[NEohioPAL] Review of "Grey Gardens"

[Bob Abelman]

Beck production offers an intimate 'Grey Gardens'

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the Chagrin Valley Times 3/12/09

 

Upon its opening on Broadway in 2006, The New York Times dubbed Grey Gardens an "irritatingly mixed blessing of a musical." And so it is.  

 

Part celebrity sideshow and part psychological drama, Grey Gardens explores the lives of two fallen socialites-real-world relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis-from their glory days in the East Hamptons to their self-induced squalor and isolation in the now-dilapidated Long Island mansion thirty years later. 

 

Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter "Little" Edie Beale became notorious when, in the 1970s, the local community sought to evict the two from their eye-sore of a sanctuary.  The ladies and their dysfunctional lifestyle became the subject of a documentary by Albert and David Maysles, and the film became the essence of Act 2 of Grey Gardens.  It depicts the true tragedy of the Beales' bizarre co-dependence, warts and all, and is a moving, disturbing piece of theatre set to haunting and occasionally amusing musical numbers by Cleveland native Scott Frankel and Michael Korie.

 

Act 1 is a piece of frothy Cole Porteresque musical fiction designed to capture the lavishness of the Beales' former existence and reveal hints of the budding psychosis.  Here we see quirky Edith's penchant for public performance and her favorite pet, a flamingly gay pianist, which alienated her husband, infuriated her aristocratic father and embarrassed her seemingly perfect daughter.  Here we see Edith's early efforts to unravel her daughter's future happiness for her own selfish and increasingly neurotic needs.  Here we see the beginning of the end of a family dynasty.   

 

The "mixed blessing" is the disjointed and nearly irreconcilable parts of this play.  There is, in fact, little connective tissue between these two acts and the eccentric personalities each display.  The leap from this family's distinction to its decay is quantum and left unexplained.

 

Fortunately, the Beck Center for the Arts' production of this play, under the keen direction of Victoria Bussert, nicely off-sets much of this.  It does so by placing the show within the intimate confines of the Studio Theatre and filling the stage with a very talented ensemble.

 

What is lost by condensing the grandeur of a big-stage production onto a small space is made up for by offering delicate moments. One such moment is when "Little" Edie, on the verge of escaping her mother's intoxicating madness, gives into fear, painfully surrenders her own aspirations, and is slowly drawn back into her nightmare.  What is missing from the script in terms of exposition is reconciled by being able to look into an actor's eyes and seeing what is not said by playwright Doug Wright. 

 

Each actor in this professional production gives an interesting, authentic performance, led by Maryann Nagel in the dual role of Act 1's Edith and Act 2's "Little" Edie.  She brings a palatable richness to each character in both dialogue and song, and is never better than in the number "Another Winter in a Summer Town."  Jullian Kates Bumpas, as "Little" Edie in Act 1, and Lenne Snively, as the aged Edith in Act 2, are also wonderful performers who give it their all in this intriguing production.  Inconsistent accents adorned by these three women adds to the lack of continuity inherent in this play, but this is a minor distraction amidst otherwise fine work. 

 

The very strong supporting cast, who also double in scenes of delusion and fantasy, includes an excellent Patrick Janson as pianist George Strong, Darryl Lewis at the manservant Brooks, George Roth as the family patriarch, and Jonathan Walker White as Joseph Kennedy and fix-it man Jerry.  Annie Kostell, an eighth grader, and Natalie Welch, a fifth grader from Chagrin Falls, play Jackie and Lee Bouvier, respectively, and are truly delightful all the time.

 

Although the music from the limited four-piece orchestra is thin, it is very well performed under the direction of Jodie Ricci.   Occasional choreography by Martín Céspedes beautifully complements the sentiments in the songs and adds a nice touch of class to this production.  

 

The Beck brings out the best in this quirky play.  It runs through March 29 at the Beck Center for the Arts in nearby Lakewood.
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