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Home > Arts & Events > Theater > Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

Walter Kerr Theatre
219 W. 48th St., New York, NY 10036
nr. Broadway  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
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Joan Marcus

Price

$36.25-$111.25

Tickets

Reservations

Advance Tickets Recommended

Running Time

2 hrs. 30 mins.

Director

Michael Greif

Cast

Christine Ebersole, Mary Louise Wilson, John McMartin, Matt Cavenaugh, Erin Davie, Kelsey Fowler, Sarah Hyland, Michael Potts, Bob Stillman, Maureen Moore, Dale Soules, Abigail Ferenczy, Donald Grody, Michael W. Howel, Megan Lewis, Asa Somers

Nearby Subway Stops

1 at 50th St.; C, E at 50th St.

Official Website

Schedule

There are no more dates for this event.

Profile

Hands planted on kidneys, weight cantilevered back on one leg, figure wrapped in a crazy combination of skirts and blouses and snood, Christine Ebersole strikes one of the weirder poses to earn a spot in the gallery of iconic Broadway roles. In the musical version of Grey Gardens, she plays the lucidly nutty Little Edie Beale. She plays Edie’s mother, too, in a prequel to the Maysles Brothers’ cult documentary, one that depicts Edie’s fictional engagement party in 1941. But it’s the second-act strangeness that people will remember, with reason. Intermission ends in a cascade of twirly harp music, the kind you associate with a house spinning from black-and-white Kansas into Technicolor Oz—a suitably fantastical prompt for Ebersole’s appearance. “You look absolutely terrific, honestly,” she effuses to the audience. She has the odd look and gawky bearing—and that silly aristocratic accent—to nail the elegant and monstrous Edie, though you could dismiss this as merely high-grade mimicry. But then she starts to sing. By this point, Ebersole has already flexed her gorgeous voice, tossing off a few bars of Puccini (and many bars of composer Scott Frankel) in the first act. Now, in “The Revolutionary Costume for Today,” she offers a concise, hilarious explanation of her topsy-turvy fashion sense. It’s nearly a patter song, and the onetime SNL trouper wrings every laugh dry.

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New York Magazine Reviews

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5.5 "Mixed Reviews"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10
Write Your Own Review

Fantastic Show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roe from 11741 | Posted on 6/4/07

Overall Reader Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)

If you saw the documentary of Grey Gardens then saw the Broadway show of it ,you would have been as blown away as I was.. The shows actors who played the Mother and daughter pair felt like they were ripped from...Read More

A total snoozer

jeannekc from 10607 | Posted on 5/27/07

Overall Reader Rating: 1 (Not Recommended)

I'm sure glad I didn't pay full price for tickets to this. The music was awful, the sets looked like they were painted by elementary school students, and the lighting design was amateurish. I've totally lost my faith...Read More

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