Aristocratic Crazy: Opera House presents ‘Grey Gardens’
T
he musical “Grey Gardens” is based on a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles. It depicts the lives of a mother and daughter, Big Edie and Little Edie, who live in an East-Hampton mansion, which, in Act II, is scandalously unsanitary, with 52 cats, raccoons, fleas and no running water. Even more fascinating is that the Edies were the aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. The documentary is a shocking cinema verite of two crazy women who spend most of their time secluded in one bedroom with twin beds and a refrigerator. Even more astonishing is that the two women seem totally unaware of how bizarre their lifestyle is until that “mean, nasty Republican town” of East Hampton tells them to clean up or get out. The musical is not quite as sordid as the
documentary because the first act takes place in 1941 when Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter still had enough money to live in style. Since both Edies were performers, though not professional, the story was smoothly adapted into a musical, with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, which premiered on Broadway in 2006 and won several Tony Awards. Like the Broadway production, one actress plays Big Edie in Act I, which takes place in 1941, and Little Edie in Act II. Heather Dahlberg, who moved to Minnesota a year ago, returned to Wilmington for this role. Albert Maysles believed that the two women had a “love relationship,” but Dahlberg suggests that it was more of a “dysfunctional
by: MJ Pendleton
Grey Gardens
Preview Opera House Theater Company City Stage/Level 5, 21 N. Front St. September 2-6, 11-13, 18-20; 8pm Saturday matineés, 3pm Tickets: (910) 343-3664 love/hate relationship.” According to director Ray Kennedy, Little Edie tells her mother in Act II, “‘I’m not a person, I am your shadow.’ You just want to scream at her, ‘Please leave!’” “In Act I you see the extreme selfishness of Big Edie—that’s a mother, and she did that
“She had her own sense of style,” said Kennedy, “and wore shawls and turbans after she lost her hair, but always with a brooch.” “She turned skirts that no longer fit upside down,” Dahlberg added. Big Edie was a singer who had her very own pianist (Robin Dale Robertson), and Little Edie considered herself a dancer. Their biggest complaint about the documentary was that there was not enough singing and dancing. “There are a lot of uplifting, fun songs in Act I,” Dahlberg said, “and the music has a Sondheim feel to it.” There is a certain fascination with the lifestyles of the rich and famous and also a secret glee when they fall from glory. This production has both: a glimpse of the privileged life, which collapses into madness when the money runs out. The house in East Hampton was named Grey Gardens because of the sand dunes, the five-acre garden walls and the mist from the ocean. The color gray also symbolically represents a lifestyle that lost color and a mother/daughter relationship that was neither black nor white; it was somewhere, rather, in that murky area that resides between good and evil.
Also this week: • “Phantom”: Thalian Association presents the musical “Phantom,” based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gerard Gaston with book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. 9/24-27, Thurs/Fri/Sat, 8pm and Sun, 3pm. Directed and choreographed by Debra Gillingham, music direction by Jonathan Barber, starring Jamey Graves and Alecia Vanderhaar. Presented at Kenan Auditorium on the campus of UNCW. $25 VIP seating available; all others $20 with senior, student and group discounts. 910-962-3500. • Cold Reading and Audition Techniques: Actors Economy Buster Training from Big Dawg Productions. 9/12; 12pm-2pm: Cold Reading & Audition Techniques. Info for camera work and stage. Learn skills for quickly breaking down a scipt, fast development of character, hitting marks, finding eye lines, slating for cameras, use of body language, tips on how to be remembered, questions you should/not ask. Suggested donation $10/person. More or less donation welcome. The Cape Fear Playhouse; 615 Castle St. (910)352-7678.
GRAY AREA: The cast of “Grey Gardens” works to display the love-hate relationship between Big and Little Edie, one that was not quite black or white but rather gray, as their surrounding environment.
to her daughter? Then it’s exacerbated in the second act,” Dahlberg explained. “There is a creepy quality and a sense of madness, but it’s about real people with real joys and real sorrows,” Kennedy added. In the documentary Little Edie seems extremely narcissistic and oblivious to the squalor of her surroundings. She revels in the attention of the filmmakers and describes her “costume” of the day as if it is haute couture.
encore | september 2-8, 2009 | www.encorepub.com 11