Applause (musical) resulting musical could not contain any dialogue or characters that had been created for the movie but could use the original material that the movie also used. In April 1969, it was announced that Strouse, Adams, and book writer Sidney Michaels were beginning to work on the show, with Lawrence Kasha producing. In July 1969, movie star Lauren Bacall was cast as aging theater star Margo Channing, the role played by Bette Davis in "All About Eve". Bacall greatly identified with the role, explaining, "The Margo Channing of "Applause" and myself were ideally suited. She was approaching middle age. So
Bette Davis after Honoré de Balzac's "La Cousine Bette". During their time in New York, Davis became a Girl Scout who proved so successful she later ranked as a Patrol Leader. Davis attended Cushing Academy, a boarding school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, where she met her future husband, Harmon O. Nelson, known as "Ham". In 1926, a then 18-year-old Davis saw a production of Henrik Ibsen's "The Wild Duck" with Blanche Yurka and Peg Entwistle. Davis later recalled for Al Cohn of "Newsday", "The reason I wanted to go into theater was because of an actress named Peg Entwistle." She auditioned for admission