You'll never guess who was at Grey Gardens tonight...

Stephen King and John Mellencamp. Somehow I wouldn't picture those two venturing out to the Walter Kerr, but they've obviously got great taste. I say it was King who suggested it, but what do I know.

Anyway, this was my second time seeing the show. Saw it first in Previews for the Broadway run. I did think Christine Ebersole was a little less energetic than the first time around, and maybe she is getting over something because some of the vocals seemed a little clipped. Other than that, though, she was brilliant again, as far as I am concerned. My feeling is that the rumors of Ebersole "phoning it in" are a little exaggerated.

As I said, this was my second time seeing it, and though I have listened to both the Off Broadway and Broadway cast recordings about a thousand times, I was shocked that this time around I was discovering so much more depth that I didn't see in the first viewing. Grey Gardens, in particular, seems a demanding mistress. Sometimes dense lyrically, with the references and the subtext. So much more to see on repeat viewings.

The first act was less than thrilling for me the first time around and this time I was able to more appreciate the psychological set-up of the characters. The foreshadowing of 2nd act tensions between Little and Big Edie, the clear and ceaseless messages these women got about womanhood from the men around them, the abusive and absent Phelan Beale, the heartbreaking agony of Little and Big Edie in Act I, and the stunning betrayal they both experienced. All stuff I sort of got the first time around but didn't have the luxury of enjoying because I was so darned anxious to see Little Edie, circa 1973.

Ebersole got thunderous applause and hoots and bravos for Revolutionary Costume. Went on for quite some time. Her reaction to the adulation was all Little Edie. But then, it always is. I'm so glad you're here.

To go back to the notion of Ebersole "phoning it in", I brought a friend tonight for her birthday and she was blown away by the performances and the complexity of the Little and Big Edie characters. She didn't have any hesitation or disappointment about the performances. Maybe there's a little less energy on the stage, but it's still more than enough. At least for me and the people around me. It felt, again, like I was really, really lucky to be there. It made me proud to be a New Yorker and be supporting work of this caliber.

Oh yeah, and I can't help wondering what Stephen King and John Mellencamp thought. Maybe I should have asked them.

I was there tonight also, my second time. Why, oh why must it leave at the end of the month?

It is such a beautiful and devastating show. I agree that some of Ebersole's vocal's were a little weak, but she still gave the brilliant performance everyone is talking about.

And Stephen King... I missed him. Ah, well.

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I need to see both GREY GARDENS again and GYPSY before the 29th of this month, but I don't have a SINGLE day off. I don't know how on earth I'll do it, but I'm nervous!

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Somehow, if they got together, the result would be Stephen Cougar Mellenking, which oddly enough sounds like the perfect name for a writer....

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god WHY is this musical closing?! arg! i love it too much for it to close!

I'm with ohjohnny, having seen the show again recently, as well. To partially quote Mark Twain, "the rumors of (Ebersole's) demise have been greately exaggerated..." She's just as damn good now as she was 8 months ago, despite minor vocal strain.

That's what you get for performing a role like this with minimal absences. I'd hate to see how many absences another actress would take.

I went in March and saw Bette Midler. Pretty awesome.

I thought you were going to say Daniel Radcliffe! Lol. I love Stephen King, so that's pretty cool. Hope he loved it.

How may of us were at the July 13th performance of "Grey Gardens" anyway? I was there too, for my 4th visit (2 off- and 2 on-Broadway), and, while I noticed some low-energy moments, what I was most struck by is how the entire cast was actually playing things more subtly--and more for the drama--than they were the last time I saw it, which was many, many months ago. Initially, I was thrown off, as the cast wasn't "punching" the laugh lines the way they had earlier--but then I realized that they were actually underplaying the material and were willing to sacrifice laughs for a more naturalistic rendering of the characters. And, by half-way through the first act, I was on the same page, and being involved with, and moved by, the characters in ways I hadn't been before. This was especially true of act II, when I found myself near tears during the 11 o'clock number ("Another Winter in a Summer Town"). So kudos to the cast for not playing things broader and broader as the run went on, which is very tempting with this material in order to get the big and easy laughs.

Updated On: 7/13/07 at 02:17 PM

I don't blame Laura Bush, she goes to Chippendale's too, so what does that tell you? Not with Condi though, imagine that!

It was great that Stephen King, Bette and John made the show. I hope some of you got to meet them. I wouldn't have mind to shake hands with King and Midler. Two of my favorites and I am reading one of King's book right now. It would have been great to see Midler in a new Musical too. She has such a presence.

Is it going on tour now, I forgot?

Why was it such a surprise seeing them at Grey Gardens? They're either theater lovers or they're doing research for their own musical "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County".

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/97125.html

Run of play contracts don't mean that the actors are paid for the length of the contract terms, whether the show is running or not.

If an actor is fired, then that kind of thing comes into play. If a show closes, no one is owed any additional monies....

I wasn't at the stage door last night, lilbwaylady, but I'm starting to think I should have answered the "You'll Never Guess who was at Grey Gardens tonight" question with this: "Half of this board." Ha ha.