APPLAUSE - any good?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:52pm

Was listening to Seth's Chatterbox for the first time the other night and he mentions that he thought APPLAUSE was the worst musical in the history of musicals.

I saw the performance of APPLAUSE on the "Broadway's Lost Treasures" DVD and thought it was rather good.

What are some opinions about the show from users here at BroadwayWorld?

[magruder]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:10pm

It's a pretty trashy score, but at the same time, kinda irresistible. And Lauren Bacall's big ballad, "Hurry Back" has to be experienced. Though it's no match for All About Eve, the Comden and Green book is quite good, and the show succeeds, almost in spite of itself. A classic? No. But in no way, shape or form is it the worst musical in the history of musicals.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:20pm

It's certainly not the worst musical in the history of musicals, but it's probably the worst musical to ever win the best musical Tony. I was in a production of it a million years ago and it's VERY weak especially compared to the classic film -- and especially without a bonafide charismatic star in the lead (even one who can't sing). Some good songs, though.

My favorite bad moment -- "who's that girl?" ..... melo-rooney, indeed!

[magruder]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:23pm

There are still one or two shows I'd place in front of it for worst Best Musical Tony Award winner.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:27pm

Yeah. The Will Rogers Follies is one of them.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:31pm

LOL, true - Will Rogers Follies. What about TIME? oh boy, oh boy! No Tony but how hard was that to sit through!

Updated On: 6/15/04 at 09:31 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:33pm

Time?

[logan2]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:33pm

I have the BBC TV video from 1973 and it's really fun to watch. Lauren Bacall is a hoot. Surely AVENUE Q is a worse musical.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:36pm

Saw TIME when I went to London to see FOLLIES back in 86 or 87.
Big buck sets and a big as the stage hologram of Laurence Olivier, but still not worth it.

[magruder]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:38pm

I wasn't even thinking The Will Rogers Follies, but in retrospect, I do think it was inferior to the other three 1991 Best Musical candidates: Miss Saigon, Once on this Island and The Secret Garden. It did, however, have a charismatic lead performance from Keith Carradine, a gorgeous, very costly physical production, and strong, confident staging from Tommy Tune, which carried the evening. At least he made it go down easy.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:39pm

Sorry, I got confused -- we were talking about worst best musical Tony winners and I couldn't remember one named "Time." I take it you were talking about worst musicals ever -- that's VERY VERY long list.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:43pm

Sorry, too much multitasking. It's amazing how distracting an IM from a cutie can be.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:09am

For all the knocking it is taking, Applause is a very good star vehicle especially if your star is not a strong singer. It is a vehicle, nothing more, and is designed to mask the star's short suits as much as possible. Since Bacall can't really sing, can only move well at best and plays herself very well, the show is weak especially the score. It is not unwatchable, just extremely good mediocrity.

If you saw Bacall in the theatre, you might rethink the non-charisma idea. You couldn't take your eyes off of her. Part of that was costumes and lighting, but she looked great. The rest of the cast was not exactly chopped liver either.

She worked her ass off too. Never missed a show and that was a year in town and a year on tour plus I think the West End.

[I'm no fan of Bacall's off-stage. Her rep is that of a nightmare, a nasty BB, but onstage is another story.]

Is it a good show? Not really. A bad one? Oh, no, and fairly easy to sit through provided the star is good. The worst musical to win Best Musical? Oh, please, not as long as Cats, Passion and Hallelujah, Baby are on that list.

The CD remastering is great by the way. One of the best.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:18am

I've never been a fan of the score for Applause. The Fasten Your Seat Belts number is truly bizarre. What is that weird sound they are making?

I loved Will Rogers Follies and could easily see how it won the Tony. It was a genius idea that was well-executed. The sets, costumes and choreography were outstanding. Excellent performances by the cast. The score was strong, though I did find that Secret Garden and Once on This Island had stronger scores. Miss Saigon had awesome music with horrible lyrics. It was definitely a tough year for picking a winner, but Will Rogers Follies really incorporated all aspects of musical theatre better than the others. I was skeptical until I actually saw the show for myself and it was a dynamite show.

[robbiej]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:35am

So...what's the worst Tony-winning musical?

Opinions?

I got one.

Everything today is thoroughly...oh I can't even finish it!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:19pm

What's unique about Bacall's musical theater work is the TYPE of non-singer that she is/was. No Rex Harrison, she. Whereas selling a lyric might suffice, she insists on actually forming these odd sounds , in effect trying to really sing. And why were so many of the songs written for the most strained upper reaches of her range? Listen to, in particular, "But Alive!" from APPLAUSE ("uh-LIIIII-vuh!"), and the title number from WOMAN OF THE YEAR. I can never even say the latter without hearing her bleat, Woe-MUN! UV! thu! YEEEEEEAAAAR! You might say she was fearless. The recordings are just weird. The WOMAN score, to my ear, is the supperior, because the character songs for Bacall have more character.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:34pm

I guess I wasn't clear when I spoke of "charismatic star" -- Bacall clearly worked her ass off and had charisma in spades (I have the video of the show she taped for tv), so much so that it masked how mediocre the material around her was. I was speaking of when this show doesn't have a bonafide charismatic star -- as was the case when I was in it years ago and WOW, what a lousy show! And in my opinion, without a Bacall-caliber Margo (and there aren't a lot of those) it is much worse than "Passion" (a brilliant, underrated score and Donna Murphy was unforgettable) and is in the same mediocre ballpark as "Cats" (which at least had first rate choreography and design elements).

I've never seen "Hallelujah Baby" though I've listened to the cast album and the Jules Styne/Comden & Green score definitely has some great moments (especially Leslie Uggams's numbers and Lillian Heyman's showstopping 11:00 number "I Don't Know Where She Got It"); a much better score than "Applause."
The concept of the show is interesting, but I guess the book had problems. Arthur Laurents has been revising the book with an eye to remounting the show sometime soon -- considering his track record (West Side Story and Gypsy), I bet it'll end up being a better show than "Applause."

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 1:56pm

La Ca carisma La Ca carisma!...
Just a memory of Betty playing drunk.
Still, always felt this had the best star turn curtain call--EVER!

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 2:11pm

Margo - I'd love to have a copy of the video of Applause - is it for sale to the general public, or did you tape it off of TV or something?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 2:31pm

I got it off of EBay a few years ago. It has a rolling counter at the bottom of the screen, so it seems that it is a copy taken from some professional archive or library. It played on tv back in the 70's, but I'm not sure whether it's been broadcast anywhere since then.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 2:34pm

I remember seeing it on Television in th4e '70s - I remember that very clearly (I was born in '61) I loved it, and it was probably one of the first "Broadway" shows I was exposed to, other than Theatrical releases like Funny Girl and The Sound of Music. I've always loved that husky quality in Bacall's voice - If I'd been young and straight when she was in her prime - I'd have been in love!

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 6:18pm

My pick for worst Tony-winning musical would be REDHEAD. No contest. If it wasn't for Fosse and Verdon, it would have never beaten FLOWER DRUM SONG. The score is flat-out mediocre!

APPLAUSE diefinitely has its moments. My favorite song for the score is "But Alive", but "Fatsen Your Seat Belts" with Len Cariou and the cast imitating car horns made me shudder!

Pick up the "Broadway's Lost Treasures" DVD to see Bonnie Franklin and the cast perform the title song. MUCH more interesting than the CD version!

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 7:47pm

I liked the title song but prefer "She's No Longer a Gypsy" just plain fun. In fact all the ensemble piece were better than the featured performer's songs.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 7:53pm

You people are incredible! I thank you for this very interesting thread. :)

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 7:58pm

I should add that while APPLAUSE had some appeal to it, I always thought that PURLIE should have won the Tony Award for Best Musical that year.