‘Grey Gardens’ at COF
BY YANNA LANTZ
Company of Fools (COF) will open its 21st season with the complex and haunting musical “Grey Gardens,” running June 28 through July 20 at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey. The first musical to be based on a documentary, “Grey Gardens” tells the story of Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale, the eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
“We’ve wanted to do this play for years, and for various reasons it never came to fruition,” said Core Company Artist and Director John Glenn. “I love the story and am fascinated with the heart and complexity of this mother-daughter love/hate journey; I’m drawn to it like a car wreck.”
With Doug Wright’s intelligent book, intricate music by Scott Frankel and witty lyrics by Michael Korie, the stranger-than-fiction story of the Bouviers is brought to life.
“You get to experience multiple genres in one musical: it’s jazzy, wistful, mysterious, heartbreaking and joyous – everything you could possibly want to hear,” explained cast member Tess Worstel, a Boise-based actor who is making her COF debut. “The arrangements are so complex because these women are so complex; it’s a true mirror of the characters.”
Set at the Bouvier mansion in the Georgic section of East Hampton, the musical centers around a mother and daughter on their hilarious and heartbreaking journey from upper-crust aristocrats to tarnished recluses.
“People are drawn to this show because they had this image of who the Bouviers were, and they find out that there’s a lot more to the story than meets the eye,” said Jana Arnold, cast member. “It’s a hugely codependent relationship that is masked at times because there is a lot of ego and past days of glory involved. But in the end, there is a lot of love there… as well as humor, wit, pathos, sadness, drama, heartache and tears.”
Under Glenn’s direction and R.L. Rowsey’s musical direction, the cast additionally features local actors Andrew Alburger, Ella Boice, Milana Harter and Aly Wepplo as well as guest actors Chris Carwithen, Leonardo Escobar and Jonathan Alexander Young.
The creative team for “Grey Gardens” includes Dennis Rexroad (set design), Steven Koehler (light design), Darrin J. Pufall (costume design), Ann Price (dialect coach), Ted Macklin (sound design) and K.O. Ogilvie (stage manager).
“One of the biggest questions in this show, for me, is what is happiness and how do you choose to be happy,” expounded Worstel. “I think it is so important for everyone to think about that in their own lives in such a turbulent time in the world.”
Tickets for “Grey Gardens” are $35 for full price, $30 for seniors and Center members and $15 for students (18 and under). These ticket prices do not include the “Pay What You Feel” preview (June 28), 10 for $10 and Educators Day (June 30). Tickets may be purchased online at sunvalleycenter.org, by phone at (208) 578-9122 or at the Liberty Theatre box office starting one hour prior to curtain. Company of Fools’ box office is located at the Liberty Theatre, 110 N. Main Street in Hailey, with hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.