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!!!!!
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.
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.
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 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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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!!!!!
can you imagine how much the real edith and edie would LOVE this whole thing
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.
I thought the same thing.
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.
Its like cinderrella backwards......soo much human and better.
Love this real storie.
It's not real. This play is fictionalized.
Well said
Bravo again for this perfect performance about imperfection.
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.
Thank you so much for posting this terrific video. The music is stunning. Christine Ebersole is simply sublime; Mary Wilson is perfection.
I regret I never saw this amazing musical in person. What a shame it had such a short run. It was brilliant in so many ways.
Beautifully haunting! Utterly perfect!! Thank you so much for the upload!
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 ❤️🔥
That last exchange between Little Edie and Big Edie underscored by a haunting violin is phenomenal
i have seen several productions of this both off and on broadway. i like them all . thanks for the chance to see this version !
The Marble Faun is a gentleman named Jerry Torre who lives now as a highly skilled stone sculptor.
Marble *faun*
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.
After all these decades I am still fascinated by these two strong willed women.
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.
Have you read ‘The marble faun of grey gardens’ written by Jerry Tore?
No
Absolutely fantastic!!! I love this video. Thanks for whomever shared it.
Thanks. This was a thrill. I can't get out of the house, but I'm a big fan. The audience were so with the cast. Obviously 'Grey Gardens' fans. X
This video has made my weekend. Thank you so much .
I just found this and I am SO GLAD!
What a wonderful tribute to a golden era. Theater is still king of all arts and travel
That was amazing! Thank you for posting!
I can't get enough of this. We all are in line to become obsolete in society. The ending makes us face our worse fears called the truth.
The opening number was changed for the Broadway version. It was a terrific show. Both leads were magnificent.
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.
2:35 Christine's voice 😍😍😍
"Grey Gardens" had a huge gay following as evidenced by this audience.
Christine ebersole will break your goddamn heart
Underrated musical.
The standing ovation at the beginning of the second act was delightfully unexpected.
THIS WAS GREAT!!!
Thank you all!
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 was lucky enough to see Christine Ebersole on Broadway, in 42nd Street. I wish I'd seen her in this, too.
Immortalized ❤
Oh my god. God bless whoever wrote this xxxs
Another winter in a summer town.
it's delicious, thank Larry Shaw for that "re upload" !!!
Incredible!
THANK YOU
Wonderful!
Love shows with female leads! 💙
THANK YOU!
So amazing thank you for this!!!
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 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.
Look for the documentary Grey Gardens. The second act was taken largely from that. The first act is poetic license.
Big Edie sounds exactly like her in the documentary. Brilliant amazing show.
❤little Edie would love you, I do 😘.glad I watched!
Mary Louise Wilson sounds exactly like Big Edie in the prologue.
The second half is MUCH better than the 1st half.. positively fantastic performances by both women, especially that second half!
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..
I agree, especially since Act 1 completely misrepresented what actually happened.
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.)
Brilliant... ♥️
2:50 to 3:32 If the curtain had come down at the end of those 42 seconds, I would have been fully satisfied. Just a stunning voice.
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.
They weren't exactly 'sectioned' and put in a lunatic asylum or sanitarium.
I saw a rather young Mary Louise Wilson in Flora, the Red Menace (1965) with Liza Minelli. A very early, maybe first, Kander and Ebb show.
Mary Louise was also in the revival of Gypsy with Angela Lansbury in 70's as Tessie. Yes that was their first show.
I can't help but prefer the Off-Broadway version to the Broadway version.
Beatuful story...
Can anyone help to explain the Geraldine joke?
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.
Very well done...is this on Broadway? If not it should be.
It ran on Broadway after this. Both leads got well-deserved Tonys.
@@jlasf awesome
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 would love to watch the film! I found it in RUclips, but it did not work!!! :(
Watch the documentary..ruclips.net/video/s94o7bAm4K4/видео.html
Thanks Larry! But I mean the film with Drew Barrymore not the play. But again, thanks so much!
Nelco Nel Watch it on HBO Go or GoMovies.
Thankyou
I'm confused. Grey Gardens was not a comedy.
This show is the closest I'll ever come to a religious experience.
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.
My mother was a narcissist so I have great sympathy for little Eddy.
Fantastic show, but good god, the show must have been emotionally draining for the actors to do…
The girl who plays little Edie, could have been Joe's mother!
Toyland was great juxtaposition
2:07:17
19:31
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.
They wanted to make the song sadder
damn Jessie.. fucking lighten up!
The writers acknowledge the ENTIRE first act was made up.
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.
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.
Big Edie's and Little Edie's story is tragic! In no way is making a fictional musical paying tribute to a story of shattered dreams.
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 think that was poetic license representing the expectations at her time and failure to fulfill (i.e. marriage to any prominent rich family)
Heartbreaking and frustrating and occasionally funny
Not my cup of tea
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
That is what theatre and art are for!
You’re right, art should only be about happy things.
@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.
They would have thought it was the pinnacle of their success. Shame L Ed didn't quite live long enough. She would have been doing cartwheels!
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.
What are you even getting on about? Did you watch it?
You obviously did not watch this musical at all, especially Act 2.
Says the person who clearly didn't watch until the end. This musical fully and completely portrays the tragedy of their lives
Wrong answer!
It’s called pathos, dear.
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.