GETTELFINGER REPLACED BY DAVIE IN GG, WHY? — Page 2

Also, she isn't 7 years old. At least, I don't think she is.

Point being she was of an age when she didn't know any better. She can't be held accountable.

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People do change that much over time. You win that. My point is, SHOW ME how. That's what good story telling is.

Big Edie in Act I is such a strong protagonist (antagonist?). Based on Act I alone, and not seeing the documentary, not reading a book (which I shouldn't have too because a musical should stand alone in telling a story), I don't buy that Big Edie would fall into a decrepit state of disarray. Live in filth. Eat kitty food. A woman so obsessed with presentation? A woman who writes down every chore to be executed before 5:15PM? Who's adored by Harper's Bazaar? Hmm.

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Updated On: 5/28/07 at 01:38 AM

I could have sworn she said Edie was a little girl when she was swimming in the pool and the bathing suit came undone. 7 was a figure I came up in my head.

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Edith says right that that Little Edie became extremely popular and every guy in town wanted to date her. She wasn't SEVEN!

And "good storytelling" doesn't just "hand it over." It all depends on the writer's objective in telling the story in the first place.

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At some kind of swimming competition (I don't recall the events described in the musical very well), Little Edie lost her bathing suit and was completely naked. Instead of being mortified, to everyone's surprise she kept on swimming till she reached the end while all the men were looking at her. Hence, everyone saw her beautiful body and nicknamed her "Body Beautiful Beale" (a song that I wish they hadn't cut, btw).

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I know plenty of people who loved the show--understood it fine-- without having seen the doc. In fact, there are a great number of people who think that's the best way to see the show.

It's all perfectly clear if you pay attention.

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Granted, I did see the documentaries before seeing the show, I can say that handing us all every little detail is an absolutely preposterous suggestion. How long do you want the show to be?
I really don't understand how people can not see how the events in act I could lead to act II. We have a very dominant mother living in her own fantasy world, where she'll never be alone, where the only people who she feels that she really connects with are her daughter and her pianist. She also sees herself in Little Edie. She sees this young girl who dreams of fame and, in my opinion, tells the Body Beautiful Beale story to protect her from having to live the life that she's lived. Big Edie is delusional enough (and Christine, imo, plays this brilliantly) to think she's doing her daughter a favor, when she's actually holding her back, making her seem like a total freak. Little Edie gets trapped in this "freak" persona by acting out against her own fear- that she'll end up like her mother. They're both fighting against the same thing, but they're going at it all wrong, and they end up as recluses in the only place where they could ever be themselves.
(Apologies if that makes no sense to anyone else. I blame insomnia.)

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I could totally see Big Edie's point for what she did. If you notice, what sets her off is right when Joe Kennedy refers to Big Edie's singing as a "hobby." She wants better for her daughter. She wants for her, a man who doesn't view singing and theatrics as a hobby. She wants someone who views her daughter as an equal and can support her in every way possible. I wouldn't want MY OWN daughter marrying Joe Kennedy if she was only becoming a trophy wife. This motherly intuition is further developed when Joe says something snarky like "It's just another scandal, Edie..." and she goes "That's enough, Mr. Kennedy. Show yourself out the door." That's my favorite part. She takes charge and totally shuts him out to protect Little Edie. Christine is SO GOOD.

And then later, she mentions she sent Little Edie groceries when she was out in New York because she didn't know how to grocery shop for herself? So while Edith was domineering and did smother her, I think Little Edie dug the hole herself. She chased the men away with her paranoia. She made the BIGGEST deal about her Mom singing 9 songs, but Joe said it was fine! His family liked music! Oy.

Edith isn't living in a fantasy world any different, than say... Mama Rose and Louise. A delussional mother who yearns for the stage, but lives vicariously through her daughter. Both couples are common through that aspect. Except Mama Rose and Louise didn't end up living in a shambled house with cats. I don't see Big Edie any different than any another dominating mother who wants what's best for her child. Extreme lengths.

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I agree 100 percent with what ray-andallthatjazz86 said. Davie gives us a glimpse of Act II's Little Edie during "Daddy's Girl."

But if you're looking for all the answers as to how the Beales got from where they were in Act I to where they are in Act II, they aren't there.

People are the summation of a thousand little "life decisions" we make each day. Just as Grey Gardens (the house) didn't fall apart over night, neither did these two ladies. It was a gradual, long road from Point A to Point B.

What becomes so shocking is seeing where they were in their prime, and then jumping forward 30 years. It's the same thing in the documentary about them. When they show the old photos from 30 and 40 years earlier, you are shocked to see what they were then, as you watch how they ended up.

I think the creative team behind Grey Gardens did a brilliant job in capturing that "shock."


EDIT: I will add this... Good play writing doesn't give us all the answers. It asks important questions, and attempts to point the way artistically. But it allows an audience to THINK for themselves. That might actually be the biggest "shock" of all these days. So few modern plays do that.

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Updated On: 5/28/07 at 09:41 AM

There's a person named "Gettelfinger"?

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What you've all said is true. You have to understand the creator's OBJECTIVE of whatever piece you are reading or watching. Is it to EXPLAIN what happened to the Beale women? (I think not.) Or is it to make the audience THINK...about the Beales specifically and about the human condition in general?

I have seen real people go from having everything to having nothing. And as I get older and experience the aging, illness and death of more and more people close to me, I understand with more clarity how longing, regret, dreams and sadness figure into life. In GREY GARDENS, we see all of that...as well as the spirit of survival, determination and love two women share throughout their lives.



P.S. Had not seen the documentaries before seeing the show for the first time.

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I didn't see the documentary before the show and I understood everything fine. I think that's the better way to see the show, because it's so much more shocking to see these women in the second act.

"both get to make out with Matt Cavenaugh eight times a week"

When does Ebersole kiss Matt? Did I miss something?

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