Notes on Broadway: Conversations with the Great Songwriters.

First edition of this celebrated collection of interviews with the great songwriters of the American musical theater. Royal octavo, original publisher’s boards, illustrated with 135 black-and-white photographs. Association copy, inscribed by both authors in the year of publication on the half title page, “Oct 18, 1985 Dear Charlie: Thanks for your contribution to this book, and your great contribution to the theatre. Best always, Al Kasha Joel Hirschhorn.” Strouse was himself among the celebrated songwriters interviewed for the volume. The recipient, Charles Strouse, was a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning composer whose fifty-year career produced some of the most enduring works in the history of American musical theater, among them Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie, as well as the theme song for the classic sitcom All in the Family (“Those Were the Days”). His partnership with Martin Charnin on Annie produced one of Broadway’s most successful scores ever, with “Tomorrow” and other songs from the production becoming enduring American musical standards admired by generations. His reach knew no genre or generation, from a number-one Billboard hit in 1958 to Jay-Z’s Grammy-winning sampling of “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” four decades later, and his honors include three Tony Awards and induction into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Theater Hall of Fame. From the collection of Strouse and his wife, the choreographer Barbara Siman, with his ownership stamp to the front free endpaper and half-title page. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Allan Landau.