Michael Brown (writer)

Michael Brown
Michael Brown in New York City, 2012
Born	Marion Martin Brown II (1920-12-14)December 14, 1920 Mexia, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 11, 2014(2014-06-11) (aged 93) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Composer, lyricist, producer, writer, director, performer
Spouse(s)	Joy Williams Brown (married 1950-2014)
Children	3

Michael Brown (14 December 1920 – 11 June 2014) was a composer, lyricist, writer, director, producer, and performer. He was born in Mexia, Texas. His musical career began in New York cabaret, performing first at Le Ruban Bleu. In the 1960s, he was a producer of industrial musicals for major American corporations such as J.C. Penney and DuPont. For the DuPont pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Brown wrote and produced a musical revue “The Wonderful World of Chemistry,” staged 48 times a day by two simultaneous casts in adjacent theaters. For years, he maintained a reunion directory of the cast and crew, which included Robert Downey, Sr. as a stage manager. 2005 mailing: “After all, it was a remarkable time in all of our lives. We can be fairly certain nothing like it will be seen again. Love all round, Mike.” Several of his songs have entered the American repertoire, including "Lizzie Borden" and "The John Birch Society," which were popularized by the Chad Mitchell Trio. Children know him best as the author of three Christmas books about Santa’s helper, Santa Mouse.

His off-Broadway and cabaret contributions of music and lyrics were myriad. In 1948, performing his own music and lyrics, he auditioned for Julius Monk. His engagement at Le Ruban Bleu lasted a record 54 weeks. Returning to cabaret every ten years or so, he performed at The Blue Angel, the Ballroom, Plaza 9, Upstairs at the Downstairs, and The Savoy in London. He wrote the words and music for songs that were featured in all of Julius Monk's cabaret revues, including Four Below, 1956; Take Five, 1957; Four Below Strikes Back, 1959; Dressed to the Nines, 1960; Seven Come Eleven, 1961;Dime a Dozen, 1962; Baker's Dozen, 1964; and Bits and Pieces XIV, 1964. His songs for these revues included “Lola Montez,” “Won't You Come Home, Judge Crater,” “Love Letters Written to My Mother,” “Don't Let Them Take the Paramount,” and “The Third Avenue El.” Dan Dietz wrote about “The Third Avenue El”: "This sweetly nostalgic song about the passing of a New York City landmark resonates more than ever today, and is particularly touching in its wish that vanished New York sites might always be with us, if not in concrete and steel, then at least in memory."