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Applause (musical)
Encyclopedia
Applause is a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
, lyrics by Lee Adams
Lee Adams
Lee Richard Adams is an American lyricist best known for his musical theatre collaboration with Charles Strouse.Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Adams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master's from Columbia University.Adams won Tony Awards in 1961 for Bye Bye Birdie...
, and music by Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
. It won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Musical and Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
The musical is based on the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for the classic Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
film All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
and the original story by Mary Orr upon which the movie was based. At its center is veteran actress Margo Channing, who innocently takes a fledgling actress under her wings, unaware that the ruthless Eve is plotting to steal her career and her man. The show, however, makes a major change to the screenplay by eliminating the character of Addison de Witt, the snide and articulate drama critic played in the film by George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
. Instead, the musical substitutes the character of Howard Benedict, producer of the play that Margo Channing is appearing in. The show also eliminates the film's final sequence, in which an aspiring actress shows up in Eve's apartment and becomes Eve's Girl Friday, ready to do to her what Eve did to Margo.
Production history
The BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production opened on March 30, 1970 at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, New York
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
, and closed on July 27, 1972, after 896 performances and 4 previews. Directed and choreographed by Ron Field
Ron Field
Ronald Field was an American choreographer, director, and dancer.-Biography:Field was born in New York City, New York where he made his Broadway debut as a child in Lady in the Dark with Gertrude Lawrence...
with the orchestrations of Philip J. Lang
Philip J. Lang
Philip J. Lang was an American musical arranger, orchestrator and composer of band music, as well as a musical educator...
, the original cast included Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
, Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
, Penny Fuller
Penny Fuller
Penny Fuller is an American actress.Born in Durham, North Carolina, Fuller attended Northwestern University in Illinois. She then went to New York City to make a name for herself on Broadway...
, Bonnie Franklin
Bonnie Franklin
Bonnie Gail Franklin is an American actress, best known for her starring role in the television series One Day at a Time.-Personal life:...
, Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams is an American musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director.Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati...
, Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan is an American actor, most famous for his portrayals of playwright David Allen on the NBC serial From These Roots from 1958–1961, businessman Sam Reynolds on the serial Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970, and his subsequent satire of the genre playing Chester Tate on the sitcom...
, Brandon Maggart
Brandon Maggart
Brandon Maggart is an American actor.Maggart was born Roscoe Maggart, Jr. in Carthage, Tennessee. His acting career began in the early 1950s, at first in local and regional theatre in Tennessee, which eventually branched out to New York's Broadway...
, Ann Williams, and Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante was an American dancer and writer, best-known for having co-written the book of the musical A Chorus Line.-Biography:...
.
When Bacall's contract was up in 1971, the producers initially decided to cast film legend Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
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
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and could not retain lyrics or dialogue. Ironically, Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
, who had portrayed Eve in the original film, replaced Bacall as Margo Channing. When Baxter departed the show in 1972, actress Arlene Dahl
Arlene Dahl
Arlene Carol Dahl is an American actress and former MGM contract star, who achieved notability during the 1950s. She is the mother of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early years:...
replaced her for one month before the show closed.
The musical was later adapted for television, starring Bacall, with Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
replacing Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
in the role of Bill Sampson. It aired in the United States on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
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.
New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
's Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
presented a new production of Applause February 7 to 10, 2008. It was directed by Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...
and starred Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, where she attended New Trier High School...
, Michael Park
Michael Park
-see also:* Michael Park School, a Steiner School in New Zealand* Michael Parks, actor and singer...
, Erin Davie
Erin Davie
Erin Davie is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as the young Edith Bouvier Beale in the Broadway production of the musical Grey Gardens, taking the part for the slightly revised version on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, after its initial run at Playwrights Horizons...
, Megan Sikora, Mario Cantone
Mario Cantone
Mario Cantone is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including Chappelle's Show. He also played Anthony Marentino on Sex and the City...
, Tom Hewitt
Tom Hewitt
Tom Hewitt is an actor and Broadway stage performer, and a native of Victor, Montana.-Life:After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with the Professional Theatre Training Program's first class in 1981, Tom Hewitt worked with such regional powerhouses as Minneapolis's Guthrie...
, Chip Zien
Chip Zien
Chip Zien is an American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim...
, and Kate Burton
Kate Burton
Kate Burton may refer to:*Kate Burton , American actress of stage and television*Kate Burton , British aid worker who was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in December 2005 and released later that month-See also:...
.
Plot
As the "Overture" ends, Margo Channing (Lauren Bacall) presents the Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
to Eve (Penny Fuller), who graciously thanks "my producer, my director, my writer and above all, Margo Channing." We hear Margo's thoughts as she remembers her opening night a year-and a-half before, when Eve entered her life, and, as the scene changes and we flash back to that night, Margo's admirers crowd her dressing room and fill the air with "Backstage Babble." As soon as Margo can be alone with Bill Sampson, her director and fiancé, she tries to convince him to stay with her and not go to Rome to direct a movie. Bill firmly but lovingly tells her goodbye in "Think How It's Gonna Be." Margo dreads facing the opening night party alone, yet she feels stimulated – "But Alive" – and persuades, Duane (Lee Roy Reams), her gay hairdresser, to take her and Eve to a gay discothèque in Greenwich Village. The lively evening ends back at Margo's apartment. Eve sums up her feelings in "The Best Night of My Life." Margo, seeing her 19-year-old self on the late show, satirically asks "Who's That Girl?"
Four months later Eve has become Margo's indispensable Girl Friday, impressing Margo's close friends, including her producer, Howard Benedict (Robert Mandan). Howard takes Eve to a "gypsy" hangout. "Gypsy," Howard explains,"is the name dancers affectionately give themselves as they go camping from show to show." Led by Bonnie (Bonnie Franklin), the "gypsies" celebrate "the sound that says love" – "Applause." At three a.m. that night after a phone call from Bill in Rome, Margo longingly wishes he would "Hurry Back." Bill arranges to hurry back two weeks later, and at Margo's welcome home party for him a misunderstanding leads to a disastrous evening: "Fasten Your Seat Belts." By this time Eve has contrived to get herself hired as Margo's understudy. Margo, feeling betrayed and threatened, faces Eve with the ironic "Welcome to the Theatre." Bill accuses her of being paranoiac about Eve, and after a bitter fight, he says a final goodbye. Margo is left alone on an empty stage as the curtain comes down on Act I.
Act II opens in the Connecticut home of Margo's playwright friend, Buzz Richards (Brandon Maggart), and his wife, Karen (Ann Williams). Karen, thinking Margo behaved terribly to them and unfairly to Eve, arranges for Margo to miss a performance by draining the car's gas tank. Stuck in the country for the night, they express their warm feelings as "Good Friends." Back in New York, Eve gives a triumphant performance in Margo's role. Howard again takes Eve to the "gypsy" hangout where she snubs Bonnie and her friends, who do a scathing parody of a girl who becomes an overnight star – "She's No Longer a Gypsy."
Margo is devastated by reading a nasty interview that Eve has given, referring to "aging stars." Bill now realizes what Eve's true intentions are and rushes back full of love for Margo, telling her she's "One of a Kind." But the reconciliation doesn't take. Margo is still married to her career. Eve, who has made an unsuccessful pass at Bill, has ensnared the playwright, Buzz. Alone, she triumphantly recalls "One Hallowe'en." But her plans with Buzz are crushed by Howard who claims her for himself, telling her "We both know what you want and you know I'm the one who can get it for you."
Margo seems to have lost everything because of Eve, but suddenly she realizes she could be the winner and she now has a chance at "Something Greater." This means a life with Bill. In the finale, she and Bill join with everybody answering the question "why do we live this crazy life?" – "Applause."
Cast
Cast of the original 1970 Broadway production:- Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
as Margo Channing - Len CariouLen CariouLeonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
as Bill Sampson - Penny FullerPenny FullerPenny Fuller is an American actress.Born in Durham, North Carolina, Fuller attended Northwestern University in Illinois. She then went to New York City to make a name for herself on Broadway...
as Eve Harrington - Bonnie FranklinBonnie FranklinBonnie Gail Franklin is an American actress, best known for her starring role in the television series One Day at a Time.-Personal life:...
as a "gypsy" - Lee Roy ReamsLee Roy ReamsLee Roy Reams is an American musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director.Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati...
as Duane, Margo's hairdresser - Robert MandanRobert MandanRobert Mandan is an American actor, most famous for his portrayals of playwright David Allen on the NBC serial From These Roots from 1958–1961, businessman Sam Reynolds on the serial Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970, and his subsequent satire of the genre playing Chester Tate on the sitcom...
as Howard Benedict, Margo's producer - Brandon MaggartBrandon MaggartBrandon Maggart is an American actor.Maggart was born Roscoe Maggart, Jr. in Carthage, Tennessee. His acting career began in the early 1950s, at first in local and regional theatre in Tennessee, which eventually branched out to New York's Broadway...
as Buzz Richards - Ann Williams as Karen Richards
- Nicholas DanteNicholas DanteNicholas Dante was an American dancer and writer, best-known for having co-written the book of the musical A Chorus Line.-Biography:...
Song list
Act I- Backstage Babble
- Think How It's Gonna Be
- But Alive
- The Best Night of My Life
- Who's That Girl?
- Applause
- Hurry Back
- Fasten Your Seat Belts
- Welcome to the Theatre
Act II
- Inner Thoughts
- Good Friends
- The Best Night of My Life
- She's No Longer a Gypsy
- One of a Kind
- One Hallowe'en
- Something Greater
- Finale
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best MusicalTony Award for Best MusicalThis is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
(winner) - Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Choreography (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Cariou, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Maggart, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Franklin and Fuller, nominees)
- Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Costume Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
- Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
(Cariou and Franklin, winners) - Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
Outstanding Performance (Bacall, winner) - Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director (winner)
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Choreography (winner)