Grey Gardens News

Grey Gardens-inspired music by Aaron Robinson

2012-05-22T12:47:00.000-04:00

It seems quite lovely and appropriate!

From Amazon.com

Grey Gardens
From the album La Belle Epoque

Order a copy of Little Edie's hooded dress

2012-05-17T12:44:00.000-04:00

It's really quite beautiful, too!

From etsy, by LooseTeeth

Grey Gardens Replica Hooded Dress

This dress is a replica of the white hooded dress made famous by Little Edie Beale in 'LIFE' magazine. You can also see Drew Barrymore wear a version of this dress in the HBO movie 'Grey Gardens'. It's truly unique and beautiful.

Amazing vintage photograph of the gardens of Grey Gardens

2012-05-14T12:39:00.001-04:00

Such an incredible image!

From GardenHistoryGirl, by Arcady, on May 11, 2012

Garden History Giveaway: Gardens for a Beautiful America, Frances Benjamin Johnston

Grey Gardens in the Hamptons in 1914, later to be famous as the home of Big and Little Edie

Canadian premiere of Grey Gardens the musical

2012-05-05T00:02:00.003-04:00

Performances have already started! It runs through May 19 in Vancouver. Get your tickets now!

From Jericho Arts Centre

Fighting Chance Productions is pleased to present the CANADIAN PREMIERE of GREY GARDENS, based on the 1975 documentary about the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter. Book by Doug Wright. Music by Scott Frankel. Lyrics by Michael Korie. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of their lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship.

Starring Cathy Wilmot (Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd), Lucas Blaney (Blood Brothers, The Wiz, Bare: A Pop Opera), Ranae Miller (Sound of Music, Cinderella), Sue Sparlin (Lost in Yonkers), Carmen J. Price, Jack Rigg (Hay Fever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Hal Rogers (Rent, Hair), Angela Cotton (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Emma Cawood (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

Grey Gardens the musical to hit Hayward, CA

2012-04-23T10:17:00.000-04:00

Auditions are next month, and the performances are in September!

From bayareatheatrebums, by George Ledo, on April 16, 2012

Auditions for "Grey Gardens" at the Morrisson Theatre
The Douglas Morrisson Theatre is happy to announce auditions for "Grey Gardens" by Doug Wright, Scott Frankel, and Michael Korie. This is the 2006 Broadway musical based on the 1975 documentary film of the same name by the Maysles brothers, which tells the story of the Beales—mother Edith (Big Edie) and daughter Edie (Little Edie)—who were aunt and cousin, respectively, to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
The auditions will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012, from 12:00noon to 4:00pm, and on Sunday, May 6, 2012, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
The performance dates are September 6 thru September 30, 2012.

The auditions are by appointment only. Please schedule your audition by contacting director Michael Ryken at shufloff@att.net.
Please prepare one Broadway song, not from the show, scored in your key. An accompanist will be provided. Actresses auditioning for Edith/Little Edie are recommended to prepare two songs. Callbacks will be held on Monday, May 14 at 7:00pm. All performers need to be strong solo singers as well as capable of maintaining complex harmonies in an ensemble.
For additional information on the show, character descriptions, vocal ranges, and more, please visit our Upcoming Auditions page at www.dmtonline.org.
Douglas Morrisson Theatre, 22311 N. Third St., Hayward, CA.

Recent images of Grey Gardens

2012-04-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

Reader Brian sent in a couple of recent photos of Grey Gardens. I must agree with him about the house. Personally, this raccoon is quite a fan of what Edie referred to as "the overgrown Louisiana bayou look" as well!
The house was reshingled within the past few years. I'm pleased to see that the shingles have weathered a bit!

Obviously Spring hasn't really arrived out there...notice the gorgeous sparse tree to the left of the front porch! The house kind of had the old look to it as even the adirondack chairs were not in place. Actually it looked as though Little Edie would pop out at any minute as she would have spied us from an upstairs window with her binoculars.

What a magical place. I really felt transported back into time. The house really is a character.

Grey Gardens the Musical in Arlington, MA

2012-03-31T18:14:00.005-04:00

I'm a day late with this, but there are quite a few showings!

By John Waller, on March 30, 2012

'Grey Gardens' Opens Tonight

The Arlington Friends of the Drama production runs through Sunday, April 15, at the AFD Theatre on Academy Street. Showtimes and ticket information are at the bottom of this article.

Arlington Friends of the Drama (AFD Theatre) presents the greater Boston community theater premier of "Grey Gardens." Edith Bouvier and Edie Beale, the most unique, eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, are brought to life in the riches-to-rags story of just how far American royalty can fall.

A documentary made in 1976 examined the women's remarkable personalities, simultaneously eccentric and electric. The women fascinated America and the documentary developed something of a cult following, who admired the women’s staunch insistence on being themselves in the face of adversity and non-acceptance. In addition, "Little Edie" had a unique and eccentric fashion sense, creating head dressings and costumes out of stray bits of faded clothing, developing her own style inimitable style that became irresistible to imitate in "Grey Garden" parties.

The musical was written in 2006, with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, and won three Tony Awards for the Broadway production.

"Grey Gardens" was easily adapted as a musical, because the Beales loved to sing and dance, and were at heart, exhibitionists. The first act spotlights the social heyday of the Beales’ East Hampton mansion. Act Two shows the mother and daughter thirty years later after their trust fund has run dry, somehow able to persevere in spite of the dilapidation of their beloved home, "Grey Gardens."

For a community theater like Arlington Friends of the Drama, the production has many challenges. One of the important aspects of the production, says director Nancy Curran Willis, is to recognize that the house is a character in the show just as much the actors. Capturing the elegance of the original home as well as its decline is important in setting the tone of the play and telling the story. AFD Theatre has a small stage with little wing space. The solution involved creating a set which pivots precisely to allow the transition from elegance to squalor.

Equally important are the larger-than-life personalities, who many people already know of through the documentary.

"These women are fascinating, and I am lucky to have cast members who are brilliant. They bring so much to the table in capturing the essence of these characters," said Willis, something she wasn’t sure would happen when she took on the job of directing the play. But the community theater community holds some excellent talent, and she feels the leads are able to pull it off.

For Laura Espy, assistant director and choreographer, one of the challenges has been designing dance and movement in a play about real people. It is important to capture the unique physicality of each real character, and yet allow the actresses room to make their own interpretations. Another challenge has been the two time periods. The dancing in Act One needs to evoke the classic MGM movements of the 1940s. There is an entirely different feel to the 1970s dancing of Act Two.

Even costuming the show has been a challenge. "Little Edie" had a knack for wearing outlandish and original outfits. Because she is well known through the documentary, the iconic looks need to be recreated for the show. In addition, some costumes worn in the first act need to appear in the second act looking thirty years older. Working on a low budget with all volunteers, costuming sometimes requires a larger than average commitment.

The production team feels they are up to the challenges. Matt Stern is the musical director, Judy Forgione is stage manager. Carol Antos and Joe Stallone are on costumes; Eric Jacobsen is designing lights with help from Bruce Pennypacker on projections. Bob Pascucci is designing sound. The team of Charlotte Kelly, Evelyn Corsini Alcorn and Judy Weinberg are coordinating props. The set designer is Brian Harris, with Ryan Kowalczyl as first-time set technician. Susan Harrington is the production manager. The cast includes Margaret McCarty as Edith/Little Edie, Cheryl Carter-Miller as Edith, Heather Darrow as Young Edie, Michael Hogman as George Gould Strong, Kevin Cirone as Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr./Jerry , Dan Moore as J.V. Major Bouvier/Norman Vincent Peale, Chauncey Moore as Brooks Sr./Jr., Jessica Dagg and Sirena Abalian as Jacqueline and Lee Bouvier.

Performances are March 30, 31, and April 6, 7, 13 & 14 at 8 p.m., April 1 and 15 at 4 p.m. and Sunday April 8 at 7p.m. There is a talk-back after the April 1 performance. Tickets are $25. AFD is wheelchair accessible and has assistive listening devices available, and is accessible by public transportation via the 77 Bus from Harvard Square. AFD is located at 22 Academy Street, in Arlington.

Box Office: www.afdtheatre.org or 781-646-5922.

Grey Gardens the musical in Rochester, MI tonight!

2012-03-22T15:15:00.001-04:00

I don't have a lot of information about this production, but it starts tonight in Rochester, MI, and runs to April 1. Get your tickets here!

Edie Beale appears on Ru Paul's Drag Race

2012-03-17T14:52:00.004-04:00

Drag race contestant Sharon Needles drew inspiration from Edie Beale for the cover of her "dragazine" on Ru Paul's Drag Race. It's a real winner!

From iampreset, on March 12, 2012

Life-size replica of Grey Gardens for sale!

2012-01-13T17:58:00.003-05:00

And it's really quite nicely done!

From The Enterprise, by Brent Runyon, on January 10, 2012

Falmouth Home is Replica of Grey Gardens

The facade of a home on Elm Road, Falmouth, is a replica of the Grey Gardens mansion in East Hampton, Long Island, which was the setting of a documentary, a Broadway musical, and a feature film after it fell into disrepair in the 1960s and 1970s.

Unlike the Long Island version, the Falmouth version of Grey Gardens, at 485 Elm Road, is all new construction. From the street it is a near match for the late 19th-century mansion.

The home is on Oyster Pond, a short distance from Surf Drive and the bike path and is on sale for over $3 million.

"It's only the front of the house, but from top to bottom and side to side, it's almost exactly Grey Gardens," said owner Michael E. Jaye. Some exterior details and the interior layout do not match the original mansion, he said, which has an additional wing and is twice as big.

The original Grey Gardens was the home of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter of the same name, known as "Little Edie." The eccentric women were the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis and the subject of the documentary "Grey Gardens," which was released in 1975.

The film depicts the women discussing their lives and their relationship while surrounded by piles of old clothes and other refuse, while cats and raccoons roam freely through the house. The documentary became a cult classic and was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2006 and an HBO film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore in 2009.

Learns of the Grey Gardens story

Mr. Jaye built the house without knowing anything at all about the story of Grey Gardens. He has never seen the films or the theatrical production.

"I was Googling shingle-style homes and up comes a picture of this house that was exactly what I was looking for, and I just loved it," Mr. Jaye said. He sent the photograph, which did not include the name of the home, to architect Leonard J. Baum of Cranston, Rhode Island, and instructed him to design the home around the front facade. "I had no idea that we were copying Grey Gardens," he said.

Mr. Baum went to work copying the front of the house from the photograph and designed the interior floor plan to Mr. Jaye's specifications. "Usually I work the facade with the plans together, but in this case I had a facade, and I had to work the plans to that," Mr. Baum said. "It wasn't until I basically had it pretty well rendered that we discovered it was a famous house."

Mr. Jaye discovered the fact when he came across another photograph of Grey Gardens taken after it fell into disrepair. In it,"Little Edie," in a fur coat and head scarf, stands in weeds up to her waist in front of Grey Gardens. In the background masses of vines climb to the second floor of the home.

"I saw this picture of my house in complete and total disrepair, and I said, 'Time out, this can't be my house,' " Mr. Jaye said.

After some more Internet searching, Mr. Jaye learned the story of how the Beale women lost their wealth and continued to live in Grey Gardens as it crumbled around them. "They lost their fortune and just became a couple of recluse lunatics who ended up living in a condemned house," Mr. Jaye said.

Director recounts filming of "Grey Gardens"

The Beales were more than reclusive eccentrics to Albert Maysles, one of the directors of the documentary. He counts "Grey Gardens" as one of his favorite films, because of what it reveals about the personalities of and the relationships between these two complicated women, he said in a phone interview yesterday.

The Beales were very easy to work with, he said, but filming the documentary was difficult because of the condition of the home.

"The first thing you noticed was the smell from all the animals," he said. Mr. Maysles said he considered it a compliment that his film indirectly inspired Mr. Jaye to replicate Grey Gardens. "I think it's wonderful," he said.

The original Grey Gardens is no longer in disrepair. After the elder Ms. Beale died in 1977, the house was sold to Washington Post editor Benjamin C. Bradlee and his wife, writer and Washington hostess Sally Quinn, in 1979. "They bought it and restored it to its original brilliance," Mr. Jaye said, a process that took several years.

Mr. Jaye discovered one more case of life imitating art while doing research about the house. In comparing photographs from different eras, Mr. Jaye realized that the picture he copied was actually not the real Grey Gardens.

"Here's the funniest part," he said. "The picture I went by wasn't even the original house. It was the house that they built for the [HBO] movie." The picture that inspired him to build his house, was actually a set built especially for the film.

Falmouth's Grey Gardens goes on the market

Falmouth Grey Gardens was to be a seasonal residence for Mr. Jaye and his wife, Regina, who spend the rest of their time in Scottsdale, Arizona. But just months after it was finished the couple decided to sell, because they prefer the weather and lifestyle in Arizona, where Mr. Jaye is retired and owns a cigar shop. It did not make sense to hold onto such an expensive house, he said, but he is very proud of how it turned out.

In a tour of the home yesterday afternoon, Mr. Jaye pointed out the details he spent so much time and money on. Features include a large entryway and formal staircase, walls of built-in cabinets and closets tucked under the eaves, all to make the home feel like a relic of an earlier age.

Mr. Jaye said he hoped to make back the money he spent on the house. He purchased the property for $1,125,000 in March 2010. If it does not sell, Mr. Jaye said he will return to Falmouth occasionally to stay in the house.

Mr. Jaye is 66 and from Boston originally. He founded a women's apparel company called Cricket Lane Casuals and sold the company in 1990. Since that time he has been a real estate developer in Boston and Falmouth.

Mr. Jaye grew up in modest circumstances and did not attend college. He said yesterday that he plans to establish a scholarship at Falmouth High School. The $5,000 scholarship will be for a Falmouth High School senior from a low-income family who wants to further their education by attending a trade school or a college, he said. "They just have to be dirt poor and a really good citizen," Mr. Jaye said. He wanted to provide a scholarship for a student who might follow the same path he did, he said.

The home on Elm Road in Falmouth is listed with Robert Paul Properties for $3,195,000. The fact that the facade replicates Grey Gardens is a selling point. Realtor Paul Grover said the home could appeal to someone who wants a newly built seasonal home that feels like an old home. It could also appeal to someone who loves the original Grey Gardens, he said.

The Blythe doll as Little Edie returns!

2011-11-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

In 2007, a Blythe doll dressed as Little Edie visited Grey Gardens the musical. Now, another artist has dressed up Blythe as Edie again, and done another photo shoot with her!

From Flickr, by dastinkytwinz, on February 25, 2011

View the entire sideshow here.

Huge set of photos of Grey Gardens

2011-11-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

Blog reader Brian sent in some great photos of the interior of Grey Gardens. These photos come from a realtor's listing of the house before Celerie Kelble moved in. Compare these photos to photos used to promote the house as a 2-week August rental from earlier this year. Be sure to view them all!

Delightful Little Edie Beale papercut art

2011-11-20T14:34:00.001-05:00

Very clever, and very beautifully done!

From thenonsensegarden, by Jasmine Fiscus, on October 15, 2011

Little Edie's fashion sense is alive and well, thanks to Vanity Fair, Italy

2011-11-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

Model Rachel Alexander serves as Little Edie Beale for photographer Signe Vilstrup in the November 2011 issue of Vanity Fair, Italy.

From

Le Freak, C'est Chic

Extraordinary interview with Al Maysles and Ellen Hovde, and the Beales

2011-11-10T14:19:00.000-05:00

An interview with Al Maysles and Ellen Hovde about Grey Gardens is now available to listen to online! And there's even a call to Little and Big Edie Beale in the audio! Visit the source page and click on the play icon to listen! (Edie comes in at 49 minutes.)

From ARTonAIR

Historic Audio from the Archives of Charles Ruas: The Making of Grey Gardens (1976)

Recorded at WBAI radio in New York in 1976, a treasure of a conversation illuminating the filmmakers' techniques, the participants' social game, and the ambient legal wrangles surrounding making of the brilliant American documentary. At the table with hosts Charles Ruas and Karen Achenbach are the directors of the film Albert Maysles and Ellen Hovde (with brother David Maysles hovering nearby) and a surprise appearance by "Little Edie" Beale. Plus an astounding phone call from the studio to Mrs. Beale in East Hampton.

The 1975 film documents the mundane drama of two eccentrics, the elderly Mrs. Edith Bouvier Beale and and her middle-aged daughter Little Edie, the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who live in a cluttered, decaying mansion overrun with cats and surrounded by overgrowth in East Hampton. Wisdom, futility, bittersweet sentiment, dreams, and fate all intertwine in this remarkable portrait of co-dependency and survival.

This program is provided by agreement with the Pacifica Radio Archives and has been re-produced for radio by ARTonAIR.org.

Grey Gardens on the iPad?

2011-11-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

A new iPad-only magazine features our beloved Grey Gardens!

The inaugural issue of HYLAND magazine, an iPad only magazine focusing on high end architecture, interiors, design, art and lifestyle, features a significant (30+ page) interiors and garden spread on Grey Gardens, where Christopher Hyland, our Editor in Chief, shot a segment for NBC/LXTV.

Download it from the iTunes Store here!

Australian fans of Grey Gardens, buy your tickets for the musical now!

2011-11-01T17:05:00.001-04:00

Grey Gardens the musical will reach Australia later this month. Be sure to buy your tickets now if you haven't already!

From The Production Company

Grey Gardens

Winner of 3 Tony® Awards

“…In a statement released today, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis confirmed that her eighty-year old aunt, Mrs Edith Bouvier Beale, and her adult daughter Edie are living in squalid conditions in an East Hampton Estate known as Grey Gardens.

Grey Gardens is the compelling story of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, ‘Little’ Edie, the delightfully eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Once among the brightest names in the pre-Camelot social register, these two women became East Hampton’s most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion. Set in two eras – in 1941 when the estate was in its prime and early in 1973 when it was reduced to squalor—the musical tells the alternately glorious and heartbreaking story of two indomitable women, Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter, ‘Little’ Edie.

Grey Gardens is many things: a fabled home in the elite seaside village of East Hampton, Long Island, a landmark documentary, a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and a Hollywood movie. Of all things, Grey Gardens is a breathtaking and alluring portrait of a mother and daughter relationship through the years.

AFI Award Winner, Pamela Rabe returns to The Production Company in the virtuoso roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and ‘Little’ Edie.

Helpmann Award winner, Nancye Hayes plays the role of the aged Edith in turmoil with her daughter.

Roger Hodgman directs this Australian premiere and for the first time, The Production Company will be presenting a musical in The Playhouse.

Kellie Dickerson (musical director of Wicked and Doctor Zhivago) returns to conduct.

Cast and Creative Team

Book by Doug Wright

Music by Scott Frankel

Lyrics by Michael Korie

Based on the film Grey Gardens
By David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Mayer and Susan Froemke

Starring

Pamela Rabe as Edith Bouvier Beale and ‘Little’ Edie

Nancye Hayes Oam as aged Edith

Director Roger Hodgman

Musical Director Kellie Dickerson

Choreographer Dana Jolly

Sound System Sound

Orchestra Victoria

By arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd
Exclusive agent for Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

Show Information

Show Times – Evening

Fri 25 November at 7.30pm

Sat 26 November at 7.30pm

Tues 29 November at 7.30pm

Wed 30 November at 7.30pm

Thu 1 December at 7.30pm

Fri 2 December at 7.30pm

Sat 3 December at 7.30pm

Show Times – Matinee

Sat 26 November at 2pm

Sun 27 November at 3pm

Wed 30 November at 1pm

Sat 3 December at 2pm

Sun 4 December at 3pm

Location Details

The Playhouse
The Playhouse is located in Theatres Building [under the Spire].
View Location Map Here

Audition for the upcoming Lionville, PA production of Grey Gardens the musical

2011-10-01T11:15:00.000-04:00

Auditions will be held on Sunday, November 6 at 2:00pm; Monday, November 7 at 7:00pm; and Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00pm. Start preparing now!

From The Theatre Alliance

Auditions: Grey Gardens

Music by Scott Frankel; Lyrics by Michael Korie; Book by Doug Wright; Directed by Michele Bolay

The hilarious and heartbreaking true story of “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, once bright names on the social register who became East Hampton’s most notorious recluses.

Historic aerial photographs of Grey Gardens

2011-09-16T12:52:00.000-04:00

Blog reader Neal emailed me about a website with historic aerial photographs of the United States, which includes photos of Grey Gardens! Be sure to click on the image below to see photographs from 1954, 1960, 1969, 1980, and 2004!

From Historic Aerials

Grey Gardens the Musical in St. Petersburg, FL opens soon!

2011-09-10T10:10:00.001-04:00

Be sure to get your tickets!

From freeFall Theatre

Grey Gardens

book by Doug Wright
music by Scott Frankel
lyrics by Michael Korie

September 15 – October 2, 2011

In 1941 Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”) and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale (“Little Edie”) were the toast of East Hampton society. The aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier (who would later become Jackie Kennedy) played hostess at their palatial mansion, Grey Gardens. How the two ended up living in squalor with numerous cats and raccoons in the neglected home became very public in 1971 through a series of tabloid articles, and later became the subject of a documentary film by Albert and David Maysles. This hauntingly original musical based on speculation of their heyday and the 1975 documentary will transport you to the lap of American royalty and their subsequent fall from grace. Nominated for 10 Tony awards in 2007, this critically-acclaimed modern masterpiece of musical theatre explores the comically dark side of a mother-daughter relationship gone horribly awry.

Grey Gardens the Musical hits Salt Lake City, Utah

2011-09-01T11:05:00.004-04:00

The show runs from September 8th–24th at the Studio Theater at the Rose. Get your tickets now!

From The Salt Lake Tribune, by Daisy Blake, on August 31, 2011

Wasatch Theatre Company premieres ‘Grey Gardens’

Opening its 14th season, Wasatch Theatre Company is producing a regional premiere of the triple Tony Award-winning musical “Grey Gardens.”

Director George Plautz describes the musical as a unique theatrical hybrid, from tabloid story to documentary to stage musical. “It’s definitely not your typical musical and it is very presentational in style; even more so than most musicals since in the second act the characters talk directly to the audience.”

Based on the 1975 documentary of the same name, “Grey Gardens” tells the riches-to-rags story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ aunt and cousin. Once among the brightest names in the social register, Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale became East Hampton’s most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion alongside dozens of cats and piles of rubbish. The musical is set in two eras: 1941, when the estate was at its full grandeur, and 1973, after it had been reduced to squalor.

The show, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doug Wright (“I Am My Own Wife”), lyricist Michael Korie and composer Scott Frankel, received a workshop in 2005 at Sundance Theatre Lab in Florida before going on to earn critical acclaim during its 2006–07 Broadway run. “Grey Gardens” was also made into an HBO film, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, which aired in spring 2009.

Plautz began working with the company in 1999 when he directed “The Fantasticks,” and since then has been directing, producing, writing, performing in productions and acting as the company’s dramaturg. He co-wrote and directed “Hands Up,” an original musical adaptation of a young-adult novel about a serial-killer puppet, for the company’s 2009 Page-to-Stage Festival.

Plautz was enthralled by “Grey Gardens” from the time he heard the cast recording. The company was at first leery because the requirements for setting the two acts are so different, but discussed ways to make the changes more suggestive than realistic. “We have found it so amazing that a work based on a very unique, bizarre family situation resonated so much with each of us,” Plautz says. “There are such strong themes in the show about dreams deferred, the choices for women during the mid-20th century, the need for love and the fear of loneliness.”

Cast members in the show range from age 8 to 68, with Edith Bouvier Beale played by Sallie Cooper and her adult daughter “Little Edie” played by Jennifer Perry-Hughes. Perry-Hughes also plays “Big Edie” to Ali Goldsmith’s young “Little Edie” in the first act.

Cooper recently directed the company’s production of “Greater Tuna” and performed in Hale Centre Theatre’s “A Tale of Two Cities” and Parable Productions “Godspell.” She began working with Wasatch in 2003 after moving from Salt Lake City to Manhattan. She had decided, after teaching, producing and directing, that she wanted to return to acting. “I threw my hat into the ring for the role of ‘Big Edie’ and was both thrilled and terrified when I got the call from George saying I was being offered the role,” Cooper said. “She is one of those ‘roles of a lifetime’ for me, and now I was getting the opportunity to delve into the psyche of this eccentric, beautiful, selfish, clever woman.”

She calls the character repulsive and pitiable, while also clever and calculating, “but always I see her humanity in the love she has for her daughter.”

While researching the story, Cooper learned that many of the song lyrics and most of the script had been lifted from the documentary.

Perry-Hughes teaches theater and directs productions for Ogden’s Saint Joseph Catholic High School while studying acting and French at Weber State University. “Thanks to YouTube, I have been able to spend hours watching Edie, studying her movement, listening to her speech patterns, learning about her relationships,” Perry-Hughes said. “It’s great to actually have the ‘real’ Edie to study for characterization, both physical and vocal, but at the same time it’s daunting to play someone who really existed.”

The cast and director believe the show will appeal to a wide range of theatergoers. “This is a show for strong women, and men who love strong women,” Cooper says. “It is a beautiful peek into a bygone era and speaks to all of us who find ourselves stuck in a life that we never dreamed we would live.”

Matthew Tinkcom's book about Grey Gardens comes out today!

2011-08-30T08:28:00.001-04:00

It finally comes out today!

From Amazon.com

BFI Film Classics: Grey Gardens

by Matthew Tinkcom

The Maysles brothers' Grey Gardens (1975) is one of the most important documentary films of the past thirty years. In the past decade the film has gained the status of cult classic, inspiring both a Broadway musical and a 2009 HBO feature film. In this first single volume study of the film, Matthew Tinkcom argues that Grey Gardens reshaped documentary cinema by moving the non-fiction camera to the heart of the household, a private space into which film-makers had seldom previously ventured.

Already well-established figures in the 'direct cinema' movement of the 1960s (with their previous films, including Salesman and Gimme Shelter), the brothers' visual record of a summer spent in the Beale household demonstrated that the private lives of their subjects were rich materials for the camera. By the time the film-makers appeared on their front porch, the film's two central figures, 'Big Edie' Beale and her daughter 'Little Edie', had been living for two decades in near-poverty in their beach-side East Hampton mansion (the 'Grey Gardens' of the title). Close relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, by the early 1970s the Beales had lost much of their personal wealth and their everyday lives had descended into a state of barely-controlled squalor. However, as the film-makers discovered, the women were hardly victims of their poverty; rather they saw themselves as artists who were willing to make seemingly any sacrifice for their singing and dancing talents. When the Edies perform for the camera, audiences are challenged by the question of how much anyone would be willing to give up in order to lead a life of eccentric pleasure. Tinkcom argues that the film is one of the first to combine documentary with the conventions of fiction film melodrama, and that the film's appeal arrives in the rich melodramatic dimensions of the Beales' everyday lives in which they argue, dress up, flirt, laugh, sing, dance and reminisce about their experiences in New York's social elite in the first half of the twentieth century.

Cute video of a very little "Little Edie"

2011-08-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

Very cute! She's starting young!

From YouTube, by LadyMadonna777, on July 25, 2011

Ed(d)ie doing her best Grey Gardens impression...

Little Eddie...

Vanessa Carlton is a celebrity fan of Grey Gardens

2011-08-21T18:15:00.003-04:00

And it sounds like Vanessa Carlton understands Edie, too. How wonderful!

From Twitter, by Vanessa Carlton, on August 15, 2011

My dear Edie of grey gardens. I think she was a genius. CRUSHING it. Icon of the ages. I'll bow down 4ever.

Rare video of Little Edie Beale

2011-08-16T11:59:00.001-04:00

I last blogged about this 5 years ago, but it's worth posting again!

From Myspace, on September 7, 2006

The Living Moment

Grey Gardens News

Grey Gardens-inspired music by Aaron Robinson

Grey Gardens

Order a copy of Little Edie's hooded dress

Grey Gardens Replica Hooded Dress

Amazing vintage photograph of the gardens of Grey Gardens

Garden History Giveaway: Gardens for a Beautiful America, Frances Benjamin Johnston

Canadian premiere of Grey Gardens the musical

Grey Gardens the musical to hit Hayward, CA

Auditions for "Grey Gardens" at the Morrisson Theatre

Recent images of Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens the Musical in Arlington, MA

'Grey Gardens' Opens Tonight

The Arlington Friends of the Drama production runs through Sunday, April 15, at the AFD Theatre on Academy Street. Showtimes and ticket information are at the bottom of this article.

Grey Gardens the musical in Rochester, MI tonight!

Edie Beale appears on Ru Paul's Drag Race

Life-size replica of Grey Gardens for sale!

Falmouth Home is Replica of Grey Gardens

Learns of the Grey Gardens story

Director recounts filming of "Grey Gardens"

Falmouth's Grey Gardens goes on the market

The Blythe doll as Little Edie returns!

Huge set of photos of Grey Gardens

Delightful Little Edie Beale papercut art

Little Edie's fashion sense is alive and well, thanks to Vanity Fair, Italy

Le Freak, C'est Chic

Extraordinary interview with Al Maysles and Ellen Hovde, and the Beales

Historic Audio from the Archives of Charles Ruas: The Making of Grey Gardens (1976)

Grey Gardens on the iPad?

Australian fans of Grey Gardens, buy your tickets for the musical now!

Grey Gardens

Winner of 3 Tony® Awards

Cast and Creative Team

Starring

Show Information

Show Times – Evening

Show Times – Matinee

Location Details

Audition for the upcoming Lionville, PA production of Grey Gardens the musical

Auditions: Grey Gardens

Historic aerial photographs of Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens the Musical in St. Petersburg, FL opens soon!

Grey Gardens

book by Doug Wrightmusic by Scott Frankellyrics by Michael Korie

September 15 – October 2, 2011

Grey Gardens the Musical hits Salt Lake City, Utah

Wasatch Theatre Company premieres ‘Grey Gardens’

Matthew Tinkcom's book about Grey Gardens comes out today!

BFI Film Classics: Grey Gardens

by Matthew Tinkcom

Cute video of a very little "Little Edie"

Ed(d)ie doing her best Grey Gardens impression...

Vanessa Carlton is a celebrity fan of Grey Gardens

Rare video of Little Edie Beale

The Living Moment

book by Doug Wright
music by Scott Frankel
lyrics by Michael Korie