Applause (musical)
Music Charles Strouse
Lyrics Lee Adams
Book Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Basis Mary Orr’s 1946 short story “The Wisdom of Eve”; the 1950 movie All About Eve
Applause is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. The musical is based on the 1950 film All About Eve and the short story on which the movie is based, Mary Orr’s “The Wisdom of Eve”. The story centers on aging star Margo Channing, who innocently takes a fledgling actress under her wing, unaware that the ruthless Eve is plotting to steal her career and her man.
The musical opened on Broadway on March 30, 1970 and ran for 896 performances. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Lauren Bacall won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
Composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams (who had previously collaborated on the score to Bye Bye Birdie, among others) wanted to write a musical version of the 1950 movie, All About Eve. However, Twentieth Century Fox, which owned the rights to the movie, refused to grant them the rights to the script or the title. They were, however, able to purchase the stage rights to the short story on which All About Eve had been based, Mary Orr’s “The Wisdom of Eve”. The resulting musical could not contain any dialogue or characters that had been created for the movie but could use the original material that the movie also used. In April 1969, it was announced that Strouse, Adams, and book writer Sidney Michaels were beginning to work on the show, with Lawrence Kasha producing. In July 1969, movie star Lauren Bacall was cast as aging theater star Margo Channing, the role played by Bette Davis in All About Eve. Bacall greatly identified with the role, explaining, “The Margo Channing of Applause and myself were ideally suited. She was approaching middle age. So was I. She was being forced to face the fact that her career would have to move into another phase as younger women came along to do younger parts. So was I. And she constantly felt that the man she was in love with was going to go off with someone else, someone younger of course, and I, too, had had those feelings”.
Bacall, Strouse, Adams, and Kasha came to the conclusion that Michaels’ book was insufficient, so Kasha hired Betty Comden and Adolph Green to write a new book. They updated the story so that it was set in the present day (1970) instead of the 1950 setting of All About Eve. Comden and Green also created new characters to replace the characters created specifically for the movie. Addison de Witt, the snide and articulate drama critic played in the film by George Sanders, was replaced by Howard Benedict, producer of the play in which Margo Channing is appearing. Margo’s loyal assistant Birdie Coonan, the only character in the film who is suspicious of Eve from the start, was replaced by Duane Fox, Margo’s gay hair stylist. Strouse commented that this change also made the show more relevant to the 1970s. (A memorable moment: Margo asks Duane, “Are you going to be her hairdresser too?” Duane’s response: “Only when she’s laid out!”) At a later point, Twentieth Century Fox reversed its original decision and granted the musical’s creators full rights to All About Eve’s script; however, by that time, the show was so far along in its development that major changes could not be made to the book. However, Strouse and Adams did write a song based on one of the film’s most famous lines, “Fasten Your Seat Belts”.
The Broadway production opened on March 30, 1970, at the Palace Theatre, and closed on May 27, 1972, after 896 performances and four previews. The closing date has also been reported as July 27, 1972. Directed and choreographed by Ron Field with orchestrations by Philip J. Lang, the original cast included Lauren Bacall, Len Cariou, Penny Fuller, Bonnie Franklin, Lee Roy Reams, Robert Mandan, Brandon Maggart, Ann Williams, and Nicholas Dante.
When Bacall’s contract was up in 1971, the producers initially decided to cast film legend Rita Hayworth as Margo. Hayworth was very interested and flew to New York to audition for the role. However, unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Hayworth was suffering from the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease and could not retain lyrics or dialogue. Anne Baxter, who had portrayed Eve in the original film, replaced Bacall as Margo Channing. When Baxter departed the show in 1972, actress Arlene Dahl replaced her for one month before the show closed.
The musical was later adapted for television, starring Bacall, with Larry Hagman replacing Len Cariou in the role of Bill Sampson. It aired in the United States on CBS on March 19, 1973. It has not been released commercially, but it is available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio) in New York City and Beverly Hills, California.
The musical opened in the West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre on November 16, 1972 and ran for 382 performances. Lauren Bacall starred, along with Ken Walsh (Bill Sampson), Angela Richards (Eve Harrington), Eric Flynn (Duane Fox), Basil Hoskins (Howard Benedict), and Sarah Marshall (Karen Richards).
The Australian production with Eve Arden and Judi Connelli opened at the Metro Theatre in Kings Cross, Sydney in December 1975.
In 1980 Antonello Falqui directed the original Italian production at Teatro Nazionale in Milan and Teatro Sistina in Rome. It started Rossella Falk (Margo Channing), Ivana Monti (Eva), Gianni Bonagura (Mike), Liù Bosisio (Karen), and Gino Pernice (Duane).
New York City Center’s Encores! presented a staged concert of Applause from February 7 to 10, 2008. It was directed by Kathleen Marshall and starred Christine Ebersole, Michael Park, Erin Davie, Megan Sikora, Mario Cantone, Tom Hewitt, Chip Zien, and Kate Burton.
The Library Theatre Company in Manchester produced a UK revival of the show in 1987 starring Josephine Blake, Kathryn Evans and David Dale. It was directed by Paul Kerryson.
Porchlight Music Theatre presented Applause as a part of their “Porchlight Revisits” season in which they stage three forgotten musicals per year. It was in Chicago, Illinois in March of 2016. It was directed and choreographed by Christopher Pazdernik and music directed by Nick Sula.
Cast
Cast of the original 1970 Broadway production:
Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing
Len Cariou as Bill Sampson
Penny Fuller as Eve Harrington
Bonnie Franklin as Bonnie, a “gypsy”
Lee Roy Reams as Duane, Margo’s hairdresser
Robert Mandan as Howard Benedict, Margo’s producer
Brandon Maggart as Buzz Richards
Ann Williams as Karen Richards
Cast of the 2008 Encores! production:
Christine Ebersole as Margo Channing
Michael Park as Bill Sampson
Erin Davie as Eve Harrington
Megan Sikora as Bonnie
Mario Cantone as Duane Fox
Tom Hewitt as Howard Benedict
Chip Zien as Buzz Richards
Kate Burton as Karen Richards
Song list
Act I
Backstage Babble – First Nighters
Think How It’s Gonna Be – Bill Sampson
But Alive – Margo Channing, Gay Bar Patrons
The Best Night of My Life – Eve Harrington
Who’s That Girl? – Margo
Applause – Bonnie, Gypsies
Hurry Back – Margo
Fasten Your Seat Belts – Margo, Party Guests
Welcome to the Theatre – Margo
Act II
Good Friends – Buzz Richards, Karen Richards, Margo
She’s No Longer a Gypsy – Bonnie, Gypsies
One of a Kind – Bill, Margo
One Hallowe’en – Eve
Something Greater – Margo
Finale – Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia