In an interview with the Tribune in 2011, Strouse was asked if he had any idea that the Broadway show would be such a hit. “No,” he said. “This was a piece about the Depression. It was dark. The

Charles Strouse, who has died aged 96, caught the musical zeitgeist with a string of Broadway hits including the raucous Bye Bye Birdie, the nostalgic Applause and the perennial favourite Annie, all of which earned him Tony Awards and other honours;