April 18th is the premiere of the narrative feature GREY GARDENS on HBO. Oscar winner and Belle of the 1970's acting ball Jessica Lange costars with Barrymore as the nutjob mother/daughter team.
If you've never heard of GREY GARDENS, well, how dare you call yourself gay! You're off the hook if you're from a younger generation and lesbian or bi, I guess. Anyway, a documentary was made in 1975 by two brothers about some obscure relatives of Jackie O living in squalor in the Hampton's.
I know, you're wondering, what's so fascinating about that? How could that spawn a musical and a feature? Well, unless you've seen it, you don't know what you're missing.
The documentary is both shocking and celebratory. Big Edie and Little Edie Beales enthusiastically welcomed a film crew into their home to shoot their lives - living in a dilapidated mansion, amongst stacks of garbage, hundreds of cats, a few raccoons and no power. Squalor is putting it lightly. Yet, the two seem to have a language all their own, and truly live in their own little world, which is as engaging as it is shocking.
If you've never heard of GREY GARDENS, well, how dare you call yourself gay! You're off the hook if you're from a younger generation and lesbian or bi, I guess. Anyway, a documentary was made in 1975 by two brothers about some obscure relatives of Jackie O living in squalor in the Hampton's.
I know, you're wondering, what's so fascinating about that? How could that spawn a musical and a feature? Well, unless you've seen it, you don't know what you're missing.
The documentary is both shocking and celebratory. Big Edie and Little Edie Beales enthusiastically welcomed a film crew into their home to shoot their lives - living in a dilapidated mansion, amongst stacks of garbage, hundreds of cats, a few raccoons and no power. Squalor is putting it lightly. Yet, the two seem to have a language all their own, and truly live in their own little world, which is as engaging as it is shocking.
The doc was an instant hit with gay men, and suddenly famous fashion designers were trying to emulate Little Edie's style! I know, it's just mind blogging, since she dressed in bits and pieces of a mosh-posh of old things, in what seems to a lesbian eye to not go together AT ALL. Also, Little Edie's particular vernacular of Northeastern upper crust mixed with insanity, was on gay men's lips for decades. "This is the best outfit for today!"
The Beales had been part of high society, but decades later the documentary found them living in poverty and filth. The brother Mayles took their cameras out there after an article in the New York Times exposed the Beales' fight with city hall to avoid having their 20 room mansion marked as condemned. The doc first gained attention because of their relation to Jackie O (who even financially bailed them out once), but later got it's own legs just based on the raw compelling nature of these women and how they were living out their years.
Anyway, I can't wait to see if Barrymore nails Little Edie's accent and mannerisms!
Here's a trailer for the original film.
And here's a clip from the Broadway musical:
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