GREY GARDENS for Best Musical 2007- Page 2

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 10:19pm

I'm really pulling for this to win a slew of Tonys.

Easily my favorite show of the season.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:11pm

Count me in! Really liked it at Playwrights, and LOVED it when it moved to Broadway. The changes REALLY helped.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:32pm

Here, here! It's a masterpiece and deserves everything! It's much better than the (in my opinion) pretty terrible Spring Awakening.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:34pm

GREY GARDENS is one of the most beautiful shows I have ever seen...I'll be pulling for it Tony night.

While SPRING AWAKENING is obviously a great show that employs some really innovative tactics, I still can't help but feel unmoved by the whole thing. Only one and a half characters are developed at all. They rest chime in here and there to lament about how horrible their childhood is, but I just didn't care about them.

The reason Gallagher emerges the champion is because his role is not only the most complex of the bunch, but it allows you into the soul of the person. He's a real kid with real problems, and every ounce of his life is conveyed beautifully by both Gallagher's acting and the material he's given.

It jumps from one teen issue to another with no rhyme or reason. None of the mini-sub plots that develop are ever revisited again.

So while I understand the love for the coinage of an innovative musical technique, that shouldn't transcend material and the overall package. I simply can't see how or why people are moved by this show. I know i'm in the extreme minority, but I can't. I tried...I wanted to cry, I wanted to go home and pour over the lyrics and make new discoveries...but I tried and I couldn't. It's very surface...I found the heart of SPRING AWAKENING to be nearly hollow.

And there's no reason why GREY GARDENS and SPRING AWAKENING should be compared, but for our purposes, I am agreeing that GREY GARDENS is an expertly fashioned musical. I don't see how people how a problem with Act I. It doesn't flow gracefully into Act II, but it didn't happen that way in real life either. The "I can't see how they went from THAT to THIS" argument is a dumb one. It happend...it doesn't need an explanation. It doesn't take faith and a blind leap to follow the show.

And the score is just brilliant. No, it doesn't have the gimmicky slang or the pseudo-folk-rock beats, but it is a score that could have been written 60 years ago. It's a caliber of songwriting that is rarely seen anymore, and only once every so often does a songwriter (or a songwriting team) get it right.

The only working songwriters I can think of (besides GREY GARDENS') that succeed in such a manner are Stephen Sondheim, Michael John LaChiusa, Adam Guettel, and occasionally Jason Robert Brown. Janine Tesori comes to mind, as well.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:39pm

I agree 100% with Munk. Although, the original SPRING AWAKENING play also jumped from issue to issue. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be fixed for the musical.

I think the severe bump from Act I to Act II in GREY GARDENS adds a lot to the show and makes you truly wonder what happened. It's odd to see people change so drastically...but that's the way it is.

I believe that Act I shows the moment just before Edie's life was devastated by her mother. Therefore, she probably hadn't slipped quite so far from the world. But Erin Davie does a fantastic job working into Ebersole's performance and I can't help but imagine what it would be like if the two worked together from the start and really created character choices - or nuances - together.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:42pm

I do agree with you about the score munk. I think it's brilliant, and I've been listening to it non-stop since I got the CD.

And OT, but will you be writing a Legally Blonde review? I'm dying to know what you thought.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:43pm

No...I don't have the energy or enthusiasm to write any thoughts down about LEGALLY BLONDE.

Those who call Act I problematic, messy, or irrelevant just honestly have 0 grasp on the story at all.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:45pm

You didn't enjoy it much?

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:46pm

I loved the first act and found it perfectly neccesary to have.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:48pm

Are we talking about act one of GREY GARDENS or LEGALLY BLONDE?

I assume the former, but...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:49pm

I enjoyed LEGALLY BLONDE very much - it's a fun night at the theatre. Plus, my ticket was free so I had nothing to loose.

The book ranges from suitable to atrocious, the score ranges from barely acceptable to wrethced, and Jerry Mitchell's direction has no vision.

I thought that Bundy was winning in the role, but didn't emerge as a star because of the manner in which the story is told and the way her character is written. It's not her fault - she's great.

But in all honesty, if you'll excuse the comparison, THE WEDDING SINGER was not only more fun - but a better show.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/11/07 at 11:49pm

Gotcha.


Anyway... back to GG.

Updated On: 5/11/07 at 11:49 PM

[springo]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:01am

Best musical I have seen in years, with the exception of Jersey Boys.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:09am

GREY GARDENS is a Masterpiece in my opinion.
The first and second Acts are different for a reason, and i agree that if you don't get that, well, you just are looking at it incorrectly.

The score is so complex and if the orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin are overlooked it will be a crying shame.
Updated On: 5/12/07 at 12:09 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:17am

Love the orchestrations. They are the 2nd best this year, second only to LOVEMUSIK.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:27am

When I saw GG a second time, this time knowing what Act 2 was like, I saw Act 1 as sort of the beginning of the downfall of the Beales and Act 2 as the debris that's been left of the Beale's estate. We as an audience, are left to figure out just what happened in between. Not everything should be fed to us with a silver spoon. I find Act 1 completely necessary. I enjoyed Act 2 more, but I still loved Act 1. I just happened to REALLY love Act 2.

[jg4892]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:28am

Can we also say how amazing the set was? I couldn't believe it...so difficult and huge.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:31am

and Ivey Long has kinda become a joke to me as a Costume Designer, but this show brought out his sense of humor and are spot on.
(still think THE PIRATE QUEEN, should win costumes)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:35am

I have a bit of a problem with some of Edie's costumes in Act 2.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:38am

"Love the orchestrations. They are the 2nd best this year, second only to LOVEMUSIK."

Once again, agree completely. Tunick is fantastic.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:39am

I noticed (from pictures I've seen) that Edie's costumes don't quite match the one she had in the documentary.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:40am

Why Munky?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:46am

I agree with Munk. While I found some songs in Act I unnecessary, the act itself is extremely important as a parallel to the lives these women lead in Act II. The dynamics between the two women are developed in the first act, when you have Erin Davie complaining about her mother's need for attention during "Mother, Darling" you get to understand a number like "Jerry Likes My Corn." Jerry is the only source of attention that Big Edie can get, it also makes the moment where Little Edie is about to leave her mother incredibly painful because we know that Big Edie needs her daughter, she needs that love, she needs someone to hear her sing her music, and someone who'll remember her as she was.
What would the show be without Erin Davie's brilliant break-down, "Daddy's Girl." Anyone who says you can't see how Act I Little Edie becomes Act II Little Edie didn't pay attention to Davie's performance during this song. The way she lies, her utter desperation, the way Davie's voice seamlessly mimics Ebersole's singing style during "The Revolutionary Costume for Today," and her need to be gone from that mansion all parallel that heart-breaking moment at the end with Ebersole singing "Another Winter in a Summer Town."
The authors carefully crafted Act I to be an emotional ride that pays off in Act II. I think none of those moments in Act II would be as powerful, and Ebersole's Little Edie wouldn't be as fascinating, without everything we see in Act I.
And Erin Davie's characterization is spot-on, as I said in another thread, the most underrated performance of the season, IMO.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:47am

"I noticed (from pictures I've seen) that Edie's costumes don't quite match the one she had in the documentary."

We should burn Ivey Long for that!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/12/07 at 12:50am

yes, the costumes should be the designer's interpretations and not exact replicas.
Which is also why I enjoy Paklendiez's "take" on THE PIRATE QUEEN.