The hilarious and heartbreaking 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.
The archetypal mother is a figure that appears without fail in literature, films, music, and, of course, drama. She crosses cultural divides by embodying good and evil, generosity and selfishness, nurturing and stoicism all at once. And like a great musical number, she is often the propeller of the plot. In honor of Mother's Day, we've rounded up ten of Broadway's most iconic moms!
Grey Gardens, The Musical is the hilarious and heartbreaking story of Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale, the peculiar aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The musical takes place at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York and tracks the progression of the two women's lives. Trustus Art Director, Chad Henderson, states, "Our production, based on the real-life cousins of Jackie Onassis, is prefaced by the cult classic documentary of the same name from the 70's, an HBO film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, and even a parody piece featuring SNL's Bill Hader and Fred Armisen. America has long had a curiosity for these real women and their story continues to intrigue us - especially since they are part of the Camelot story and one of America's most popular political families. I can't fail to mention that it's an incredibly funny piece. We are delighted to produce it this Spring!"
Revival Theatre Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, continues their 2017 season with the Iowa premiere of GREY GARDENS, opening February 23 and running through February 26 at CSPS Hall (Legion Arts). BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in character below!
Revival Theatre Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, continues their 2017 season with the Iowa premiere of GREY GARDENS, opening February 23 and running through February 26 at CSPS Hall (Legion Arts). BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in character below!
According to NewsDay.com, Grey Gardens, the famed East Hampton home once belonging to the relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, has hit the market for the first time since 1979.
Dr Tallulah Present's: New Frontiers in Vaginal Consciousness (VAGCON) will play as part of Fertile Ground, a city-wide theater festival of new works, running January 19-29th, 2017.
Dr Tallulah Present's: New Frontiers in Vaginal Consciousness (VAGCON) will play as part of Fertile Ground, a city-wide theater festival of new works, running January 19-29th, 2017.
Drama Desk Award-winning actress and singer Rachel York (Disaster!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Victor/Victoria) embarks on a 10-city concert tour from December, 2016 through April, 2017 beginning with Michael Feinstein's American Songbook at NJPAC! December 1. York joins Feinstein, Andrea McArdle, Jared Grimes, and Youth Songbook Ambassador Julia Goodwin at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark for a cabaret and Q&A featuring favorite American standards. The program will be filmed before a live audience for future broadcast on NJTV, WNET, and WLIW21.
The Martina Arroyo Foundation's 12th Annual Fundraising Gala, a celebration of Prelude to Performance, Role Class and Outreach Programs, will be held on Monday, November 7, 2016 beginning with a cocktail hour and silent auction at 6:30pm in the Grand Salon of the JW Marriott Essex House,160 Central Park South, NYC.
The Martina Arroyo Foundation's 12th Annual Fundraising Gala, a celebration of Prelude to Performance, Role Class and Outreach Programs, will be held on Monday, November 7, 2016 beginning with a cocktail hour and silent auction at 6:30pm in the Grand Salon of the JW Marriott Essex House, 160 Central Park South, NYC.
Revival Theatre Company announces their 3rd season for 2016-2017, featuring Iowa and Eastern Iowa premieres. Revival will continue with their mission of producing cutting edge, thought-provoking musical theatre with its new lineup of shows.
'Grey Gardens' The Musical opened at CTG/Ahmanson Theatre on July 13, 2016. Directed by Michael Wilson, performances of the bittersweet story continue through August 14. Let's see what the critics had to say...
If you've seen the Maysles brother's documentaries GREY GARDENS and THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS (which are actually collaborative efforts between David & Albert Maysles,Ellen Hovde, Muffie Mayer & Susan Froemke) then you have to see Max and Louie Productions' brilliant staging of the musical based upon these larger than life figures. If you haven't see either, then you desperately need to. Seriously, they're on HULU, watch them! Eavesdropping on Edith Bouvier Beale (big Edie) and Edie Beale (little Edie) in these films is an immersive experience, filled with snippets of songs, stories of missed opportunities and lost loves, a dilapidated estate, lot of cats, and more than one raccoon. Their love for one another is, somehow, crystalline clear, but lying beneath layers of scars that a life unfulfilled can produce. The musical tells it all, with a one act flashback to 1941 that fills in the blanks (book by Doug Wright) that led years later to their seclusion in squalor. This is masterfully achieved by the combined efforts of an exceptional cast and expert direction. I'll say it more than you once; you must see GREY GARDENS.
True-to-life eccentrics tend to make the most riveting dramatic/comedic characters. In 1975 Albert and David Maysles produced an award-winning documentary called Grey Gardens about Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Edie), aunt and cousin respectively of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The film was eventually rated among the top 10 greatest documentaries of all time, and provided the basis for a the musical of the same name, produced off and on Broadway in 2006. The musical, with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, shows the socialite family in its heyday in East Hampton, New York in Act One. Act Two is their demise into total poverty. The estate inhabited by the reclusive mother and daughter combo was condemned by the board of health, and the two women gained notoriety for their delusional, certifiable behavior. Now at the Ahmanson through August 14, Grey Gardens explores the fiercely fiery relationship between the two Edies, offering Betty Buckley (older Big Edie) and Rachel York (younger Big Edie/Little Edie) their most cherished roles to date.
?Company of Fools (COF) opens its 21st season with the haunting and often hilarious musical, Grey Gardens, with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie. Performances run June 28-July 20 at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey. When it premiered on Broadway in 2006, Grey Gardens was hailed as Time magazine's number one show of the year and garnered 10 Tony Award nominations.
Grey Gardens/Ahmanson Theatre/July 6 - August 14, 2016
Based on the 1975 documentary of the same name, the story recounts the fall from uppercrust society of mother and daughter Edith Bouvier Beale, eccentric cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived in poverty in East Hampton, New York. This is the long-awaited west coast premiere of the Tony winning musical, and it will star Rachel York as 'Little Edie' and Betty Buckley as 'Big Edie'. www.centertheatregroup.org
Beautiful - The Carole King Musical/Pantages Theatre/June 22 - July 17, 2
Company of Fools announces its 21st season featuring five main stage productions, two play readings and a newly commissioned performance piece on contemplation that will be a part of one of The Center's BIG IDEA projects. The five main stage productions in the Company's 2016-2017 lineup include Grey Gardens, Art, Grounded, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and Constellations.
Netflix, the world's leading Internet TV network, will exclusively launch worldwide in 2017 the new comedy series SANTA CLARITA DIET, from writer Victor Fresco
Acting Up Stage Company presents the Toronto premiere of the critically acclaimed and Tony award-winning musical - GREYGARDENS. GREY GARDENS will run in Toronto from Friday, February 19th to Sunday March 6th (Opening night February 22) at the Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs (26 Berkeley St.), having its first preview 40 years to the day that the film premiered theatrically in the U.S.. Tickets - on sale now - run from $35 to $55 and are available by phone at 416-368-3110, online at www.canadianstage.com, or in person at the box office.