Description: This musical is about show business and the characters are typical of Broadway's glitter. "What is it that we're living for?" sing the impoverished 'gypsies' or Broadway dancers in Act I -Applause, Applause. These lyrics state simply the motives of all the characters in the play, and the song is repeated periodically to remind us what this story is really about. The central character, Margo Channing, is a superlative actress and a sophisticated comedienne. On opening night she basks in Backstage Babble performed by the cast. Unhappily, Margo's faults are as grand as her talent. She is paranoid about her age and even though she doesn't want to marry Bill Sampson, the play's director, she says she can't live without him. Bill is the play's level-headed good guy and a foil for Margo's imperious egoism.