little edie heard there was a broadway musical about grey gardens to work, and the idea thrilled her. she even wished her mother were still alive to see it
Saw this during the Broadway run. Christine Eberole's finale number "Winter in a Summer Town" had the audience transformed. In tears. I thought then. Tony Award winner.
"Revolutionary Costume" got the attention, but "Summer Town" is the killer. Incredibly sad and moving. The perfect combination of acting and singing by Ms. Ebersole.
"Another Winter In A Summer Town" makes me cry every time. And, of course "Revolutionary Costume" is a hilarious showstopper. But, "Will You?" has to be my favorite tearjerker though.
Sheer BRILLIANCE!!!! Respect to the reboot "On Broadway" production, and this "Off Broadway" production "as is" simply is quintessential "Grey Gardens." Thank you to "All" in contribution for an astounding piece of Creative Genius! Christine - BRAVO!!!!!
One of the most heart warming musicals I ever saw. Music ,scenery authentic looking and the character transitions perfect. Great talented cast. Simply beautiful. It was grossly short lived and mistakenly underrated while playing in NYC. Was happy to see it live there and even more happy it here on youtube. A classic. Thanks for posting.
I saw this on Broadway. Was, and am, absolutely charmed and just a little obsessed with this underrated story and musical. Thank you for posting! Brings back happy memories.
The Edith's are stars, immortalized in film and stage. They defied the "family"who disowned them, the Edith's are beloved and worth remembering. These lovely ladies wanted to be *seen*. Love and light ❤️🔥
Wish I could have seen this in person. I just discovered the story of “Grey Gardens” about five years ago and have been obsessed with the story. The movie was amazing and I am just now learning there was a play. Thank you for posting.
I love everything about them two. Sad and sweet at the same time. I'm just finding this play and absolutely loved it. I knew every word from the documentary made by the Maisel brothers. I must have watched the documentary hundreds of times, yes I'm a fan. Bought the books because my life felt more complete. Lois Wright is still alive and even bought her book too.
I love that this is here, this is the version I saw off Broadway, the night I went Lois Smith was sitting behind me, Frank Langella was three seats over from me, and Tracy Ullman and Meryl Streep were at the end of my row to the far right.
I saw this on Broadway.Christine Ebersole was just fantastic in the part.Totally believable ,heartbreaking and hilarious in turn.I dont think anyone else could play Little Edie.
I wonder how much this story was informed by the film 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?' Instead of Hollywood sisters, we have a faded East Coast Society mother & daughter living in a past that cannot be fully grasped but one that clouded their life, suffocated by their inability to function with the outside world, which was slipping away more & more with each passing year.
It's always nice to see how a work progresses. Changes are made, but now years later, i bet there could be more changes. Parts of this I like a bit better.
I came for the second half. All in all, it felt a little incomplete, particularly the ending. I needs more work, I think, and shortening the first half would be a great start..
It almost reminds me of Sondheim in that way. In both "Sunday in the Park" and "Into the Woods" the first act is strong and the second act is less good. Here, it's the first act that's weak and the second act is better. (Love Sondheim. Don't jump all over me.)
Loved this show, but big mistake to make her mother responsible for breaking off her engagement. That never happened, and it makes Big Edie a terrible mother.
The documentary is hypnotic and surreal. It's sad and funny at the same time with a bit of a cringe factor. It shows how mental illness rips it's way through families, how enabling big Edie is to her daughter and how it destroyed her.
Its ridiculous to call it mental illness. The Maysles spoke of it perfectly but you obviously havent looked any further than your own opinion. That's unfortunate...... but I can assure you, no one who ever knew them would dare refer to these eccentric, beautiful & haunting ladies as "mentally ill".......
You are correct about one thing though, Big Edie's need to encompass & keep Little Edie near, stalled her life for 25yrs..... but, Little Edie had an amazing life for many years before & decades after her mother passed in 1978. You should look into it more. Her choice to care for her mother did not "destroy her"...... did absolutely not destroy her in any way.
@@heathermiller76I think it did destroy her some. She never developed skills to get a job where she could have supported herself and she forfeited ever having a family of her own. I would think you would have to be suffering from mental illness to live in such deplorable conditions.
I really enjoyed the movie. Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore recreated the mom and daughter so perfectly that at first I thought actual clips from the documentary had been inserted into the movie.
This fucking story is a panic attack with no fuckin happy ending it is literally life. This shit is messy sad and only ends when someone dies. Heartbreaking bc it's too real.
I found this on a Broadway World string. It appears to be somewhat of a mystery... "'I've always taken it to be Little Edie's play on "Not tonight, Josephine" -- a comic catchphrase still common in the 1970s (see link) derived from a popular early-century vaudeville song by that name. "Not tonight, Josephine" as a catchphrase came to mean something along the lines of "That's not going to happen" -- a sarcastic response to a request to do something you have no desire or intention to do. As for "Some Like It Hot" -- "Not Tonight, Josephine" was that film's original working title, and the phrase is said with the meaning above by Jerry to Joe in the film as a double-meaning gag (Joe's female identity is "Josephine"). "Not today, Geraldine" is not a quote from the film, but it's definitely possible that Little Edie was combining her references."
Thank you so much. I’ve really gone down the rabbit hole with everything Grey Gardens and this is one of only three or four references that I couldn’t seem to trace. I’m satisfied with this answer. Thank you. Thank you.
Ebersole is terrific but she gets the accent ALL WRONG. She's doing this northern NY flat accent, which is not at all what Lil Edie had. Edie had her own blend of classic NY-ese mixed with this delicate finishing school/transatlantic phony accent but with a New England/Bostonian cadence (rhythm and lilt). It was its own thing. The mother was way more refined sounding and not nearly as NY/obnoxious-sounding. I've listened. Trust me.
Please! They would have loved the massive attention they got after the Tony-winning musical and the Emmy-winning movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore came out in quick succession.
Little Edie was involved with the project in its early stages, she died a few years before this though. She was thrilled by it, giving the rights to her mother’s songs to the team.
I agree with Cat peach. I don't mind the idea of a Grey Gardens musical, but Little Edie was never seriously engaged to a Kennedy, if she ever truly was, it was more of a fling/rejected proposal, not a long term romance. If your gonna make a musical about real people, tell the REAL story...not a fictionalized, romanticized version of it.
The real Big Edie and little Edie's story is TRAGIC. In no way is making a musical paying tribute to a story of shattered dreams. Little Edie was never even engaged to Jack. This is completely fictional. Period.
It’s a tragic life indeed and no one said that this wasn’t fiction. The Edie’s loved performance and an audience. I think they would have embraced this production whole heartedly.
I don't have a problem with the idea of a Grey Gardens musical, but Little Edie was never seriously engaged to a Kennedy, if she ever truly was, it was more of a fling/rejected proposal, not a long term romance. If your gonna make a musical about real people, tell the REAL story...not a fictionalized, romanticized version of it.
The writers said that the second act was based on the documentary while the first act was basically a thought-experiment, imagining how these women's lives could have been like in the "glory days" and how they could've gotten to where they are in the second act. Although they incorporated a few real-life details into the first act, most of it is purely made up. (I feel like the songwriting-team and the librettist like to do that sort of micture of real history and fictional events, bc they basically did a very similar thing in War paint, where they utilized a lot of events in the two leading Ladies' lives and rearranged them a bit, to form a compelling narrative) I think mixing fact and fiction to get the idea, personality and legacy of a person across on stage, rather than getting the facts of that persons life completely correct is valid and actually pretty cool if done well.
I'm half an hour in. It certainly evokes the same level of anxiety as the documentary. Music and dialogue are great but the accents are positively spooky.
how awful to make a play about emotional and mental abuse that could have been prevented given someone would have helped eddie get away from her abusive mother
@Eric Gregory Absolutely. I did a Grey Gardens deep dive, and there's a website that shares photos of the personal archives of family/friends. They show started going into development just before Little Edie died, so she knew about it. Sadly she passed before it premiered. There is a handwritten letter where she talks about how excited she was and that she couldn't believe it, and how badly she wished her mother was alive. Forget the documentary, having a Broadway musical revolving around them THE ultimate dream to them.
Watch the documentary from the 70’s & the 2009 movie, it does them more justice. Don’t like this musical, I saw the documentary & the movie, & many other tributes, actual home movies, etc. this musical is making fun of the Edie’s, you can’t poke fun at tragedy, it’s mean and degrading, these to women went thru a lot over the years, and they obviously had some mental challenges. This is not right, I was going to go with my daughter to see this, but I change my mind, even if the musical is trying to make light of the situation it’s no a laughing matter, this is a real life. I’m sure these two ladies would not like this. 😢🤨😕😒☹️ why their grand children & nieces & nephews allowed this and didn’t detest its making is beyond me.
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