View source for Charlie Smalls

{{Short description|American composer}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Charlie Smalls
| image         = Charlie Smalls.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = Smalls on ''The Monkees'' 1968
| birth_name    =  
| birth_date    = {{Birth date |1943|10|25|df=yes}} 
| birth_place   = [[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1987|08|27|1943|10|25|df=yes}} 
| death_place   = Belgium
| occupation    = Composer, songwriter,
| years_active  = 
| spouse        = 
| awards        = Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics<br> 1974: ''[[The Wiz]]'' <br> '''[[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]'''<br>1975: ''[[The Wiz]]'' <br> '''[[Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album|Best Cast Show Album]]''' <br>1976: ''[[The Wiz]]''
| children      = 
| website       = 
}}
'''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 (writer)|William F. Brown]]'s 1975 [[Broadway musical]] ''[[The Wiz]]'' and the 1978 [[The Wiz (film)|film version of the same name]].

==Career ==
A musical [[Child prodigy|prodigy]], Smalls attended the [[Juilliard School]] at age 11 in 1954, staying until 1961.<ref>Aufderheide, Jeremy  (2007). "[http://www.thewizthemusical.com/creators/smalls.php Creators: Charlie Smalls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717043455/http://www.thewizthemusical.com/creators/smalls.php |date=2011-07-17 }}". ''The Wiz: A Virtual Coffee Table Book.'' Retrieved January 20, 2008.</ref> He wrote the song "From Me to You" for [[Hugh Masekela]]'s 1966 album ''[[Hugh Masekela's Next Album]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Original-Broadway-Cast-Of-The-Boys-In-The-Band-Mart-Crowleys-The-Boys-In-The-Band-The-Original-Broad/release/1773445|title = Original Broadway Cast of "The Boys in the Band" – Mart Crowley's - the Boys in the Band (The Original Broadway Cast Album) (1969, Vinyl)| website=[[Discogs]] | date=1969 }}</ref> and a song for [[John Cassavetes]]'s 1968 film ''[[Faces (1968 film)|Faces]]'' called "Never Felt Like This Before."

Smalls appeared in the [[Post-credits scene|tag]] scene of the "Some Like It Lukewarm" episode of ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]'', which aired on March 4, 1968, chatting at a piano with singer [[Davy Jones (actor)|Davy Jones]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Sandoval|first=Andrew|url=https://archive.org/details/monkeesdaybydays00andr/page/178|title=The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story Of The 60s TV Pop Sensation|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|year=2005|isbn=978-1-59223-372-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/monkeesdaybydays00andr/page/178 178]|url-access=registration}}</ref>

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 [[film music|score]] for the 1976 film ''[[Drum (1976 film)|Drum]]''.<ref>{{cite web|website=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074437/reference/|title=Drum|accessdate=December 11, 2022}}</ref>

==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 [[Vermiform appendix|appendix]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/04/obituaries/charlie-smalls-is-dead-composer-of-the-wiz.html|title=Charlie Smalls is Dead; Composer of 'The Wiz'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 September 1987}}</ref>

At the time of his death, Smalls was working on a new musical, ''Miracles'', a musical adaptation of ''[[The Man Who Could Work Miracles (story)|The Man Who Could Work Miracles]]'' by [[H.G. Wells]]. He had recorded some songs with [[Geoffrey Holder]] and [[Boys Choir of Harlem|the Harlem Boys Choir]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thewizthemusical.com/creators/smalls.php |title=The Wiz &#124; Creators: Charlie Smalls |access-date=2008-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717043455/http://www.thewizthemusical.com/creators/smalls.php |archive-date=2011-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1989, Smalls's score for ''The Wiz'' was donated to the [[Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]] by Mildred Harper, the mother of producer and creator of ''The Wiz'', Ken Harper, along with Harper's papers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charlie Smalls scores for The Wiz 1974 |url=https://archives.nypl.org/mus/22809 |website=The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref>

==Honors ==
Smalls won the 1975 [[Tony Award for Best Score]] as well as the 1976 [[Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album]] for his work on ''The Wiz''.<ref>Search for "Charlie Smalls" at "[http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search Past Winners Search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831204617/http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search |date=2016-08-31 }}". ''[http://www.tonyawards.com The American Theater Wing's Tony Awards]''. Retrieved January 20, 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Grammy Award Nominees 1976 - Grammy Award Winners 1976 |url=https://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1976-224.html |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=www.awardsandshows.com}}</ref>

==References==
<references />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110108084709/http://thewiztheatrecompany.com/charliesmalls.html About Charlie Smalls]

== External links ==
*[http://archives.nypl.org/mus/22809 Charlie Smalls scores for The Wiz, 1974] Music Division, The New York Public Library.

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Charlie Smalls
|list =
{{DramaDesk Lyrics 1969–1975}}
{{DramaDesk Music 1969–1975}}
{{TonyAward MusicalScore 1947–1975}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smalls, Charlie}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:American musical theatre composers]]
[[Category:American male musical theatre composers]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]
[[Category:Musicians from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Drama Desk Award winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American composers]]
[[Category:Juilliard School alumni]]