Musicals Blog

Applause (1970)

by Claire J Rottenberg


Applause was a Tony-winning musical based on the classic movie All About Eve. The book was written by the experienced play and screenplay writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green and the score was written by Charles Strouse (composer) and Lee Adams (lyricist). Applause opened in March, 1970 and it played for 896 performances, closing in July, 1972. The stars of the play were Lauren Bacall, Len Cariou and Penny Fuller.

Although a special version of Applause, starring Lauren Bacall and Larry Hagman, was filmed for television and shown in the US in March, 1973 on CBS, it has never been released. The only other major production of Applause was last February for City Center's Encore series. Christine Ebersole starred in that production.

Applause won Tony awards in 1970 for Best Musical, Best Direction (Ron Field), Best Choreography (Ron Field), and Best Actress in a Musical (Lauren Bacall). It received 7 other nominations, including nominations for Len Cariou for Best Actor in a Musical and for both Bonnie Franklin and Penny Fuller for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.