Martin Charnin

Martin Charnin (born November 24, 1934) is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie.

Born in New York City, he graduated from The High School of Music & Art and then from The Cooper Union, where he got his BFA. Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as "Big Deal", one of the Jets in the original production of West Side Story. He played the role for 1000 performances on Broadway and on the road. After completing his duties in West Side Story, he wrote music and lyrics for numerous off-Broadway and Cabaret revues, many of them for Julius Monk. He then went on to write, direct, and produce nightclub acts for Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, Mary Travers, Larry Kert, Jose Ferrer, and Leslie Uggams. His first Broadway musical was in 1963, as the lyricist for Hot Spot starring Judy Holliday, with music by Mary Rodgers.

In California, he contributed lyrics to Vernon Duke's musical Zenda and in 1967, wrote the lyrics for Mata Hari, which was produced by David Merrick. In the fall of 1969, he wrote lyrics to Richard Rodgers' music and Peter Stone's book for the musical Two by Two, which starred Danny Kaye. In the early 70's, he went to television where he conceived, produced, wrote and directed six television variety specials. In 1971, he won the Emmy Award for Annie, The Women in the Life of a Man, which starred Anne Bancroft. In 1972, he won two more primetime Emmy Awards for S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin, which starred, among others, Jack Lemmon, Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Larry Kert, and Robert Guillaume. His other specials included Get Happy (starring Jack Lemmon, Johnny Mathis, Mama Cass), Dames at Sea (starring AnnMargaret, Anne Meara, and Ann Miller), Cole Porter in Paris (starring Perry Como, Diahann Carroll, Charles Aznavour), and a second Bancroft special, called Annie and the Hoods. He supplied music and lyrics for the hit song The Best Thing You've Ever Done, sung by Barbra Streisand on her gold album The Way We Were.

He made his stage directing debut in 1972 with Music, Music, which had a libretto by Alan Jay Lerner. He then conceived and directed a 1973 revue called Nash at Nine (based on the works of Ogden Nash and starring E.G. Marshall). He then directed The National Lampoon Show and its road company. (The New York version starred John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, and other Saturday Night Live stalwarts). He then created, wrote the lyrics for and directed Annie at the Goodspeed Opera House. Annie moved to Broadway and ran for 2,327 performances, making it one of the 25 longest running musicals in Broadway history. His collaborators were Charles Strouse and Thomas Meehan. He went on to direct the five U.S. national companies of Annie and three productions in the West End in London. While in London, he also directed Bar Mitzvah Boy, which had music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Don Black. Back in the U.S. he wrote the lyrics for I Remember Mama with music by Richard Rodgers, and directed, wrote the lyrics for, and co-wrote the book for The First, a musical about Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball. He directed Cafe Crown for Joseph Papp. Cafe Crown subsequently transferred to Broadway. He directed A Little Family Business, which starred Angela Lansbury and John McMartin, and Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson in The Flowering Peach for Tony Randall's National Theatre, on Broadway.

Other Broadway projects include La Strada (1969) – additional lyrics, Sid Caesar & Company (1989) - director, and The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979) – additional lyrics. In the 90's, he directed dozens of companies of Annie, and its sequel Annie Warbucks. He also directed Laughing Matters, a revue written by and starring Peter Tolan and Linda Wallem and in 1997, he directed three additional companies of Annie in London, Australia and Amsterdam. He directed the 20th anniversary production of Annie on Broadway, and he also directed Jeanne La Pucelle (1997); book & lyrics by Vincent de Tourdonnet, music by Peter Sipos. Off-Broadway, he directed the premier stage adaptation of Jules Feiffer's Carnal Knowledge, and Wallach and Jackson in In Persons, as well as The No Frills Revue and Upstairs at O'Neals, both of which had healthy New York runs. He directed A.R. Gurney's Later Life in Orlando, and in 2004, he moved to the Pacific Northwest to direct the 30th anniversary production of Annie, produced by Ken Gentry and Networks. It ran for three and a half years all over the U.S. He then regionally created or wrote or directed shows like Love is Love, Robin Hood: The Legend Continues, Shadowlands, and in 2010, Sleuth, all for Village Theatre in Issaquah, WA. He created, produced and directed night club acts for his wife, Shelly Burch http://www.shellyburch.com, and recently became the Artistic Director of Showtunes, a theatre company in Seattle, WA, devoted to resurrecting forgotten and unsung musicals, and celebrating the works of composers, including Richard Rodgers and Irving Berlin, and producing them in concert at the Moore Theatre in Seattle.

Works

Stage

• Fallout (Revue) (1958)
• Kaleidoscope (Revue) (1960)
• Pieces of Eight (1961) - for Julius Monk
• Upstairs at the Downstairs (1961) - for Julius Monk
• The Littlest Revue (1961) - for Ben Bagley
• Zenda (1963) - co-lyricist, music by Vernon Duke
• Hot Spot (1963) - lyricist; music by Mary Rodgers
• Mata Hari (1967) - lyricist; music by Edward Thomas, book by Jerome Coopersmith
• Ballad for a Firing Squad [revision of Mata Hari] (1968)
• La Strada (1969) – additional lyrics
• Two by Two (1971) – lyricist; music by Richard Rodgers, book by Peter Stone
• Nash at Nine (1973) - director; music by Milton Rosenstock
• Music! Music! (1973) - director; book by Alan Jay Lerner, various composers
• Annie (1977) - conceived, director and lyricist; music by Charles Strouse, book by Thomas Meehan
• Bar Mitzvah Boy (1979) – director; music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Don Black, book by Jack Rosenthal
• I Remember Mama (1979) – lyricist; music by Richard Rodgers, book by Thomas Meehan
• The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979) – additional lyrics
• The First (1981) – lyricist, director; co-book writer with Joel Siegel, music by Bob Brush
• A Little Family Business (1982) – director
• Upstairs at O'Neal's (1983) – creator and director
• The No-Frills Revue (1983) – creator and director
• Jokers (1986) – director
• Cafe Crown (1989) – director
• Sid Caesar & Company (1989) - director
• Annie Warbucks (1993) – director, lyricist; music by Charles Strouse, book by Thomas Meehan
• Carnal Knowledge (1995) – director
• Laughing Matters (1995) – director
• Star Crossed (1995) – director; lyrics by Keith Levenson, music by Jenine Tesori
• Can-Can (1996) – director; music and lyrics by Cole Porter, Book by Abe Burrows, revised by Martin Charnin
• The Flowering Peach (1997) – director
• Annie (1997) Broadway Revival – director, lyricist
• Jeanne La Pucelle (1997) - director; book & lyrics by Vincent de Tourdonnet, music by Peter Sipos
• Later Life (2004) director
• Two by Two (2004) director, lyricist. Revised book by Peter Stone
• Robin Hood: The Legend Continues (2004) - director, lyricist; music by Peter Sipos; book by Thomas Meehan
• Annie (2005) 30th Anniversary Production – director, lyricist
• Shadowlands (2006) – director; written by William Nicholson
• Annie Warbucks (2007) - director, lyricist
• Rodgers &... (2008) - writer, director, lyricist
• Rodgers &... (2008) - writer, director, lyricist (for the 92nd Street Y Program in New York City)
• Love Is Love (2009) Musical Revue - director, lyricist; music by Richard Gray
• Follies (2009) - Artistic Director (For Showtunes)
• Sleuth (2010) - director; written by Anthony Shaffer
• The Melody Lingers On (The music of Irving Berlin) (2010) - director. (For Showtunes)

Television and Film

• Feathertop (1961) ABC - (lyricists; music by Mary Rodgers)
• The Jackie Gleason Show (1961) CBS - (lyricists; music by Mary Rodgers)
• The Annie Christmas Show (1977) CBS - (director, producer)
• Annie (1982) Columbia Pictures (starring Carol Burnett, Albert Finney, Bernadette Peters)
• Annie (1999) Disney (starring Kathy Bates, Audra McDonald, Victor Garber, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenowith)

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1971 Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Program-Variety or Musical-Variety and Popular Music-"Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man"
• 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Program-Variety or Musical-Variety and Popular Music-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1973 Peabody Award for Broadcasting-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – Annie
• 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics – Annie
• 1977 Tony Award for Best Original Score – Annie
• 1999 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album -Songwriter- Vol. 2... Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life
• 2006 The Richard Rodgers Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Performing Arts
• 2011 Goodspeed Musical Award for Outstanding Contribution to the American Musical Theatre

Nominations

• 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1973 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music-"Get Happy-tribute to Harold Arlen"
• 1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – Annie
• 1982 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical – The First
• 1982 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – The First

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

• Member of ASCAP, The Writers Guild, The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
• Author: Annie A Theatrical Memoir - Published E.P. Dutton
  
• Author: The Giraffe who Sounded like Ol' Blue Eyes (illustrated by Kate Draper - Published by E.P. Dutton
  
• Album: Annie Original Broadway recording (1977 Columbia Records)
• Album: Upstairs at O'Neal's Original New York Company (1982 Bruce Yeko Records)
• Album: Incurably Romantic (seventeen lyrics; various composers)
  
• Album: Annie 30th Anniversary Original recording (2005 Time-Life Records)
• Album: Second Coming - Shelly Burch live at the Metropolitan Room in New York City
• Songs recorded by: Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Rod McKuen, Grace Jones, Jay-Z, Nancy Wilson, Andrea McArdle, Shelly Burch, and others
• Unproduced musical - Softly - lyricist, music by Harold Arlen, book by Hugh Wheeler
  

References

• Bloom, Ken. American Song. The Complete Musical Theater Companion. 1877–1995’’, Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Schirmer Books, 1996.
• Green, Stanley; Taylor, Deems. The World of Musical Comedy. The Story of the American Musical Stage, A. S. Barnes, 1980.
• Larkin, Colin. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 3rd edition, Macmillan, 1998.
• Press, Jaques Cattell (Ed.). ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 4th edition, R. R. Bowker, 1980.

External links

• Martin Charnin at the Internet Broadway Database
• Martin Charnin at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Martin Charnin at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Charnin, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 24, 1934
Place of birth	Washington Heights, New York City
Date of death
Place of death