Composer guide

Jule Styne

Jule Styne wrote the music for Gypsy and Funny Girl, along with pop standards that are still sung every holiday season. Across more than four decades on Broadway, he wrote big, brassy melodies for some of the greatest stars of the musical stage.

Jule Styne musicals in our library

Peter Pan (1954)
Styne joined Betty Comden and Adolph Green to write added songs, including Never Never Land, for the 1954 Broadway production.
Gypsy (1959)
His 1959 score with lyricist Stephen Sondheim, written for Ethel Merman as Rose, which includes Everything's Coming Up Roses.
Funny Girl (1964)
His 1964 hit with lyricist Bob Merrill that made Barbra Streisand a star with People and Don't Rain on My Parade.

Who Jule Styne was

Jule Styne was born in London in 1905 and moved to the United States as a child, growing up in Chicago, where he was a piano prodigy who performed with symphony orchestras before he was 10. He worked as a pianist and bandleader, then went to Hollywood, where he and lyricist Sammy Cahn wrote hits such as Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Time After Time, and It's Magic. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). He died in New York in 1994.

On Broadway, Styne worked with a series of top lyricists, including Cahn, Leo Robin, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, and Bob Merrill. His style is theatrical and full-blooded: soaring ballads and showstoppers written to fit powerhouse performers such as Carol Channing, Judy Holliday, Ethel Merman, and Barbra Streisand.

Jule Styne's Broadway shows

Styne's first Broadway hit was High Button Shoes (1947), written with Cahn. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), with lyrics by Leo Robin, made Carol Channing a star singing Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. For the 1954 Broadway Peter Pan, he and Comden and Green added songs including Never Never Land. Bells Are Ringing (1956), also with Comden and Green, gave Judy Holliday Just in Time and The Party's Over.

Gypsy (1959), with lyrics by a young Stephen Sondheim, starred Ethel Merman as the stage mother Rose. Do Re Mi followed in 1960. Funny Girl (1964), with Bob Merrill, turned Barbra Streisand into a superstar. Hallelujah, Baby! (1967) reunited him with Comden and Green, and Sugar (1972) adapted the film Some Like It Hot. His last Broadway musical was The Red Shoes (1993), which closed after a short run.

Awards, legacy, and where to start

Hallelujah, Baby! won the 1968 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Original Score, the score award shared by Styne, Comden, and Green. Styne was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1990.

Gypsy is his lasting monument. Broadway has revived it many times, with Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Patti LuPone all winning Tonys as Rose, and Audra McDonald leading a 2024 revival. Newcomers should start with the original Gypsy cast album with Ethel Merman, then watch the 1968 film of Funny Girl, in which Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Jule Styne: frequently asked questions

What musicals did Jule Styne write?

Styne wrote the music for more than a dozen Broadway shows, including High Button Shoes, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, Funny Girl, Hallelujah, Baby!, and Sugar, plus added songs for Peter Pan.

Did Jule Styne write the lyrics for Gypsy?

No. Styne wrote the music for Gypsy, and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. Arthur Laurents wrote the book.

Did Jule Styne win a Tony Award?

Yes. He shared the 1968 Tony Award for Best Original Score with Betty Comden and Adolph Green for Hallelujah, Baby!, which also won Best Musical.

Did Jule Styne write Let It Snow?

Yes. Styne wrote the music for Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! with lyricist Sammy Cahn, who also wrote Time After Time and It's Magic with him.

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