Grey Gardens

The show is very good, but Act I is just a prelude to the real show. I do love the score.


A great deal of Act II is right from the documentary, and the Beales are absolutely fascinating (non-fiction) characters.

But really the whole thing rests on the actresses playing the Edies in Act II.

Ebersole's performance remains on of the best turns I've ever seen. She nails it, not just the mannerisms and speech patterns, but the inner life of Little Edie. A marvel.

When she sings Another Winter In A Summer Town you feel the deep, aching sadness just beneath the surface.

Btw, which recording do you have? I prefer the Off Bway.

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Updated On: 5/15/13 at 10:18 AM

Only ever saw the documentary but I must say this about the person playing Little Edie...

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It is brilliant. And not hard to find online.

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^ I always say that outside of Sondheim The Five Fifteen has the best lyrics I've ever heard.

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During the run of this show, the street should have been renamed Ebersole Way. She was so amazing to watch, I saw it twice and the second time was just to confirm that I truly witnessed a miracle on stage.

I was lucky enough to be seated fourth row center for the Broadway show. I can't describe the thrill of watching Ebersole in that role. The entire production was great, and the cast recording is one of the only ones I like to play.

I saw the original documentary, the show, and the tv movie. Loved all of them, but enjoyed the tv movie because it was the only version to give somewhat of an idea how these women went from A to Z!

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I only know the show from the OBC recording and a bootleg tape, but GREY GARDENS is one of the few musicals of this century that really caught my interest (meaning I played the CD over and over obsessively for weeks at a time).

tazber, I don't blame you for preferring the second act, but most of the action takes place in the first. The second act is about being frozen by the past and the resulting inability to act. A risky dramaturgical strategy and just one of the reasons the show amazes me.

I feel the same as I do about Hands On A Hardbody.

The appeal in both documentaries (for me) was "the reality" of their characters. Specificly, with "Grey Gardens", there was a sense of "You can't write these characters -- nobody would believe it!" Documenting the "reality" of these specific, real people was what was interesting and captivating.

Additionally, in both documentaries, the "story" took a back seat to its characters. The more interesting element was that these characters were real (and in the case of 'Grey Gardens' - nearly unbelievably real) people.

When you remove that "truth" element, it's like making a recording of a recording; there's a noticeable "generation loss". A layer has tangibly gone missing.

The musical Working was a much better fit to musicalize because although it was documentary-like, it was a collection of Terkel's written stories. We didn't connect so much with specific people as much as we did with anonymous, relateable tales. Putting those stories onstage added the layer of connection to "real" people.

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EDIT: To my mind, the success of Grey Gardens lies in how well the two lead actresses can specifically re-conjure those characters as they appeared in the documentary. It's similar to how I can appreciate a good impressionist. The beauty of the craft is in the execution of its details.

That also explains (for me) why ACT II is more interesting than ACT I.

I don't find the score all that interesting. They've basically musicalized the more interesting monologues (and that's a poor choice of words because 'monologue' implies 'fiction') from the documentary. Not such a great accomplishment to my mind.

Updated On: 5/15/13 at 05:38 PM

I prefer the obc cast recording to the broadway cast recording. The new cast recording took out Toyland, Body Beautiful Beale, Better Fall Out of Love, Being Bouvier and changed the ending from the reprise of Peas in a Pod. All mistakes in my book.

"John, with respect, Studs Terkel was an oral historian. The monologues of WORKING aren't "written stories", per se, but oral testimonies from real people..."

"HELLO, Dolly..."
That's my point.

Updated On: 5/15/13 at 08:57 PM

It was a seminal event in my theatergoing life.

I saw the show about 9 times. From the Norman Vincent Peale radio sermon to the end would just sweep out of the theatre and into a very wonderful moving emotional space.
Heck, perhaps it was even from "Entering Grey Gardens". Yes the show had some flaws, but it was wonderfuly moving.

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