Adams and Strouse

Adams and Strouse, songwriting team. Lee [Richard] Adams (b. 1924) was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and studied journalism at Ohio State University and at Columbia before writing lyrics with composer Charles [Louis] Strouse (b. 1928) for revues on the summer circuit. New York native Strouse studied at the Eastman School of Music and with Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger. Ben Bagley first brought their songs to Off Broadway in his Shoestring Revues and in The Littlest Revue (1956), but their reputation was firmly established with Bye Bye Birdie (1960). Although two years later their excellent songs could not save All American (1962), they found success with a musical version of Golden Boy (1964) featuring Sammy Davis Jr. Their 1966 effort, It's a Bird It's a Plane It's SUPERMAN, delighted many, but failed commercially. Adams and Strouse's longest‐running musical was Applause (1970), another show whose extended New York stand could be attributed in good measure to a star, in this case Lauren Bacall. Two later shows, A Broadway Musical (1978) and Bring Back Birdie (1980), had only the briefest of stays. Adams also failed when he teamed up with Mitch Leigh on Ain't Broadway Grand (1993). Strouse had a major hit without Adams with Annie (1977), though working with others he stumbled badly with Dance a Little Closer (1983), Rags (1986), Nick and Nora (1991), and Annie Warbucks (1992). Both men are fundamentally traditional in their work but wide‐ranging and inventive, their scores often superior to their unfortunate librettos.