Applause

Illustration of a black-outlined crescent moon with a black-silhouetted female reclining on the moon with her leg held up in the air. Black text encircles illustration on yellow background. 

Applause is an American musical based on the 1950 film All About Eve and the short story “The Wisdom of Eve” that the movie had originally been inspired by. Charles Strouse was the composer and Lee Adams was the lyricist; these two had collaborated previously on Bye Bye Birdie. The production opened on Broadway on March 30, 1970 at the Palace Theatre. The show ran for two years and four months with 896 performances in total. The original cast included Lauren Bacall and was directed and choreographed by Ron Field. The production not only won the Tony Award for Best Musical but Lauren Bacall also won a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. The musical also won Tony’s for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography. The plot of the musical centers on an aging musical star named Margo and a rising star Eve. There is also love and loss as Margo has to grapple with the reality that she is not getting younger and that Eve is up and coming.