Little Edie was ecstatic about the project. She passed before the production was launched sadly, but she was very helpful to the creators. She gave the rights, and even sent copies of her mother(who had already passed)'s songs.
Don't you just know Little Edie is in heaven and still the life of the party with her exuberant, colorful, joyous personality. I just adore her and would loved to had met her.
It wasn't until I saw the documentary that I realized the real Little Edie also spoke just like this - with accent, phrasing and all. Christine Ebersole is AWESOME!
Christine is brilliant! And the song is brilliant because it so joyfully captures the real life eccentricities of Little Edie Beale in a loving manner. Great song!!
I want to cry when I see this! I was brought by force from my coworker Amy, a little coaxing & I finally relented. How I fell in love with the show! Made me look up everything about the story. Also saw movie with Drew Barrymore & Jessica Lange.... priceless!
Just saw Grey Gardens at the Ahmanson in LA with Rachel York as Little Edie. Ms. York did a nice job with the role, but it made me realize what a stellar performance Ebersole gave. So nuanced. Such great timing. So dead-on to Little Edie in the documentary.
This is my favorite song from the musical! I can't believe they closed it! I never got to see it, but I watched parts of it here, and this is my favorite. She is an AHMAZING actress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love to sing this song!
I saw her do this show in NYC when it first opened, She was amazing and it was the BEST show I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few :-) She really deserved to win the Tony for this performance!
oh how I wish the beales could've seen this before they passed, they would've LOVED it... however I have a feeling they would've complained there wasn't enough singing or "soft shoe" dancing 🤍
I'll never understand why Christine Ebersole isn't a household name, or why she isn't mentioned in the same breath as Patti LuPone, Bernadette, Lansbury, et al.
It's the first time I watch this. I watched the documentary and the movie with Drew Barrymore. This is incredible. The way she talks, the detail on her voice, the mannerism, without being noisy or exaggerated, as you have to be in theatre sometimes. I wonder which theatre had this show in Broadway, because it has a "small venue" energy. But still, she manage to keep a huge audience fascinated. I'm very very impressed.
It is one of my entertainment regrets I never got to see this Broadway musical version of "Grey Gardens" (with Christine Ebersole). I hope one day it may be reprised, perhaps even as a road company show, so others who don't live near or may not easily get to Broadway may see it, at least with Ebersole in her Award-winning role.
I'd bet that most of the people saying that making a musical out of these women's story is a mockery are not very familiar with modern musical theatre. Musicals CAN deal with heavy subject matter (I mean, just look up next to normal, Scottsboro Boys, Spring Awakening, and there are many more). It's another medium of telling this story, and it's no more mocking or exploitation than the documentary was.
In "The Beales of Grey Gardens", one of the Maysles suggested that Edith Barrymore should play Little Edie in a movie based on Big Edie's and her life. Isn't it fantastically odd, curious, eerie that Drew Barrymore (Edith's great granddaughter) played Little Edie?!
@MommieDawn Hey there MD... Did you know that Little Edie was actually alive when the musical was being written? She gave them the thumbs up. I think she was pleased to have someone tell her story.
@elaine31347 You know Edie actually was thrilled when she heard about the musical and ASKED them to make it into one-she actually wrote a letter it's on the first page of the paperback libretto of the show...the letter from Edie to the producer.
I have often wondered why, in this day and age, Broadway doesn't videoptape its best shows for posterity anyway. As we have learned from the past, sometimes the only preserved Broadway performances of old classics we have are the re-created moments from Tony Awards' broadcasts. Of course there have been exceptions, in the glory days of "Hallmark Hall Of Fame," and some Public Broadcasting Service renderings ("American Playhouse" comes to mind) of Broadway works.
You're right. I might have been drunk when when I wrote that. LOL What I meant was this: In the documentary, one of the Mayles suggested a Barrymore (I forget which) should play a Beale (I forget which) in a film based on her life. Better? LOL I didn't make this up. It's in the film..
Time was when most Broadway-bound shows scheduled pre-"Great White Way" runs in Boston and New Haven, to work out any kinks and do re-writes in prepping for "Opening Night." But those days are, sadly, long gone. Anyway, only Boston and New Haven, mostly, had the advantages of seeing the Broadway casts in those limited runs, not the rest of the nation.
Does anyone know why she chose to sing this song like this: pure straight tone and very horn-like? Don’t get me wrong: I love this song and show and this particular performance, as it’s one of the performances that made me want to get into musical theater. But I’ve always wondered if there were a particular reason why she sang this song differently than she sang everything else in the show. Christine Ebersole has such a stunning vocal range, and she’s such an excellent actress, so I’m sure there was a very thoughtful reason for this. I’ve just never heard her address the distinct vocal choice here. No matter why she takes this road with the number, it works out great, and her performance is such a treat.
This is just my guess, but maybe it was to establish the character first before showcasing her gorgeous voice. Little Edie didn’t have a good singing voice in real life and was a caustic, strongly opinionated person and this song captures that side of her!
Okay, I guess I missed that remark by one of the Maysles. Do you know about where in the documentary (and you mean the original "Grey Gardens," don't you, not the HBO dramatic film?) that remark about a Barrymore playing a Beale was made? I would like to hear it myself.
I adore this comment and hope you're still around. I wasn't even aware of this. I was around for the first big Broadway Revival when Lloyd and Rice hit the scene, and Bob Fosse was on his last breaths. So I enjoyed the Grey Gardens documentary, the Maysles' film, when it was released. I'm close to sixty. I'd rather look at how all music from jazz to blues, from Broadway to busking, from classical to rock and roll, from punk rock to hip top has given all of us a gift. Hope you're with us on this train.
U are of course aware of "The Beales of Grey Gardens"? Perhaps that quote is from that documentary. It's like a part 2 to "Grey Gardens" and just as entertaining.
Little Edie had a great sense of humour and the relationship with her mother however bickering was based on love. The show captured all of this brilliantly- some people are failing to give the real life Edie any sense of irony or playfulness- she was acting up for the cameras and loved the attention.
You meant Ethel Barrymore, I think, as there was no Edith Barrymore in the acting profession, to my knowledge. But Ethel Barrymore had been deceased over a decade by the time the original "Grey Gardens' documentary was even filmed by The Maysles Brothers. And if anything, even were Ethel Barrymore to have still been alive, she would have been of an age closer to have played "Big Edie" Beale, not "Little Edie."
Significant though she was in getting "The Sound Of Music" produced on stage in the first place, Mary Martin was bested by Julie Andrews as "Maria Von Trapp" for the filming of that work. But Martin should have gotten to reprise her role for the big screen version of "South Pacific"
I am not familiar with the whole show, but I found this song and Ebersole's rendition of it to be a fairly accurate depiction of the symptoms of mental illness that Little Edie exhibited. Yeah, paranoia and agoraphobia (and probably OCD associated with hoarding) are pretty funny when you just view them from the outside, but you can see Ebersole's panic build at the end of the song. She only wields control over her wardrobe at this point.
Thankfully, at least Martin & "The Merm" got to re-create a few of their best B'way roles for the small screen--Martin in "Moose" Charlap's & Jule Styne's "Peter Pan," and Merman in a revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" (besides "Call Me Madam,' the only other Merman stage role fully preserved on film or videotape), both for NBC-TV.
After just seeing the second documentary "The Beales of Grey Gardens' I think you are probably right. Edie had a regal elegance no matter what her surroundings were. Not sure that elegance is quite captured. I stand corrected indeed.
@elaine31347 Have you seen the entire musical? If not, then do not judge this show. I've seen this show three times and its depiction of the Beales is wonderfully vivid. I am an avid fan of the documentary and the musical is very accurate. Try watching the song "Around The World". That song truly shows the devastating life of Little Edie.
Ethel was Drew's great aunt. But it is odd that any Barrymore was mentioned by David Maysles as playing one of the Beales. Drew wasn't yet alive in 1973 and Ethel had been dead for nearly 15 years.
@MommieDawn The show did NOT make a mockery out of them. Quite the opposite. I was very moved by their relationship. I suspect you didn't see the show, did you?
@elaine31347 you're missing the point. people love the character of Little Edie- yes we laugh at her as we do in the documentary but only because she was so self depreciating, eccentric and joyous! We're laughing with her not at her!
@pudgeuncle In my opinion it did. I was moved by the original documentation of the mother and daughter pair. I suspect that you love to assume what other's do and you are always right. I did see the show, not live but I did see it. It' s my opinion that this was a mockery - for shits and giggles. The real two Edith Beales' felt very strongly the way they did and acted as such. Not for laughs, but just lived their lives. Period.
But by the time Hollywood gets its hands on a Broadway show, it is usually miscast, the sparkle missing from the original staging. Were they still among us living, Mary Martin and Ethel Merman could tell us all a thing or two about how well Hollywood renders Broadway productions.
Little Edie was ecstatic about the project. She passed before the production was launched sadly, but she was very helpful to the creators. She gave the rights, and even sent copies of her mother(who had already passed)'s songs.
Don't you just know Little Edie is in heaven and still the life of the party with her exuberant, colorful, joyous personality. I just adore her and would loved to had met her.
I hope so, what a Gem Edie is
It wasn't until I saw the documentary that I realized the real Little Edie also spoke just like this - with accent, phrasing and all. Christine Ebersole is AWESOME!
Christine is brilliant! And the song is brilliant because it so joyfully captures the real life eccentricities of Little Edie Beale in a loving manner. Great song!!
I want to cry when I see this! I was brought by force from my coworker Amy, a little coaxing & I finally relented. How I fell in love with the show! Made me look up everything about the story. Also saw movie with Drew Barrymore & Jessica Lange.... priceless!
Edie would have loved it. Christine Ebersole's impersonation couldn't have been better.
mchandaltx
She completely blew me away. Great performance!
Just saw Grey Gardens at the Ahmanson in LA with Rachel York as Little Edie. Ms. York did a nice job with the role, but it made me realize what a stellar performance Ebersole gave. So nuanced. Such great timing. So dead-on to Little Edie in the documentary.
This is my favorite song from the musical! I can't believe they closed it! I never got to see it, but I watched parts of it here, and this is my favorite. She is an AHMAZING actress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love to sing this song!
Superb ENUNCIATION ... You get every single word - & that is no small feat.
I saw her do this show in NYC when it first opened, She was amazing and it was the BEST show I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few :-)
She really deserved to win the Tony for this performance!
She was fantastic on Broadway in this. I have seen a number of musicals and this is in its own category. So different from anything else.
That's how you win a Tony. Brilliant.
oh how I wish the beales could've seen this before they passed, they would've LOVED it... however I have a feeling they would've complained there wasn't enough singing or "soft shoe" dancing 🤍
I'll never understand why Christine Ebersole isn't a household name, or why she isn't mentioned in the same breath as Patti LuPone, Bernadette, Lansbury, et al.
She is to me
She is to me too
God how I wish I had had the opportunity to see this show. Christine Ebersole as Little Edie is everything!
It's the first time I watch this. I watched the documentary and the movie with Drew Barrymore. This is incredible. The way she talks, the detail on her voice, the mannerism, without being noisy or exaggerated, as you have to be in theatre sometimes. I wonder which theatre had this show in Broadway, because it has a "small venue" energy. But still, she manage to keep a huge audience fascinated. I'm very very impressed.
Oh my god I just watched the documentary and thought I myself that someone should make a musical and then I saw this!!! 💖 I am in love.
God, would I love to see this.
Bravo! This is brilliant!
It is one of my entertainment regrets I never got to see this Broadway musical version of "Grey Gardens" (with Christine Ebersole). I hope one day it may be reprised, perhaps even as a road company show, so others who don't live near or may not easily get to Broadway may see it, at least with Ebersole in her Award-winning role.
ONE OF THE BEST PLAYS AND PERFORMANCE IN THEATER HISTORY !! 🎥
I would have loved to see Christine Ebersole in this. She's brilliant.
I saw it with Angela Lansbury. Christine Ebersole was onstage, and she was brilliant. Lansbury was in the audience, across the aisle from me.
Little Edie would have loved this.
Natalie Bell Little Edie would have wanted to perform this herself! And she would have been fabulous, I'm sure!
Saw in person ...one of the best ever..🕊🇺🇲💕
Why, oh why, don't they at least film the Tony winning shows? I would so love to see the whole thing.
They do !!! All the videos are located in the Lincoln city center library (library of performing arts) in Manhattan and you can watch them there !
Nicolas Mestakides omfg is his real I'm going
the thing is, you need a real reason to go there, like if you're doing research for something. They won't allow you to sit and watch for fun.
Here ya go...the whole show ! ua-cam.com/video/tsPo8g-kj2w/v-deo.html
I'd bet that most of the people saying that making a musical out of these women's story is a mockery are not very familiar with modern musical theatre. Musicals CAN deal with heavy subject matter (I mean, just look up next to normal, Scottsboro Boys, Spring Awakening, and there are many more). It's another medium of telling this story, and it's no more mocking or exploitation than the documentary was.
Especially when the main character is a woman who gave her enthusiastic ok for the production. And Big Edie would have loved it, too.
The best new Broadway musical of the 21st century. Period.
Her performance in this show should be required studying for theatre students.
How have I never seen this!?? The accent is dead on!
wow.... captures here very well.
I wish I was not poor living in Shelbyville, Indiana so I could see these fabulous live performances.
ua-cam.com/video/tsPo8g-kj2w/v-deo.html
Christine is a national treasure!
they both would love this stardom at last ;)
What a great number!
1:08 If I close my eyes it sounds like that’s really little Edie talking. Christine nailed the Long Island NY accent
I would love to see this show, looks absolutely lovely
ua-cam.com/video/tsPo8g-kj2w/v-deo.html
loved this....LOVE her!!! seeing her act at 54 Below very soon. cant wait!
In "The Beales of Grey Gardens", one of the Maysles suggested that Edith Barrymore should play Little Edie in a movie based on Big Edie's and her life. Isn't it fantastically odd, curious, eerie that Drew Barrymore (Edith's great granddaughter) played Little Edie?!
I wanna watch the documentary again now.
and it was nominated for a tony!!!
I wish, too that I were up in the front row of the audience that got to enjoy this!!! Woo Hoo!
she is broadway and the tony was hers as soon as everyone heard she was doing this . FAB U LAS ! GO AUNTIE LAMBERT
@MommieDawn Hey there MD... Did you know that Little Edie was actually alive when the musical was being written? She gave them the thumbs up. I think she was pleased to have someone tell her story.
Impressive, thanks.
Little Edie will pull on my heartstrings everyday.
Brilliant! Bravo! 👏
wonderful
Yes the documentary. I'll take a look at it and get back to you.
love her
Christine is so good in this!
I LOVE GREY GARDEN!
WONDERFUL!
Body Beautiful Beale!...(and Ebersole)
don't you love that she breaks the fourth wall? it's like she is talking to you and you are behind the camera filming the documentary
Looks and acts exactly like her!
@elaine31347 You know Edie actually was thrilled when she heard about the musical and ASKED them to make it into one-she actually wrote a letter it's on the first page of the paperback libretto of the show...the letter from Edie to the producer.
White Diamond
Yep
Wish Edie could have seen this. RIP girls 💔
I have often wondered why, in this day and age, Broadway doesn't videoptape its best shows for posterity anyway. As we have learned from the past, sometimes the only preserved Broadway performances of old classics we have are the re-created moments from Tony Awards' broadcasts.
Of course there have been exceptions, in the glory days of "Hallmark Hall Of Fame," and some Public Broadcasting Service renderings ("American Playhouse" comes to mind) of Broadway works.
She might be White Diamond on Steven Universe :]
That would explain why she wasn't included in the Trial.
It is white diamond
I have mixed feelings about there even being a musical about this story, but I feel this performance is a very honest portrayal.
The real Little Edie approved the project. If you get a chance to see the whole show, you may change your mind. It’s extraordinary.
I sure as hell would want to
I'm sorry...Never knew about this musical..until jinks monsoon introduced little Eddie... Now I am a fan of this musical..
You're right. I might have been drunk when when I wrote that. LOL What I meant was this: In the documentary, one of the Mayles suggested a Barrymore (I forget which) should play a Beale (I forget which) in a film based on her life. Better? LOL I didn't make this up. It's in the film..
i think shes fabulous ;)
Time was when most Broadway-bound shows scheduled pre-"Great White Way" runs in Boston and New Haven, to work out any kinks and do re-writes in prepping for "Opening Night." But those days are, sadly, long gone. Anyway, only Boston and New Haven, mostly, had the advantages of seeing the Broadway casts in those limited runs, not the rest of the nation.
gymnastix --it was Boston , then New Haven , then Philadelphia tryouts . Then if it worked it went to a B’way theatre.
Honestly breaks my heart that little Edie missed this…
Uncanny resemblance to little Edie. Brilliant. Genius
r there anymore productions?...=P
What a dynamo!
Will they be coming to Toronto at all?
Does anyone know why she chose to sing this song like this: pure straight tone and very horn-like? Don’t get me wrong: I love this song and show and this particular performance, as it’s one of the performances that made me want to get into musical theater. But I’ve always wondered if there were a particular reason why she sang this song differently than she sang everything else in the show. Christine Ebersole has such a stunning vocal range, and she’s such an excellent actress, so I’m sure there was a very thoughtful reason for this. I’ve just never heard her address the distinct vocal choice here. No matter why she takes this road with the number, it works out great, and her performance is such a treat.
This is just my guess, but maybe it was to establish the character first before showcasing her gorgeous voice. Little Edie didn’t have a good singing voice in real life and was a caustic, strongly opinionated person and this song captures that side of her!
I have studied them extensively and written several psychological papers on them, not mental illness. I'll be happy to share my diagnosis.
Please do, I'm curious.
They can get you for wearing red shoes on Thursday. I don't know whether you know that. I mean do you know that?? .. Lmao
Watch the original documentary if you haven’t most of the jokes from the show are straight from the mouth of Edie herself. Truly an icon
Little Edie was wise to the Republicans way back in the 70's. It took the rest of 4 decades to catch up to her.
I feel like they should've chose "Around The World"
Okay, I guess I missed that remark by one of the Maysles.
Do you know about where in the documentary (and you mean the original "Grey Gardens," don't you, not the HBO dramatic film?) that remark about a Barrymore playing a Beale was made? I would like to hear it myself.
I adore this comment and hope you're still around. I wasn't even aware of this. I was around for the first big Broadway Revival when Lloyd and Rice hit the scene, and Bob Fosse was on his last breaths. So I enjoyed the Grey Gardens documentary, the Maysles' film, when it was released. I'm close to sixty. I'd rather look at how all music from jazz to blues, from Broadway to busking, from classical to rock and roll, from punk rock to hip top has given all of us a gift. Hope you're with us on this train.
Tough audience, saw it 3 times live, the audience never stopped applauding! Da da da da da!😉😂
U are of course aware of "The Beales of Grey Gardens"? Perhaps that quote is from that documentary. It's like a part 2 to "Grey Gardens" and just as entertaining.
Her accent reminds me of Adelaide from Guys N Dolls!
Little Edie had a great sense of humour and the relationship with her mother however bickering was based on love.
The show captured all of this brilliantly- some people are failing to give the real life Edie any sense of irony or playfulness- she was acting up for the cameras and loved the attention.
You meant Ethel Barrymore, I think, as there was no Edith Barrymore in the acting profession, to my knowledge.
But Ethel Barrymore had been deceased over a decade by the time the original "Grey Gardens' documentary was even filmed by The Maysles Brothers. And if anything, even were Ethel Barrymore to have still been alive, she would have been of an age closer to have played "Big Edie" Beale, not "Little Edie."
Significant though she was in getting "The Sound Of Music" produced on stage in the first place, Mary Martin was bested by Julie Andrews as "Maria Von Trapp" for the filming of that work. But Martin should have gotten to reprise her role for the big screen version of "South Pacific"
I am not familiar with the whole show, but I found this song and Ebersole's rendition of it to be a fairly accurate depiction of the symptoms of mental illness that Little Edie exhibited. Yeah, paranoia and agoraphobia (and probably OCD associated with hoarding) are pretty funny when you just view them from the outside, but you can see Ebersole's panic build at the end of the song. She only wields control over her wardrobe at this point.
Thankfully, at least Martin & "The Merm" got to re-create a few of their best B'way roles for the small screen--Martin in "Moose" Charlap's & Jule Styne's "Peter Pan," and Merman in a revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" (besides "Call Me Madam,' the only other Merman stage role fully preserved on film or videotape), both for NBC-TV.
After just seeing the second documentary "The Beales of Grey Gardens' I think you are probably right. Edie had a regal elegance no matter what her surroundings were. Not sure that elegance is quite captured. I stand corrected indeed.
@elaine31347 Have you seen the entire musical? If not, then do not judge this show. I've seen this show three times and its depiction of the Beales is wonderfully vivid. I am an avid fan of the documentary and the musical is very accurate. Try watching the song "Around The World". That song truly shows the devastating life of Little Edie.
Ethel was Drew's great aunt. But it is odd that any Barrymore was mentioned by David Maysles as playing one of the Beales. Drew wasn't yet alive in 1973 and Ethel had been dead for nearly 15 years.
@MommieDawn The show did NOT make a mockery out of them. Quite the opposite. I was very moved by their relationship. I suspect you didn't see the show, did you?
Is there anything they can't make into a musical?
Little Edie would've loved it!
@elaine31347 you're missing the point. people love the character of Little Edie- yes we laugh at her as we do in the documentary but only because she was so self depreciating, eccentric and joyous! We're laughing with her not at her!
She nailed the accent of little Edie. I am facinated by this story. Great story.
This is brilliant, but i don't think Edie would have approved.
Have you ever heard of Stephen Sondheim?
Oh Hiiiiii!
ahem.... her.
@pudgeuncle In my opinion it did. I was moved by the original documentation of the mother and daughter pair. I suspect that you love to assume what other's do and you are always right. I did see the show, not live but I did see it. It' s my opinion that this was a mockery - for shits and giggles. The real two Edith Beales' felt very strongly the way they did and acted as such. Not for laughs, but just lived their lives. Period.
But by the time Hollywood gets its hands on a Broadway show, it is usually miscast, the sparkle missing from the original staging. Were they still among us living, Mary Martin and Ethel Merman could tell us all a thing or two about how well Hollywood renders Broadway productions.
@pudgeuncle I agree! I think the show was a very poignant celebration of their lives!
@dropsoffaith I still stick with my comment, Tony or no Tony...