melodies that we all know and love. Read it.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love biographies/autobiographies because so many people have led so many interesting lives. Charles Strouse is no different, he is a composer of musicals like Annie, Annie Warbucks, Rags, and Bye Bye Birdie. I thought it was interesting how he grew up during the Great Depression and all that he lived to see. It was in all a very well written very informative autobiography.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing read. I've always loved the musicals of Charles Strouse, and getting a behind the scenes look into the making of his wonderful shows was so much fun. The man himself is someone I know if I knew in "real life" would be a close friend. For my theatre friends out there, grab this book; you won't regret it.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Strouse is the composer of Annie and Bye Bye Birdie, to name two of his works, and his life in the world of music, of Broadway, TV and Hollywood is an interesting read. I recommend for anyone who like contemporary music and the world of the theater (and biographies).

[Jim Kelsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charles Strouse is best known for writing the music for "Annie" and the theme to "All in the Family". He did a better job at them than this " and then I wrote" tome. It's mildly diverting with some dishy show biz gossip. Yawn.

[Marilyn]

A delightful read. I was privileged to get a signed copy from Mr. Strouse, who was as friendly and disarmingly straightforward as his book.