APPLAUSE, the Broadway musical based on the classic ALL ABOUT EVE, was hastily filmed for television in 1973. The show first appeared on Broadway in 1970 and won Lauren Bacall a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. The story definitely lacks the bite of the original, obviously because it's a musical, but it's still the same story of Broadway star Margo Channing (Bacall) taking a star-struck fan (Penny Fuller) under her wing who pays her back by trying to take over her life. This production seems to have been thrown together in sort of a hap-hazard fashion and Bacall and company deserve better. The score by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse (BYE BYE BIRDIE) includes "But Alive", "The Best Night of My Life", "Backstage Babble", "One of a Kind", and the classic title tune. Bacall works hard at making Margo likable as does Larry Hagman as Bill Sampson, Margo's much younger boyfriend. A curio to be sure, but worth a look if you can find it.
