(Ebersole at Bloomingdale's- Photo by Maryann Lopinto)
I want a copy of this!!!! Don't you?!
“The songs from GREY GARDENS sustain a level of refined language
and psychological detail as elevated as Stephen Sondheim’s.
A meticulously-fashioned piece of musical theater that gains in depth the more you listen to it.”
-Stephen Holden, The New York Times (February 9, 2007 )
ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING
OF THE ACCLAIMED HIT MUSICAL
TO BE RELEASED BY PS CLASSICS
STARTING TUESDAY, MARCH 27
New Broadway CD to receive exclusive early WebRelease
at www.psclassics.com on March 27th
with retail and all other online outlets to follow in mid-April
The Original Broadway Cast Recording of the acclaimed hit musical GREY GARDENS – crowned the #1 Show of the Year by Time Magazine – will be available starting Tuesday, March 27. Recorded February 13 on PS Classics, the album is produced by multiple Grammy winner Steven Epstein (The Light in the Piazza). The initial release will be offered exclusively online at www.psclassics.com.
In a unique development, the Original Broadway Cast Recording will replace the currently-available World Premiere Recording, also released by the Grammy-nominated label and featuring the Off-Broadway cast, based on the musical’s original run at Playwrights Horizons.
The new recording will feature the Broadway cast and preserve the significant changes made for the Broadway production by author Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie. This includes four new songs (“The Girl Who Has Everything,” “Goin’ Places,” “Marry Well” and the new ending), one previously unrecorded track (“The Telegram”) and all-new performances on several previously-recorded songs (including “Mother, Darling,” “Peas in a Pod” and “Daddy’s Girl”). In addition, the entire album has been completely remixed and remastered. The new recording will also feature an all-new, 32-page color booklet with complete lyrics and new photos.
While the new CD will initially be available exclusively online at the PS Classics website, it will eventually become available at all stores and online retailers (including Virgin Megastores, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Amazon and iTunes) during the month of April. PS Classics expects the new CD to be available everywhere by April 15th. Once supplies of the old CD have run out, that recording will then go out of print.
In a rave review for the score in The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote, “To listen to the original cast album of GREY GARDENS is to bring to mind two phrases seldom linked nowadays: ‘Broadway musical’ and ‘artistic integrity.’ The songs, with music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, sustain a level of refined language and psychological detail as elevated as Stephen Sondheim’s. The score is a meticulously fashioned piece of musical theater that gains in depth the more you listen to it.”
The GREY GARDENS score recently won The ASCAP Foundation’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award for composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie, and was also nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards.
PS CLASSICS, the Grammy-nominated label, was founded in 2000 by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin. It’s been profiled in publications such as The New York Times for its diverse line of show albums, solo CDs and songbook recordings. Its cast albums celebrate Broadway (Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the recently-released Company), Off-Broadway (My Life with Albertine, Lone Star Love) and regional theater (First Lady Suite). Its solo albums range from jazz (Jessica Molaskey’s Make Believe) to pop (Johnny Rodgers’s Box of Photographs) to folk (Rebecca Luker’s Leaving Home). The composers highlighted range from Jerome Moross and Billy Strayhorn to Maury Yeston and John Bucchino. PS Classics is distributed exclusively by Image Entertainment.
BACKGROUND ON GREY GARDENS
Following a sold-out world premiere last spring at Playwrights Horizons, the new musical GREY GARDENS opened on Broadway on Thursday, November 2 at The Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street) to rave reviews, lead by Ben Brantley in The New York Times, who called it “An experience no passionate theatergoer should miss!” Starring Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and Tony Award nominee Mary Lousie Wilson, it has since appeared on over 25 “Best of 2006” lists, including #1 Show of the Year (Time), Best Musical of the Year (USA Today, Entertainment Weekly) and Performance of the Year (The New York Times, New York) for Ms. Ebersole.
Based on the legendary 1975 documentary Grey Gardens (by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer & Susan Froemke – a Maysles Brothers Films Inc. Production), GREY GARDENS features a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, the film Quills – based on his play), music by Scott Frankel (musical director for Broadway’s Falsettos, Putting It Together) and lyrics by Michael Korie (Harvey Milk). Directed by Tony Award nominee and Obie winner Michael Greif (Rent), the production has musical staging by Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Big River, Grease!).
GREY GARDENS is produced by East of Doheny, Staunch Entertainment, Randall Wreghitt/Mort Swinsky, Michael Alden and Edwin W. Schloss, in association with Playwrights Horizons.
Not since Mama Rose and Gypsy has there been a mother/daughter act as hilarious, as heartbreaking and as utterly unforgettable as Edith and Edie Beale – Jackie Kennedy’s most outrageous relatives – in Broadway’s acclaimed musical smash GREY GARDENS. From the grandeur of an East Hampton high society party in 1941 to the sensational tabloid headlines that rocked the Kennedy clan in 1973, GREY GARDENS is scandalously entertaining. This witty and passionate ride features Christine Ebersole’s already-legendary performance and breaks new ground as the first musical ever based on a documentary. Step into the world of GREY GARDENS and see the other side of Camelot.
Critics have praised the Broadway production as “An experience no passionate theatergoer should miss” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times), “One of the first must-sees of the season” (Jacques le Sourd, The Journal News), “A brilliantly twisted, bizarrely beautiful, madly entertaining musical” (Michael Sommers, The Star-Ledger), “A funny and poignant riches-to-rags story with a glorious score” (Joe Dziemianowicz, Daily News), “Excellent – a darkly thrilling, quirky and heartbreaking musical” (David Cote, NY1 News) and “An extraordinary and compassionate musical, elegant and grand and high risk” (Lisa Carlin, WCBS News Radio). Praising the show for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers called it, “Hilarious AND heartbreaking. That shot in the arm for theater lovers who’ve longed for something bold, haunting and hypnotic to get lost in. GREY GARDENS is more than a unique and unmissable musical: IT’S A GIFT!”
Critics have unanimously bestowed legendary status on the performance of leading lady Christine Ebersole (who actually gives two performances in the musical: as Edith Beale in Act One and her daughter ‘Little’ Edie in Act Two). Ben Brantley of The New York Times called it, “Possibly the greatest performance I’ve ever seen in a musical,” and “The best argument I can think of for the survival of the American musical. This is what people go to the theater for!” New York proclaimed it the Performance of the Year, exclaiming, “YES! – her performance really is as good as you’ve heard. A performance as close to perfect as anybody has a right to expect.” The New York Sun called it “The Performance of a Lifetime,” Time Out declared, “The phenomenal Christine Ebersole officially joins the musical theater pantheon” and Variety proclaimed it “The kind of performance that comes around once in a decade and will be talked about for decades more. A staggering dual performance sure to become a new benchmark for musical theater excellence. This miraculous turn deserves every superlative thrown its way!” Ms. Ebersole swept the 2006 Spring Theater awards, winning a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Obie, a special citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle and the Drama League’s 2006 Distinguished Performance of the Year Award.
Joining Ms. Ebersole and Ms. Wilson are five-time Tony Award nominee John McMartin (Follies, Show Boat, Into the Woods) as both ‘Major’ Bouvier and Norman Vincent Peale; Matt Cavenaugh (Urban Cowboy, national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie, “One Life to Live”) as both Joe Kennedy, Jr. and Jerry; Erin Davie as Young ‘Little’ Edie Beale (the national tours of Swing! and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber); Kelsey Fowler as Lee Bouvier (in her Broadway debut); Sarah Hyland (title role in Paper Mill’s Annie) as Jacqueline Bouvier; Obie Award winner Michael Potts (Lennon) as Brooks Sr. and Brooks Jr.; and two-time Tony Award nominee Bob Stillman (Dirty Blonde, Grand Hotel) as Gould.
The Broadway production of GREY GARDENS reunites the original creative and design team, featuring scenic design by Allen Moyer, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by Brian Ronan, projections by Wendall K. Harrington and hair and wig design by Paul Huntley. Orchestrations are by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin and Music Director is Lawrence Yurman.
Since the documentary’s premiere at the New York Film Festival in 1975 and its initial theatrical release in 1976, Grey Gardens and The Beales have achieved iconic status in American popular culture. The real ‘Little’ Edie (1917-2002) influenced a generation of fashion designers – including Isaac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham, John Bartlett and Calvin Klein – with her extraordinary, singular style and fierce individuality. Through the years, major magazines from Vogue and Elle to Harper’s Bazaar and Entertainment Weekly have cited Edie as a trend-setter, and references to Grey Gardens have popped up on “Will & Grace” and “The L Word” and in the music of Rufus Wainwright.
The musical GREY GARDENS is part of a resurgent interest in the Grey Gardens phenomenon. The musical was the first project celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film, and was followed by the Maysles Brothers recently-released companion movie The Beales of Grey Gardens (featuring previously-unseen outtakes from the original documentary, now playing at art houses across the country and recently released on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection), plus several upcoming books (including a collection of Edie’s original writings) and a future Hollywood feature based on the documentary.
GREY GARDENS had its world premiere Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons last Spring. It completely sold out its entire initial limited engagement before it even opened, and went on to sell out an additional three extensions, becoming one of the theater company’s most successful productions. In addition to the awards bestowed on Christine Ebersole, the musical’s many honors include: the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; a 2006 Richard Rodgers Production Award, administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters; being named one of Best Plays’ “Ten Best” of the 2005-2006 season (the only musical cited); The ASCAP Foundation’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award for composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie; and an Obie Award for set designer Allen Moyer.
Tickets are available by going online to www.telecharge.com, calling (212) 239-6200 or visiting The Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street). Balcony seats are only available in person at the box office.
www.greygardensthemusical.com
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
DOUG WRIGHT (Book) received the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, a GLAAD Media Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama League Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for I Am My Own Wife, which premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2003. For Grey Gardens, he was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Book of a Musical. In 1995, Doug won an Obie Award for his play Quills. His screen adaptation was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review and nominated for three Academy Awards. Plays include: The Stonewater Rapture, Interrogating the Nude, Watbanaland and Unwrap Your Candy. For career achievement, Doug was cited by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and awarded the Tolerance Prize from the Kulturforum Europa. He serves on the board of the New York Theater Workshop and the Dramatist Guild Council.
SCOTT FRANKEL (Music) was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his work on Grey Gardens. He’s written the music for Doll (Ravinia Festival; Richard Rodgers Award) and Meet Mister Future (winner, Global Search for New Musicals), both with lyricist/librettist Michael Korie. As a music director, conductor and pianist, he has been associated with the original Broadway productions of Into the Woods, Les Misérables, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Rags and Falsettos, as well as Off-Broadway’s Putting It Together starring Julie Andrews. Motion picture credits include Mike Nichols’ Postcards From the Edge, where he can be seen (and heard) playing for Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. His many recordings include Barbra Streisand’s Back to Broadway and a slew of original cast albums. Mr. Frankel is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, a two-time fellow of the MacDowell Colony and a graduate of Yale University.
MICHAEL KORIE (Lyrics) was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his work on Grey Gardens. He wrote book and lyrics to Scott Frankel’s music for Doll (Sundance Institute, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival; Richard Rodgers Award) and Meet Mister Future (Cardiff Festival, 2005). His librettos for operas composed by Stewart Wallace include Harvey Milk (San Francisco Opera) and Hopper’s Wife (Long Beach Opera; NYFA Award) both directed by Christopher Alden; Kabbalah (Next Wave Festival) directed by Ann Carlson; and Where’s Dick? directed by Richard Foreman (Houston Grand Opera). His libretto to composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath premieres at Minnesota Opera, Utah Opera and Houston Grand Opera in 2007-8 with direction by Eric Simonson, conducted by Grant Gershon. He co-wrote lyrics with Amy Powers to composer Lucy Simon’s Zhivago, book by Michael Weller, directed by Des McAnuff (La Jolla Playhouse, 2006). Korie’s lyrics were awarded The Edward Kleban Award and Jonathan Larson Foundation Award.
