“It’s very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present, you know what I mean?”
–Edith Bouvier Beale
This is not something that I am proud of. It is difficult for me to admit, even in something as confessionary as my own blog… but I don’t much care for going to the theatre. Actually, that is not true. I don’t like going to the theatre & feeling under-whelmed by the experience.
I spent the years between my 8th & 48th birthdays completely obsessed with the theatre. I performed in over 150 full stage productions & I saw at least twice that many plays. But I am now at a point that I need to be transported & transformed by my theatre going experience. Adequate & “pretty good” do not make for a wonderful evening in the theatre for me anymore. This attitude (right or wrong) is magnified by the fact that the husband & I are working class people & theatre is, all too often, for the enjoyment of the upper classes. If you try to make an evening of it, going to the theatre & to dinner can set you back an easy $200+. I realize that there are small theatres, fringe theatres & start-ups that charge $15-$25. I am sure many of the productions are just fine (I do remain open minded), but just fine doesn't do it for me anymore, & I don’t need to see Samuel Beckett’s work in some rented church basement.
–Edith Bouvier Beale
This is not something that I am proud of. It is difficult for me to admit, even in something as confessionary as my own blog… but I don’t much care for going to the theatre. Actually, that is not true. I don’t like going to the theatre & feeling under-whelmed by the experience.
I spent the years between my 8th & 48th birthdays completely obsessed with the theatre. I performed in over 150 full stage productions & I saw at least twice that many plays. But I am now at a point that I need to be transported & transformed by my theatre going experience. Adequate & “pretty good” do not make for a wonderful evening in the theatre for me anymore. This attitude (right or wrong) is magnified by the fact that the husband & I are working class people & theatre is, all too often, for the enjoyment of the upper classes. If you try to make an evening of it, going to the theatre & to dinner can set you back an easy $200+. I realize that there are small theatres, fringe theatres & start-ups that charge $15-$25. I am sure many of the productions are just fine (I do remain open minded), but just fine doesn't do it for me anymore, & I don’t need to see Samuel Beckett’s work in some rented church basement.
I am qualifying this rambling because I recently received a good deal on tickets for Grey Gardens at Portland Center Stage for $25 each. PCS had a “deal” on the Internet- on April 15, for 24 hours only, all tickets/all seats/all performances for $25!. I decided to take them up on this offer because I was curious to see the musical adaptation of Grey Gardens.
I had a strong memory of Christine Ebersol’s performance from the musical on the 2006 Tony Awards (she won) & based on that, I was fairly sure this show would be right up my alley.
Grey Gardens tells the story of Edith Bouvier Beale & Edie Beale, eccentric cousins of Jackie Kennedy who went from high society aristocrats to crazy reclusive cat ladies. Their lives were depicted in the cult classic documentary also entitled Grey Gardens, which is the name of their run down Long Island mansion/estate.
This is a prime example that “Tony Award nominated musical” does not guarantee a good show or a good time. Act one shows the women in the early 1940s & lays out the dysfunctional origins for the demise of their grasps on reality. Edith manipulates Edie & crushes her chances for meaningful relationships. Act two shows them 30 years later, living in squalor with 50 cats & some rabid raccoons, while pathetically holding on to memories of their past popularity. The score in the first act is a pastiche of WW2 era theatre songs of the Noel Coward ilk. Pastiche can be fun & effective (I think of the score for Follies, one of my most favorites). The score is performed by a prerecorded orchestra track (not to my liking). The first act songs are unappealing & redundant & the lyrics range from mediocre to grating (Hominy Grits?). Obvious song set ups are followed by melodically repetitive tunes that are dramatically punctuated at the end, giving the cue for the audience to clap. A great deal of talent & effort is wasted on unsuccessfully manufactured theatrical & musical comedy clichés. The second act songs are better with one outstanding number- Revolutionary Costumes, but the big “11 o’clock number” – It’s Winter in a Summer Town seems to be a parody of that genre of song, but not really played for laughs (again, I think of Follies & the very moving- Losing My Mind).
The ensemble is strong with charming & solid performances by Rebecca Eichenberger (Act I Big Edie, Act II Little Edie) & Dale Soules (Act II Big Edie). Chris Coleman & Rick Lewis provide competent direction & musical direction but the material is simply not first class musical theatre. I probably had too high an expectation. Last season’s productions at PCS of & The Little Dog Laughed & Doubt were both outstanding in every respect. I left both of those plays feeling hungry for live theatre. I left Grey Gardens happy that the tickets only put me back $50.
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