Applause cast recording?

Charles Strouse and Lee Adams wrote a very good score for Applause. Lots of great songs, the best being "Welcome to the Theatre", a stunning piece written for Margo Channing. Lauren Bacall and Len Cariou are great. The featured performers are also terriffic. I think it's worth buying.

We did this show in my senior year in high school and it was a lot of fun. There wasn't much for the ensemble to do, but our three big songs (But Alive, Applause, She's No Longer A Gypsy) were the highlights of the show. Lauren Bacall really can't sing, but apparently she was great in the role for those who saw her live. She did win the Tony that year against Katherine Hepburn and Dylis Watling. While it might not be Strouse's best score, the cast recording is definitely worth purchasing.

I was dissappointed when I bought it.
I have been down loading cds to my ipod, and I started with the A's. I just added Applause the other day and gave it another listen. I'm glad to have it in my collection, but it is not great.

Updated On: 12/29/06 at 12:12 PM

I agree - definitely worth the purchase if only for the Overture, Welcome to the Theater and the title song Applause.

I saw Applause, several times, with Lauren Bacall and later with Anne Baxter (who played Eve in All About Eve). Lots of fun, with lots of great numbers reflective of its era (the 70s). It probably would sound "corny" to today's generation, but its a great representation of musicals of that era, which were contemporary in their time. Chorus number (Applause, She's No Longer a Gypsy and But Alive) are lively, Bacall mainly croaks thru her numbers, but gets them across nonetheless. And for a long time, her big solo, Welcome to the Theatre, was practically an anthem of Broadway. The overture (remember those???) is exciting too. I would definately recommend buying the CD if you are interested in Broadway shows of the past.

I love Bette Davis.

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"Welcome to a world of fears and cheers and tears."

"One Halloween" is the only song in the score that I actually enjoy listening to, it is sort of Eve's "Rose's Turn" and Penny Fuller does wonders with it.

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Buy, rent or steal it! But get it.

Just kidding about stealing it.

It's one of my favorite cast albums. The overture, But Alive, Who's That Girl?, Welcome To The Theatre and One Halloween are my favorite tracks. "Who's That Girl" turns me into a dancing fool! (and I know Calvin will get the "dancing fool" reference.)

I'm a huge fan of this score, thought it could never begin to touch the movie.

I saw the show about two weeks after it opened in 1970. I really think "Applause" was a perfect statement of "Big Broadway" in the late 60's-early 70's: loud, brassy, star turn from and aging movie star and one rock-solid supporting cast.

The overture is so thrilling, with one of those huge, brassy openings using the melody from the theme song and the performances were top-notch (and so many names we now know and love: Len Cariou, Lee Roy Reams, Bonnie Franklin, Robert Mandan). And of course, Lauren Bacall who illicited gasps of "wow, it's really her singing" and BTW, she didn't croak her songs, they were tailored to her range, limited as it was and she sang, full-voiced and throughout the performance hit a few impressive notes.

For those of you who want to see her performance (with Larry Hagman in Cariou's role) there is an interesting movie-for-tv that was filmed in LONDON ENGLAND! It's very hard to find BUT I was able to secure every moment of it on a site that YOU know TO BE in existance. It's worth a look.

And I love the OCR, tinny or not. I put it on and it takes me back to the days of my youth... sorry, Man In Chair moment there.....

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I agree about the source material. All About Eve is one of the greatest movies of the American Cinema, and the Best Screenplay ever written. I do, however, think Applause is a decent musical. I saw it with Gretchen Wyler and Mary Kaye Henning (the youngest daughter on Petticoat Junction) at a stock tent theatre in Milwaukee and it was terrific.
The TV production is not bad either.

Last year a local theatre revived the show during Gay Pride and maintained the 1970s style of the show. It was really a delightful show and the Margo was marvelous. The Eve, however, was not.

The cast recording for Applause is worth getting if, for no other reason, than to have in a show music collection.

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