Put on a Happy Face: A Broadway Memoir

Strouse is best-known for having written the music for the Broadway hits Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, both somewhat lightweight shows—the first, a lighthearted look at teen life, circa 1960; the other, a singing-dancing version of the classic comic strip Little Orphan Annie. Yet both have grace and power that haven’t diminished over the years. The same may come to be said of this lively, highly readable memoir. Strouse touches on the darker themes in his life—his mother’s mental illness, his own battles with self-esteem—but lightly. He spends much more time recounting, in a gentle, amusing tone, the episodes of his life: Depression-era childhood, years of struggle working for summer camps and playing dance rehearsals, and myriad triumphs and bombs on Broadway and off. What is truly remarkable is how free of ego and bitterness this autobiography is. Even Strouse’s two much-publicized Broadway flops, Nick and Nora and Dance a Little Closer (speciously aka Close a Little Faster), are handled with aplomb. One finishes the book utterly charmed by the man and his wit. –Jack Helbig

“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

 

“[F]ull of funny anecdotes [and] juicy gossip… [B]eautifully written, funny and touching…a wonderful evocation of a great career.” –Howard Kissell, The Daily News