theatrical thoughts :: grey gardens

grey gardens
walter kerr theatre :: new york, ny
attended :: february 28th, 2007

i was extremely disappointed to learn that christine ebersole - star of grey gardens - would be out sick on the night i was to see the show. after all - she is one of the hottest divas on broadway. i decided i would go see it anyway because - why not.

the house was virtually empty. evidently people took up the offer that if the star's name is above the title (in this case it is) and that star is not in on that particular night - you can change your tickets to a later date when said star is back. so - in a house that seats more than 500 asses - may 75-100 people were in the audience. the good part about this is we were allowed to move to better seats and away from the smoky eastern europeans picking their teeth with some kind of pick sitting next to us causing us to gag on their funk.

grey gardens is a musical adapted from a documentary with the same name about the lives of two reclusive socialites - edith bouvier beale and her daughter 'little' edie beal. the story made national news when it was revealed that these relatives of jacqueline bouvier kennedy onassis were living in a flea-infested, broken-down 28 room east hamption mansion with 52 cats and rabid raccoons. if you have not seen this documentary - i highly recommend it - you'll just shake your head in disbelief.

in this performance - the roles usually played by christine ebersole were played by maureen moore. i figured that someone as strong and as well known as ebersole would have to have a fantastic stand-in. maureen's performance was good - though sometimes her east hamptons accent sounded more like british - but in all - it was pretty good - the mannerisms - the costumes - the sheer insanity of this person. mary louise wilson who played edith was spot on in her performance. it was like 'big' edie was there in person.

i was most impressed with the performance of erin davie who played 'little' edie beal in 1941. act one shows the history of the family - something you don't quite get in the documentary. erin's performance was believable and you could totally see how she would grow up to become the crazy women she ended up being.

some of the highlights were of course in the music. 'the revolutionary costume for today' and 'jimmy likes my corn' were two of the best in the show - though serious - you just had to laugh at these crazy women!

as far as the entire work - i'm not sure it was the best thing i've seen. i can understand the cult appeal for this story - but in all - i thought it just lacked - what - i have no idea. at times it felt like a souped up community theatre project. maybe it was the lack of ebersole - i'd hope not - if it takes one woman's performance to cary a show like that - it says something about the show now doesn't it. i didn't walk out humming any tunes. and the story was something i already knew. so it wasn't that exciting really - just another way to look into the lives of two very crazy women. i'd say just rent/buy the documentary - don't rush to new york to see it - but if you are in town - 'jerry loves my corn' makes it all worth it.

related videos on youtube
'the revolutionary costume for today'


buy the cd 'grey gardens - a new musical'