Original Dreamgirls Star to Head Cast of Reprise! Applause
By Andrew Gans
07 Apr 2005
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Sheryl Lee Ralph
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Sheryl Lee Ralph, who starred as Deena Jones in the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls, will play Margo Channing in the upcoming Reprise! mounting of Applause.
Ralph will play the role created onstage by Lauren Bacall in the series of staged concerts at UCLA's Freud Playhouse May 10-22. Playbill.com has also learned that Jean Louise Kelly will play Eve with Kevin Earley as Bill and Caroline, or Change's Veanne Cox as Karen Richards.
David Lee will direct Applause, which will feature choreography by Mark Esposito. The musical is based on the film "All About Eve," which concerns an aging Broadway star (Margo Channing) and the young woman (Eve Harrington) she takes under her wing.
Applause, which won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Musical, features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics be Lee Adams and a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The musical opened at Broadway's Palace Theatre on March 30, 1970, with Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing and Penny Fuller as Eve Harrington. Bacall won a Tony for her performance, and the show ran for 896 performances, closing July 27, 1972.
Sheryl Lee Ralph most recently starred on Broadway as Muzzy Van Hossmere in the Tony-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. She received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for her performance as Deena Jones in Dreamgirls, and she made her Broadway debut in the musical Reggae. Also a star of film and TV, Ralph's screen credits include "Moesha," "The District," "Designing Women," "Deterrence," "To Sleep with Anger," "Sister Act II," "The Flintsones," "The Mighty Quinn" and "Witch Hunt."
Tickets for Applause, priced $55-$65, are available by calling the UCLA central ticket office at (310) 825 2101. Go to www.reprise.org for more information.
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