Wake Up With BroadwayWorld June 7, 2024

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is June 7, 2024 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours: 

Exclusive: Watch Jeremy Jordan and Frances Mayli McCann in 'How 'Bout a Dance' from BONNIE & CLYDE
by Nicole Rosky
Bonnie and Clyde are back! As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the musical, filmed live at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in January 2022, will be available to stream later this month. BroadwayWorld is very excited to bring you an exclusive video of the full performance of 'How 'Bout a Dance.' . (more...) 

Photos: On the Red Carpet at Opening Night of HOME on Broadway
by Bruce Glikas
Roundabout Theatre Company’s new Broadway production of HOME by Samm-Art Williams, directed by Kenny Leon, officially opened last night, June 5, at Todd Haimes Theatre on Broadway. Check out photos from the opening night red carpet here!. (more...) 

Melissa McCarthy Hopes to Return to the Stage After Investing in SUFFS
by Josh Sharpe
In a new interview, actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy discussed the Broadway musical Suffs (for which she serves as an investor), the power of live theater, and her hopes to return to stage work in the future. Though this is the first time McCarthy has invested in a Broadway show, the actress has a background in theater. She started her acting career onstage and revealed that she hopes to return to her theater roots. . (more...) 

MRS. DOUBTFIRE North American Tour Recoups Investment
by Stephi Wild
The North American tour of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, the smash hit musical comedy currently playing to audiences across North America and in London’s West End, has recouped its $5 million investment after 29 weeks on the road.. (more...)

Diane Paulus and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Helmed ROMEO AND JULIET & More Set for A.R.T. 24/25 Season
by A.A. Cristi
The American Repertory Theater announced its 2024-2025 season lineup, featuring a diverse array of productions including world premieres, classic revivals, and innovative new works.. (more...) 

Video: Andrew Lloyd Webber Commemorates 80th Anniversary of D-Day with New Anthem 'Lovingly Remembered'
by Lauren Hilton
Today on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a specially commissioned anthem titled 'Lovingly Remembered' by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Don Black, was performed by singer-songwriter Naomi Kimpenu along with the London Youth Chamber Choir.. (more...) 

Charles Strouse

 Charles Strouse has won three Tony Awards, and received five additional nominations, as well as an Emmy and two Grammy Awards. His song “Once Upon a Time,” from the musical All American, is an American Standard, and has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and more.  “Those Were the Days” launched over 200 episodes of the “All in the Family” and continues to reach new generations of television audiences in syndication (most recently featured on “Saturday Night Live”). 

It is estimated that “Tomorrow” has been sung by 95% of America’s young girls, and the list of remarkably diverse singers who have recorded/performed it includes Ariana Grande, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barbra Streisand, Lou Rawls, Grace Jones, Petula Clark, Kermit the Frog, Sutton Foster, Elaine Paige, Lea Salonga, Alvin and the Chipmunk and Idina Menzel. Next month, Bart Simpson recently donned Annie’s red wig and belted a rendition, in an upcoming episode of “The Simpsons.”

Charles Strouse, a long–standing member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Theater Hall of Fame, is one of America's most successful musical theater composers. His first Broadway musical, Bye Bye Birdie (1960), was written with his long–time collaborator Lee Adams, and starred Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera and Paul Lynde. It produced hit songs including "Put on a Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," and the fan anthem "We Love You Conrad." The show won Strouse a Tony Award and the London Critics Best Foreign Musical Award.

In 1962, his musical All American, (with a book by Mel Brooks) produced the song “Once Upon a Time.” It soon became a popular, and beloved, American Standard. In 1970, Applause, a musical adaptation of All About Eve starring Lauren Bacall, achieved the same honors, earning Strouse his second Tony.

In 1977, Strouse teamed with lyricist Martin Charnin and librettist Thomas Meehan on the Broadway musical Annie, earning Strouse his third Tony Award. Running for 2,377 performances and yielding countless productions around the world, Strouse's score includes "Tomorrow," "It's the Hard–Knock Life" and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." Since 1990, Annie has been performed in 57 countries/territories, translated into 28 languages, and produced at 4,706 schools across the United States. It was made into two top-grossing movies and Rapper Jay-Z’s quadruple platinum album, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" won the 1999 Grammy for Best Rap Album.

He received Tony nominations for his scores of Golden Boy (1966), starring Sammy Davis Jr.; Charlie & Algernon (1980), based on the novel Flowers for Algernon; Rags (1986), a collaboration with Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein; and Nick and Nora (1991), a musical based on Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man characters, written with Richard Maltby, Jr. and Arthur Laurents.

Strouse's other musicals include It's A Bird… It's A Plane… It's Superman (1966); I And Albert (1972); A Broadway Musical (1978); Bring Back Birdie (1981); Dance a Little Closer (1983), Mayor (1985), and Annie Warbucks (1993).

There may be no other living composer from America’s popular songbook whose work is as integrated into the popular culture as that of Charles Strouse. This year, his iconic songs – from “Tomorrow” and “Put on a Happy Face to “Those Were the Days” – will be heard worldwide, from Abu Dhabi to Congo to Belgium, on television in “The Simpsons” and at The Hollywood Bowl.  Annie and Bye Bye Birdie are among the most popular musicals of all time, produced by regional, amateur and school groups all over the world. In the past five years alone, Annie has had 10,000 productions worldwide – introducing tens of thousands of kids to the magic of theater.

See you bright and early tomorrow, BroadwayWorld!