"APPLAUSE" AT REPRISE- Casting Rumors- Page 2

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:01pm

Yep, Dgrant, I'm talking b'way musical star. Of course she was a screen legend from Bogie days, but her stock had ebbed, she wasn't the re-invented phenom she became with APPLAUSE in earlier theatrical outings, GOODBYE CHARLIE or even CACTUS FLOWER. Bacall is somewhat unique in that she couldn't get arrested in Hollywood and truly reinvented herself. (I'm basing this on both of your autobiographies -- she's the first to admit it.)

By the way, while we're talking Bacall musical vehicles, I believe WOMAN OF THE YEAR has a very effective score, if the same sort of 'thud' ending as APPLAUSE (a woman discovering some domestic attribute, or not, as she compromises for her man...) Other than the ear-assaulting title song that opens the show (Bacall's reach for its upper notes aren't pretty) ...the Kander and Ebb score is full of far wittier material that is much more interesting musically, and craft-wise, more character defining (Tess Harding) than the stuff given Margo.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:04pm

I always liked "She's No Longer a Gypsy".

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 3:06pm

I was in a production of this in Nov. - the music is really nothing special except "one Halloween". Babble is fun, but...A musical is for when a brilliant story can only be told in music. Thsi WAS a brilliant movie and had no need for songs - they added nothing. Eve is a brilliant role though.

Updated On: 2/12/05 at 03:06 PM

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 3:16pm

Auggie27, thank you and are also one hundred percent correct about WOMAN OF THE YEAR. If one wants an enjoyable cd and a much better sampling of the excitement Ms. Bacall brought to the musical theater, listening to WOMAN OF THE YEAR is a delight.

The Kander and Ebb score has many excellent moments. The captured vocal performances of Bacall and Marilyn Cooper shine through with the very catchy and clever Kander and Ebb music and lyrics. This cd is a far superior "must have" for lovers of the musical theater magic Ms. Bacall has created onstage.

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:02pm

Ah yes, WOMAN OF THE YEAR has one of THE best 11 o'clock numbers ever: "The Grass is Always Greener", a duet sung with Marilyn Cooper. The song was the biggest reason Cooper won the Tony in 1981 for Best Featured Actress, considering she probably has the record for the shortest stage time of a Tony winning role.

Other good songs from this show: "It Isn't Working", "Sometimes a Day Goes By", "One of the Boys", and "I Wrote the Book".

This show also featured some stunt castng: Raquel Welch took over for Bacall during the run of the show.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:10pm

Ms. Welch actually got to perform The Grass Is Always Greener on the Tonys with the divine Ms. Cooper. I don't recall if this was a Tony award bonus or special presentation the year following WOMAN OF THE YEAR's eligibility for Tonys. I am quite sure that Bacall was there at the awards and accepted her Tony for WOMAN OF THE YEAR. But I vividly remember Welch and Cooper performing The Grass is Always Greener.

It may have been stunt casting, but Raquel Welch received very favorable response for her performance. She did much better with the critics for WOMAN OF THE YEAR than she did years later when she replaced Julie Andrews in VICTOR/VICTORIA.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:28pm

We're now way off topic, but ... Saw Raquel in the role, not when she took over for 6-9 months, but when she first filled in while Bacall took a vacation. Interestingly, before she went in, it was considered the joke of the moment -- how could Racqy possibly pull it off? But pull it off she did (though she went up a couple of times), with great brio, in her Norma Kamali duds. She was nervous enough -- this was quite a stage audition -- to be trying very hard to be up to the Bacall standard. She suceeded, and the NY Post used it as a chance to beat up on Bacall (whose lefty politics they abhor.)

I heard that when Welsh went back in to take over the role, she eventually lost that sort of discipline, became very lax, and did the Edie Gorme thing, breaking up at key moments -- a Vegas-y star turn. That was widely reported in the press to. And she had (has?) a huge lesbian following, which I had not been aware of.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:32pm

loved your post about Raquel, Auggie27,,,,,thanks much for the info! :)