The Broadway composer Charles Strouse has written music for shows like “Applause” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” and the theme to Norman Lear’s “All in the Family,” but he is best known for the musical “Annie”—that gateway drug into musical theatre for generations of children. As he nears his ninety-fifth birthday, he is in the process of donating his archives to the Library of Congress. The Radio Hour’s Jeffrey Masters joins him at his Manhattan apartment, crowded with boxes, as he sorts through old papers and mementos. He reflects on Jay-Z, who helped produce a 2014 film remake of “Annie,” and his friendship with Stephen Sondheim, the more acclaimed composer: “Stephen and I were friendly enemies. He didn’t like me much. I didn’t like him less.” Strouse remains nimble enough on the piano for a rendition of his classic, “Tomorrow.” “It’s a funny thing about composing,” Strouse says. “It comes from your heart in a way, but it really comes from nowhere. It’s God-given. I would think that’s a God-given gift that I’ve been fortunate enough to get.”
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