A Review

Who Could Ever Bear To Leave

By R. J. Donovan

In the early seventies, filmmakers Albert and David Mayles set off to make a documentary that would eventually reach cult status.  The film captured the lives of mother and daughter socialites Edie and Edith Bouvier Beale, cousin and aunt, respectively, to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

Where the Beales had once been the toast of the social scene, by the time the Mayles found them they had descended into near poverty.  Their once palatial mansion had fallen into flea-infested disrepair with cats and raccoons roaming the house, holes in the roof and the entire estate overgrown into a forest of foliage.

The resulting documentary, "Grey Gardens," named for the seaside estate, was a mesmerizing study of two women who, living in near isolation, seemed unable to acknowledge the reality of their situation or the depth of their decay.

In 2006, a new musical (music by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie, book by Doug Wright) based on the lives of the two women opened off-Broadway at Playwright's Horizon.  The initial run was so successful that the production, with a few tweaks, transferred to Broadway where it found a happy home and solid fan base.

That musical, nominated for ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, is now enjoying its New England premiere in an intriguing production at Lyric Stage of Boston. The musical varies from the original documentary in that it works to fill in the earlier relationship of the two women by first taking a look at a pivotal weekend in their story, circa 1941. 

Act One finds the Beales about to announce the engagement of Little Edie to Joe Kennedy, Jr. at their Hampton estate. An engagement party is about to begin and Big Edith, firmly holding the spotlight, plans to sing several songs -- much to the embarrassment of her daughter. Papa Beale, busy on Wall Street (and cheating on his wife), is noticeably absent, but Grandpa is not. He makes sure his granddaughters (including little Jacqueline and Lee Bouvier) are fully aware that it's best to marry well in life. Also on the scene is George Gould Strong, pianist and confidante to Big Edith.

The fatally co-dependent relationship between the two women is foreshadowed here, along with a disturbing sense of competition and jealousy. Big Edith tells her son-in-law-to-be a little more than he needs to know about her daughter's wild side and instability. Kennedy sees his own political aspirations about to be damaged, and the engagement is suddenly off. He flees in his tuxedo at the very moment the guests are arriving on the grounds.

Little Edie is humiliated at her mother's hand in ruining her chance for a future. This then sets the scene for one of the show's most bittersweet numbers, "Will You?," questioning love and loyalty. With the party commencing despite having a reason, Big Edie sings the ballad -- her tribute to young love -- as Little Edie, with her suitcase in hand, shrinks from the house in shame and defeat.

Act Two jumps ahead to 1973. Minus family and servants, the two women are now living alone in the same house, only now it's a shambles.  Big Edith is elderly and hobbling around with a cane while Little Edie has become an eccentric of sorts.  She still speaks with the once-cute stylized rich girl accent and has taken to dressing in a revolving door of bizarre outfits -- otherwise known as her "Revolutionary Costume For Today."  Wearing skirts upside down, wrapping her head in drapery and lounging in a bathing suit and white pumps, she's makes one unusual fashion statement.

She also lives under the misguided impression that she deserves a career in the arts.  Singer, dancer, it doesn't matter.  If she "can only get into New York," she'll have it made. Yet here she remains, among the ruin and shadows of Grey Gardens.

If you're a fan of the documentary, you'll recognize much of the dialogue lifted for use in the second act.  As well, a unique casting decision (as on Broadway) has the same actress playing Big Edith in Act One and Little Edie thirty years later in Act Two.  In this case, it's Leigh Barrett, who does a remarkable job assuming the two roles.  She's the forceful dowager dismissed by her husband in the first act, only to become spot on as the now grown and increasingly oddball daughter in Act Two.

She pulls off both characters with strength and credibility, blending humor with great sadness. As always, Barrett sings with passion. In addition to "Will You?," she also gets the show's other wonderful number, "Another Winter In A Summer Town." The 11 o'clock piece is Edie's reflection on where she is, what she's missed out on, and the future she's facing if she doesn't make a change. For a woman who's living an illusion most of the time, this is stark reality. Michael Korie's lyrics for this particular song paint a heartbreaking picture, and Barrett wraps her voice around them with a hunger that gives you a chill.

The rest of the cast is equally talented, with Sarah deLima playing Big Edith in Act Two. Wearing floppy hats to cover her wild gray hair, she sits amidst the debris ranting and raving and philosophizing as though she still ruled the roost -- which, technically, she does.  

As Little Edie in Act One, Aimee Doherty makes all the right moves as the young Long Island debutante who longs to find a way out from under the thumb of her dominating mother.

Will McGarrahan, who previously partnered with Barrett at Lyric in "Souvenir," adds a warm and funny touch as Gould, Big Edith's accompanist. He delivers the touching "Drift Away" with great heart. Dick Santos provides spit and polish as "Major" Bouvier while R. Patrick Ryan captures the essence of dashing Joe Kennedy Jr. in Act One, only to return in Act Two as the Beale's friend and errand boy, Jerry.

Spiro Veloudos directs with his usual vision to keep things smooth and flowing.  My only reservation is a staging choice that interrupts the final moments of the show. At this point, the stage has been cleared of everything but Big Edith lying a bit upstage in her bed. Downstage, Little Edie sings "Another Winter" and then must make her "choice." You can practically see the wheels spinning in her mind even though Barrett barely moves. It all plays out in her eyes. Once she comes to her decision, stagehands appear from the shadows to re-set the stage, which not only breaks a powerful moment but distracts from what comes next. Granted, the return of a phonograph stand is essential to the final blackout, but that could easily be pre-set by the bed.  If the re-set were eliminated, Barrett could simply move upstage to deLima and continue the flow. The emotional effect would be far more intense.

As a footnote, Big Edith died in 1977. Little Edie died in Florida in 1997. Today, the meticulously restored and refurbished Grey Gardens is owned and occupied by Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of The Washington Post, and his wife, former CBS news anchor, Sally Quinn.

In the end, "Grey Gardens" doesn't really answer a lot of the questions we might have about Edith and Edie. It's simply a fascinating look at two terribly unusual women who lived in a fantasy world of their own creation.

"Grey Gardens " is at Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, through June 6. For information, call 617-585-5678.

-- Production Photo: Mark S. Howard

-- OnStage Boston