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 Eyes pedal steel guitar and horns. However, it was not until 1981, when Kim Carnes recorded her version of the song in a radically different synthesizer-based arrangement, that "Bette Davis Eyes" became a commercial success. The Carnes version spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the US "Billboard" Hot 100 (interrupted for one week by the "Stars on 45 Medley") and was "Billboard"s biggest hit of the year for 1981. The single also reached No. 5 on Billboard's Top Tracks charts and No. 26 on the Dance charts. The song won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record