2 posts tagged “musicals”

The McFreeds caught a show...

Friday night we went and caught a showing of the musical Grey Gardens at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. Stefan has been a huge fan of the documentary. The performance was great and the lead actress who played Edith Bouvier Beale (the mother aka Big Edie) at middle age in 1941 and Edith Bouvier Beale (the daughter aka Little Edie) at middle age in 1973 was incredible. If you ever have a chance to see Barbara Walsh perform we highly recommend it! Her rendition of Little Edie was fantastic and the song "Another Winter In A Summer Town" made Sean tear up. Barbara Broughton who played Big Edie in 1973 was great too with her show stopper "Jerry Likes My Corn."  Afterward we both are still trying to imitate Little Edie's accent; we think you will too! 

 

What is the show about? Meet Big and Little Edie Beale — high-society dropouts, mother and daughter, reclusive aunt and cousin of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis — thriving together amid the decay and disorder of their ramshackle East Hampton mansion. An impossibly intimate portrait and an eerie echo of the Kennedy Camelot, Albert and David Maysles’s 1976 GREY GARDENS quickly became a cult classic and established Little Edie as a fashion icon and philosopher queen. Thirty years later, the filmmakers revisited their landmark documentary in 2006 with a sequel of sorts, THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS, culled from hours of never-before-seen footage recently found in the filmmakers’ vaults.

Little Edie in particular became a cult figure. We think she would be proud of the fact that she is remembered long after her death in 2002 at age 84. She is loved I believe not just for her quirkiness and her skewed perspective on life, but loved because she represents someone who had a dream that was deferred because of circumstances and undiagnosed mental illness. Whatever she is though, you will never forget her.  

We've attached a few clips to show you some comparisons between the documentary of the real people and the Broadway musical starring Christine Ebersole, who won a Tony Award for the part Barbara Walsh revived. Ebersole is a phenomenon which television and film hasn't really captured well. You will love her talent! Make sure to take in her website above and hear more about her. You will love her even more than Little Edie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean mourns the passing of a legend...

Her name was Tula Ellice Finklea when she was born in Amarillo, Texas, on March 8, 1922. From her earliest years she was called Sid, because her older brother couldn't say "sister." She was a sickly girl who started dancing lessons to build up her strength after a bout with polio. She took up ballet to strengthen her body. The skills she took her from Texas to around the world. She got a big break dancing in Singin' In The Rain and never looked back through the hey day of the Hollywood musical, all on the best legs in the business. Cyd Charisse has danced her last dance for us. She passed last night after a heartattack at the age of 86.

Here is her first big impression on the silver screen, Singin' In The Rain's "Broadway Melody" sequence. Wait for  the 4:46 minute where the beautiful pairing of Gene Kelly and Cyd in a ballet duet with a 25 foot scarf will just amazes you. (9:02 minutes)

 

Cyd could dance with the best of them!  Here she is in my favorite dance with her. Her partner? Fred Astaire. This is the "Dancing in The Dark" sequence from The Band Wagon. This was later famously remade with Steve Martin and Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live. The choreography of this is timeless and romantic. (4:32 minutes)

Cyd excelled in many of her films. This little seen film, It's Always Fair Weather, contains my third favorite dance by her - "Baby You Knock Me Out." Never a singer really, her voice is dubbed here by Carol Richards. How they got all those very old guys to dance so well I will never know. Watch her skirt. They weighted it to make the skirt flow as it did. Great movie by the way and worth your time, if you love musicals. (2:40 minutes)

I hope she is dancing her way up to heaven now. Thanks Cyd!

Bonus Video! Here is Cyd (at 67!) doing a cameo at the 2:58 minute of this Janet Jackson video for the song "Alright." This was the first time I ever saw Cyd and I never forgot it. Enjoy! (8:24 minutes)