USA: A cult documentary about Jacqueline Kennedy's eccentric relatives who fell out of favour with high society ended up living in squalor is now a musical sensation

Record ID: 568830

  • Title: USA: A cult documentary about Jacqueline Kennedy's eccentric relatives who fell out of favour with high society ended up living in squalor is now a musical sensation
  • Date: 8th February 2007
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) 'GREY GARDENS' MUSICAL COMPOSER SCOTT FRANKEL SAYING: "When the film came out it was -- Jacqueline Onassis in 1975 was the most famous beautiful woman in the world. And I think there was a real titillating factor the fact that this documentary gave a sneak peek, at what skeletons in her closet l
  • Embargoed: 23rd February 2007 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA6CHFT1WT8Y71OUI3I4IXBPYXO
  • Story Text: 'Grey Gardens' is in bloom again, 30 years after the cult documentary film about the reclusive, eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis living in a dilapidated mansion known by that name.
    Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie, the aunt and cousin of the late first lady, have come to life on stage in a musical 'Grey Gardens'.
    The story is about the bickering, symbiotic former socialites living in squalor among cats and racoons in a seaside 28-room home in the Hamptons once raided by Long Island, New York, authorities for being a health hazard.
    Even Albert Maysles, 79, who with his late brother David shot the original documentary, is revisiting the subject. The filmmaker has begun pouring over 60 hours of film not used in the 1975 look at an unexpected side of high society to put together a 90-minute DVD companion to the original work.
    Composer Scott Frankel, musical director for the 1992 Tony Award-winning 'Falsettos,' was the driving force behind the stage show, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright.
    It is the first documentary to be turned into a musical.
    "When the film came out it was -- Jacqueline Onassis in 1975 was the most famous beautiful woman in the world. And I think there was a real titillating factor the fact that this documentary gave a sneak peek, at what skeletons in her closet looked like. People were very titillated that even America's sweetheart had these eccentric relatives," said Frankel.
    The musical features a dual performance by Christine Ebersole who plays the elder 'Big Edie' in the first act and the younger 'Little Edie' in the second act.
    "They had such a great love of music and the stage and performing and in the society that they were born to, that wasn't honoured," said Ebersole.
    The fascination with 'Big Edie,' a domineering mother who ruled the decaying roost from her twin bed, and 'Little Edie,' once the toast of debutante society who gave up acting ambitions to tend to her mother, spawned a devoted audience for the film and theme parties among hard-core fans.
    'Big Edie' in the second act is played by Mary-Louise Parker who said the true-to-life Edith Bouvier Beale had trouble facing reality.
    "She's in denial, obviously, sitting in her bed with newspapers and cat do. She's still in her drawing room having tea," said Parker.
    The production has been criticised for turning a documentary into a song-and-dance, but Frankel said he felt the story always had the potential to be a musical.
    "I thought since both women in the movie are both frustrated performers, both the mother is a singer and the daughter is a dancer I thought maybe that could be the basis of a musical because both are so desperate to perform," said Frankel.
    Ebersole said she feels the ghosts of 'Big Edie' and 'Little Edie' every time she steps out onto the stage.
    "I always find that funny when people say 'What would they (the real Big Edie and Little Edie) say?' Because I think they are a part of it," she told Reuters. "They're not in the flesh but I'm the vehicle through which they can express themselves and Mary Louise (Wilson, who plays Big Edie in the Second Act) and Erin Davie (who plays Little Edie in the First Act). So they are a part of this. I really believe that. I feel it. They're a part of this and I think they're having a ball."
    The documentary has had a cult following with artistic circles. Fashion designers have cited the Beales, particularly 'Little Edie,' as muses for their designs.
    A Hollywood film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore is slated for 2007.
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