This is a rarely, if ever, seen clip from the Broadway musical Applause, of Tony Award winning star Lauren Bacall singing “But Alive,” which takes place in a Greenwich Village New York gay bar. It’s very 70s, and truly a classic.
I love how Lauren Bacall’s style of singing involves yelling towards a pitch but never quite reaching it. Her enthusiasm is boundless enough to fill a thousand empty gay hearts. (via Rob Thurman)
Fabulous clip! I agree, the show should be made available on DVD right NOW!! It doesn’t matter that Miss Bacall attended the School of Rex Harrison for her singing lessons – her sheer energy and persona drives the piece. It’s quite fitting that she won the Tony Award for her portrayal of ‘Margo Channing’ in “Applause” on Broadway.
thats why this site is better – Mario would not have the brains or soul to find this let alone post it- he appeals to alot of dopey young girls who watch reality shows and none of them know what life’s about.
In reply to the description of this video clip from “Applause,” that it is “rarely, if ever” seen, I wouldn’t say “if ever,” as this same lousy video has been circulating on eBay and elsewhere for years, all copies with that horrible time counter nearly smack dab in the middle of the image.
It is high time that Bacall get together with whomever owns the rights to this production and have a digitally-enhanced, restored DVD made available for all to purchase. I saw this program (which features the London cast of the show) in its sole broadscast on CBS in 1973 and thought it very entertaining.
Sure, Bacall talk-sings her way through the production, but the energy and the storyline itself (based on “All About Eve”) is strong enough to sustain her flawed vocal styles. What would be nice is to see and hear this production in its most optimum conditions on a DVD with state-of-the-art enhancement.
And yes, that gay bar production number was certainly an innovation not seen in the Joseph L. Mankiewicz film on which this musical is based.
Also, Bonnie Franklin (best known from her role on the CBS sitcom “One Day At A Time”), and Ann Williams and Robert Mandan (at the time best known from their roles on the CBS serial “Search For Tomorrow,” though Mandan went on to greater fame as “Chester Tate” on the ABC soap opera parody “SOAP”) were in the original Broadway production of this work, though only Manadan appears in the London production of the show, along with Larry Hagman (as Bacalls’/”Margot Channing’s” love interest) in his post-“I Dream Of Jeannie”/pre-“Dallas” years. Hagman replaced Len Cariou, who had co-starred in the Broadway production.
There’s a famous story that when Ethel Merman saw “Applause” and Bacall first opened her mouth to sing, said (so that the entire audience could hear), “JESUS CHRIST!! I guess ya don’t gotta know how to sing anymore to be in a show!”
And does that neon signage really say, ‘Gay Power’? It’s a bit scrambled, but that’s what it looks like to me.