Grey Gardens get 10 Tony Nods!

THE HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL


NOMINATED FOR

10 TONY AWARDS

INCLUDING

BEST MUSICAL

& BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE





The hit Broadway musical GREY GARDENS has been nominated for 10 2007 Tony Awards, include Best Musical. The acclaimed production starring Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and Tony Award nominee Mary Louise Wilson earned nominations in the following 10 categories:



· Best Musical

· Best Leading Actress in a Musical – Christine Ebersole

· Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Mary Louise Wilson

· Best Book of a Musical – author Doug Wright

· Best Original Score – composer Scott Frankel & lyricist Michael Korie

· Best Director of a Musical – Michael Greif

· Best Scenic Design – Allen Moyer

· Best Costume Design – William Ivey Long

· Best Lighting Design – Peter Kaczorowski

· Best Orchestrations – Bruce Coughlin



Nominated for her dual performance as Edith Bouvier Beale (in Act One) and “Little” Edie Beale (in Act Two), this is Ms. Ebersole’s third Tony nomination. She previously won the Tony Award as Best Leading Actress in a Musical for 42nd Street (2001), and was also nominated as Best Featured Actress in a Play for Dinner at Eight (2003).



Nominated for her performance as Edith Bouvier Beale, this is Ms. Wilson’s second Tony nomination. She was previously nominated as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the revival of Cabaret (1998).



This is Mr. Wright’s second Tony nomination. He previously won for Best Play for I Am My Own Wife (2004). Like I Am My Own Wife, GREY GARDENS had its World Premiere at New York's acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons.



This is the first nomination for both Mr. Frankel and Mr. Korie, for whom GREY GARDENS is their Broadway debut.



This is Mr. Greif’s second Tony nomination. He was previously nominated as Best Director of a Musical for Rent (1996).



This is Mr. Moyer’s first Tony nomination.



This is Mr. Ivey Long’s eleventh Tony nomination. He’s won the Tony Award for Best Costumes four times: for Nine (1982), Crazy For You (1992), The Producers (2001) and Hairspray (2003). His 6 additional nominations were for Lend Me a Tenor (1989), Chicago (1997), Cabaret (1998), The Music Man (2000), A Streetcar Named Desire (2005) and La Cage aux Folles (2005).



This is Mr. Kaczorowski’s third Tony nomination. He previously won the Tony for Best Lighting for The Producers (2001) and was also nominated for Kiss Me, Kate (2000)



This is Mr. Coughlin’s third Tony nomination. He previously won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for The Light in the Piazza (2005) and was also nominated for Urinetown (2002).



The Tony nominations cap the production’s two-season span of earning Theater award nominations since opening Off-Broadway last spring at Playwrights Horizons. Unlike most productions that are eligible for all Theater awards in one season, GREY GARDENS has been eligible over the course of two. The World Premiere production at Playwrights Horizons during the 2005-2006 Theater Season yielded nominations and wins from the organizations that consider both Broadway and Off-Broadway: Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Obies, New York Drama Critics Circle and The Drama League, among many other specialty awards. As the Tony Awards only recognize excellence on Broadway, the musical was ineligible for Tony Awards until it moved to Broadway last Fall during the 2006-2007 Theater Season.



For her acclaimed dual performance as Edith Beale and “Little” Edie Beale, leading lady Christine 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. In addition to the awards bestowed on Ms. Ebersole, the musical’s many honors include: the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical; both a Drama-League Award for Distinguished Performance and the Actors Equity Foundation’s Richard Seff Award to Mary Louise Wilson for her performance; 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; The Frederick Loewe Award for Dramatic Composition for Mr. Frankel and an Obie Award for set designer Allen Moyer. The musical was also proclaimed “Best Musical of the Year” by Entertainment Weekly and USA Today and the “#1 Show of the Year” by Time Magazine.



BACKGROUND ON GREY GARDENS



Following a sold-out world premiere in Spring 2006 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!” 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 in the Broadway production 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.



The Original Broadway Cast Recording of GREY GARDENS, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner Steven Epstein (The Light in the Piazza), was recently released on PS Classics.



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