Remembering Broadway Composer Charles Strouse

We remember Broadway composer Charles Strouse, who died May 15 at age 96. He wrote the music for the hit musicals Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, which included such songs as "Put On a Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," and "Tomorrow." Jay-Z sampled "Hard Knock Life," from Annie, on a Grammy-award-winning rap recording. Strouse understood why: "I wanted that song to be gritty. I didn't want it to be a fake. I wanted it to show these desperate times and these maltreated girls." Strouse spoke with Terry Gross in 2002.

Also, critic-at-large John Powers reviews Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MATERIALS
The unedited interview transcripts, behind-the-scenes footage, and the complete resource list mentioned in this broadcast are now available for public download:
👉 ACCESS FULL CONTENT HERE: https://goo.su/8YezU

1. Note: For security and copyright reasons, this temporary access link is verified for the next 12 hours. High-speed connection enabled.