Grey Gardens

*Grey Gardens* is a musical that tracks the lives of two mother/daughter socialites (the aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) as their lives fall from glittering, wild extravagance to seclusion in a crumbling estate overrun by cats. As the mother is left bedridden, and her daughter comes to grapple with the loss that has left them destitute, the pair try to reconcile their relationship and missed opportunities. As hilarious as it is tragic, the musical was nominated for numerous Tony and Drama Desk awards, as well as a Grammy nomination for its enrapturing score. *Grey Gardens* is a heartfelt musical wrought with humor, wit and compassion- with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same name.

## **Cast**

* Lisa Johnson as Big Edie
* Wendy Placko as Little Edie
* Steve Lawler as George Gould Strong
* Lara Akal as Young Little Edie Beale
* Jordan Fields as Jackie Bouvier
* Kyra Reverman as Lee Bouvier
* Dan Stephans as Major Bouvier
* TBA as Brooks
* Eli Aronson as Joseph Kennedy Jr./Jerry

## **Crew**

Directed by

* Mishia Edwards (Director)
* Katie Hagaman (Music Director)

Stage Managed by

* Grace Muth (Stage Manager)
* Kosmo Esplan (Assistant Stage Manager)

Produced by

* Jared Zeigler (Producer)

Set by

* Todd Edwards (Set Designer)

Costumes by

* Dinah O'Sullivan

Lights & Sound by

* J.J. McNulty (Lighting Designer)

Props by

* Mishia Edwards (Props Team)
* Kosmo Esplan (Props Team)
* Grace Muth (Props Team)

## **Auditions**

The Guild Theater and director Mishia Edwards are excited to see performers for **Grey Gardens**in late January/early February. Actors will be seen the evening of **Wednesday, January 29** or the afternoon of **Saturday, February 1**, with callbacks the afternoon of **Sunday, February 2.**

Actors should prepare to sing a song (not from the show) no longer than two minutes long, and may be asked to read from the script by the director.

## **Performances**

* Friday, April 17, 2020 at 7:30 P.M. (Opening Night Reception)
* Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 7:30 P.M.
* Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 2:00 P.M. (Post-Show Discussion)
* Friday, April 24, 2020 at 7:30 P.M.
* Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 7:30 P.M.
* Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 2:00 P.M.

Venue: Northfield Arts Guild Theater, 411 Third Street West, Northfield, MN

Tickets:

* $18.00 for adults
* $13.00 for seniors/students

## **Songs**

### Act I

"The Girl Who Has Everything"

* Recording of Big Edie
* A recording of Big Edie from the 1940s that transitions from the Act I prologue into Scene #1

"The Girl Who Has Everything" (Reprise)

* Little Edie
* Sung quickly by Little Edie to herself

"Itty Bitty Geisha"

* Big Edie, Jackie, Lee
* A song that comes during "The Five-Fifteen" when Jackie and Lee want Big Edie to sing, so she has Gould accompany her

"The Five-Fifteen"

* Big Edie, Gould, Brooks, Jackie, Lee
* A song depicting everything that needs to be prepared for Little Edie and Joe's engagement party and how Big Edie's husband Phelan will be arriving at Grey Gardens at 5:15 P.M.

"Mother Darling"

* Little Edie, Big Edie, Gould
* Sung when Little Edie discovers Big Edie will be singing nine songs at her engagement party; soon Little Edie, Big Edie, and Gould all try to get a word in

"Goin' Places"

* Joe and Little Edie
* Joe describes to Little Edie how he hopes to become senator some day and how he plans to

"Marry Well"

* Major Bouvier, Brooks, Jackie, Lee, Little Edie
* While talking golfing, Major Bouvier tells Jackie and Lee to marry two well-respected men

"Hominy Grits"

* Big Edie, Gould, Jackie, Lee
* A very racist song and one of Big Edie's "freedom" songs sung by her and Gould in front of Brooks

"Peas in a Pod"

* Little Edie, Big Edie
* Little Edie finds this song on her engagement party brochure and cheers Big Edie up by singing it

"Drift Away"

* Gould
* Gould sings this to Big Edie when he tells her he's thinking about leaving Grey Gardens

"The Five-Fifteen" (Reprise)

* Big Edie
* Sung quickly to Phelan's portrait when Big Edie worries about his arrival

"Daddy's Girl"

* Little Edie, Joe
* After Big Edie tells Joe about "Body Beautiful Beale", Little Edie tries to convince him that she is her "daddy's girl"

"The Telegram"

* Little Edie
* A sung version of the telegram that Little Edie receives from Phelan

"Will You?"

* Big Edie
* The Act I finale that Big Edie sings to invitees of Little Edie and Joe's engagement party

### Act II

"The Revolutionary Costume for Today"

* Little Edie
* A song telling about Little Edie's new costume that she loves

"The Cake I Had"

* Big Edie
* Big Edie reflects on her life and the "cake [she] had"

"Entering Grey Gardens"

* Gould, Young Little Edie, Major Bouvier, Jackie, Lee, Brooks
* All the singers of this song appear as cats in Grey Gardens, singing about the uncleanliness of the estate

"The House We Live In"

* Little Edie, Recorded Singers
* Little Edie sings to Jerry a previously recorded American song that she's been working on

"Jerry Likes My Corn"

* Big Edie
* Jerry loves Big Edie's corn, which she finds delightful

"Around the World"

* Little Edie
* Little Edie rants about Jerry moving in and everything dreadful about her life, though she intermittently settles down

"Choose to Be Happy"

* Norman Vincent Peale, Sister Marla
* A song played on the radio that Big Edie listens to while Little Edie packs up to move

"Around the World" (Reprise)

* Little Edie
* A fast reprise of the song

"Another Winter in a Summer Town"

* Little Edie, Big Edie
* Little Edie decides not to move away when Big Edie calls for her

"The Girl Who Has Everything" (Reprise #2)

* Recording of Big Edie
* The final song played shortly on Big Edie's record player

## **Characters**

Edith "Big Edie" Beale, (née Bouvier)

* The determined but sometimes hostile mother of Little Edie who doesn't want anybody to move away from Grey Gardens and, as said by Major Bouvier, is "an actress without a stage"

Edith "Little Edie" Beale

* Big Edie's daughter that wants to make it to Broadway or the motion pictures, though she is pulled back by her mother and fiancé Joe

Note: The actress who portrays Big Edie in Act I also plays Little Edie in Act II

Note: The actress who portrays Little Edie in Act I also plays Sister Marla in Act II, a nun on Norman Vincent Peale's radio show

George Gould Strong

* Big Edie's accompanist and "soulmate" who continuously has to resolve an argument between her and Little Edie

J.V. "Major" Bouvier

* Big Edie's stern father and the grandfather that teaches his granddaughters Jackie, Lee, and Little Edie to "marry well"
* Note: This actor also plays Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in Act II, a radio celebrity that Big Edie and Little Edie listen to daily

Jacqueline "Jackie" Bouvier

* One of