music.wikisort.org - Composer

Charlie Smalls (October 25, 1943 – August 27, 1987) was an American composer and songwriter, best known for writing the music and lyrics for playwright William F. Brown's 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and the 1978 film version of the same name.

Charlie Smalls
Smalls on The Monkees 1968
Born	(1943-10-25)25 October 1943 Queens, New York
Died	27 August 1987(1987-08-27) (aged 43) Belgium
Occupation	Composer, songwriter,
Awards	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics 1974: The Wiz Best Original Score 1975: The Wiz

Career

A musical prodigy, Smalls attended the Juilliard School at age 11 in 1954, staying until 1961.[1] He wrote the song "From Me to You" for Hugh Masekela's 1966 album Hugh Masekela's Next Album[2] and a song for John Cassavetes's 1968 film Faces called "Never Felt Like This Before."

Smalls appeared in the tag scene of the "Some Like It Lukewarm" episode of The Monkees, which aired on March 4, 1968, chatting at a piano with singer Davy Jones.[3]

After graduating from the High School of Performing Arts, Smalls toured as a member of the New York Jazz Repertory Company before beginning work on The Wiz. An African-American urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wiz was adapted into a feature film in 1978. Smalls also wrote the score for the 1976 film Drum.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Smalls was in Belgium accompanying the tour of professional jazz dance instructor Sue Samuels, to whom he was engaged to be married, when he died at the age of 43 during emergency surgery to repair a burst appendix.[4]

At the time of his death, Smalls was working on a new musical, Miracles, a musical adaptation of The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H.G. Wells. He had recorded some songs with Geoffrey Holder and the Harlem Boys Choir.[5]

Honors

Smalls won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Score for his work on The Wiz.[6]

References

• About Charlie Smalls

External links

• Charlie Smalls scores for The Wiz, 1974 Music Division, The New York Public Library.

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