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 performer, Greer Garson, who also earned five consecutive nominations in the Best Actress category (1941-1945), including three years when both these actresses were nominated. In 1962, Bette Davis became the first person to secure 10 Academy Award nominations for acting. Since then only three people have surpassed this figure, Meryl Streep (with 21 nominations and three wins), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations and four wins), and Jack Nicholson (12 nominations and three wins) with Laurence Olivier matching the number (10 nominations, 1 award). Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscars for "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938), when they were offered for auction for