Saturday, November 04, 2006

"I forgot, I hate the theatre!"


Bravo to Grey Gardens on their opening night reviews. Such a haunting 1975 documentary. Turned into a Broadway musical in two Acts by the fine folks at Playwrights Horizons... Starring one of my favorites, Christine Ebersole. I first saw Christine Ebersole as Ado Annie Carnes in the 1980 Broadway production of Oklahoma! on Broadway. All I remember about that production is Christine and her perfect timing and perfect pitch. (To be fair... I do remember Christine Andreas as being lovely as Laurey as well) I've followed Ms. Ebersole's career on paper only. I've, sadly, never seen her perform live since. Clearly now is the time to make an effort. BEN BRANTLEY of the New York Times not only gave Grey Gardens a very positive review, but he says of Ms. Ebersole's portrayal of both the Beal women - "Watching this performance is the best argument I can think of for the survival of the American musical." Umm. Wow. Time to be willing to be inconvenienced, and get myself to NYC and see this theater for adults production! Since at least one critic exclaims "No Tony gray area for 'Gardens' co-stars" - Hollywood Reporter - we all may be blessed to have Ms. Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson in their roles until well after the springtime Tony season. A quick Manhattan adventure in the Spring sounds divine!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed! I'm hoping to see it when I'm there in November.

Steve On Broadway (SOB) said...

Thanks for sharing!!

I'm very excited having just purchased my tix to see Grey Gardens in February where the nearly-front-row seats are still in the just over $100 range (I thought for certain after all the rave reviews that the close-up seats would sell for $250).

Do you remember when for a brief moment Christine Ebersole was on Saturday Night Live (around the early to mid-80s). I was thrilled to see her in the revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man in 2000 and then in her Tony-winning turn in 42nd Street.

I can't wait to see this show!

Isn't it rich...? said...

Hi Steve,
I missed the original running of SNL with Christine Ebersole in the mid 80's. However, they re-played it a month or so ago (at 3:00 AM!) and I Tivo-ed it!. The amazing Jennifer Holliday was the musical act - what a treat that was!!

Steve On Broadway (SOB) said...

Did you ever see Jennifer Holliday perform "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" live? Breathtaking!