All About Eve Crosses Over to Haymarket Stage???

No official news yet on what will follow Waiting for Godot, starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, in the Theatre Royal Haymarket’s second season of in-house productions, this time under the direction of Sean Mathias (See News, 31 Oct 2008). But rumour is that it will include a stage adaptation of the screen classic with another big-name star following in the footsteps of Bette Davis.

In the 1950 film, Davis played Margo Channing, a Broadway star whose career is threatened by Eve Harrington, an ambitious younger actress who insinuates herself into Channing’s inner circle after professing to be a dedicated fan. Anne Baxter played Eve in the film, which also famously gave Marilyn Monroe one of her earliest credits.

All About Eve, which was inspired by Mary Orr’s short story The Wisdom of Eve, won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It’s already crossed over to the stage in the form of the 1970 Broadway musical Applause, which had a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse.

The original production of the musical starred Lauren Bacall in the Bette Davis role of Margo. Who could tackle the role in a play?

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