Maysles documentary on the making of the Grey Gardens musical to premiere

The documentary that Al Maysles made about the making of the Grey Gardens musical will premiere at the 15th annual Hamptons International Film Festival, which runs from 17-21 October. It's entitled, "Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway."

According to the official website, tickets go on sale 28 September.

From Hollywood Reporter, by Gregg Goldstein, on 26 September 2007

Hamptons fest will host 17 world premieres

Several features with high-profile filmmakers will be shown in the Spotlight Films section. Albert Maysles' docu "Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway," Ellen Spiro & Phil Donahue's Iraq docu "Body of War," Alison Eastwood's "Rails and Ties," Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages," Andrew Wagner's "Starting Out in the Evening" and Paul Schrader's "The Walker" are among the featured films.

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The Al Maysles scrapbook is a reality!

Wow!

It doesn't come out until November 1, but, as this raccoon did, you can pre-order it now!

Note that it seems that Grey Gardens is only an aspect of this book, and not its main topic, despite the picture of Edie on the cover and the references to Grey Gardens in the promotional text below.

From Amazon.com

A Maysles Scrapbook: Photographs/Cinemagraphs/Documents

by Steven Kasher, Michael Chaiken, and Albert Maysles

A Maysles Scrapbook: Photographs/Cinemagraphs/Documents is the first comprehensive monograph on the pioneer filmmaking team that set the standards of contemporary documentary filmmaking: their Grey Gardens (1976) has spawned several fashion collections, an award-winning Broadway musical and a soon-to-be-released feature film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange; Gimme Shelter (1970), which captured the infamous and fatal Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, is often called the greatest documentary ever made on the American 1960s; and Salesman (1968) is widely credited as the first feature-length documentary to eliminate voice-over narration and the first to achieve wide theatrical distribution. With David on sound and Albert behind the camera, the Maysles were absolutely pivotal in creating the Cinema Verite, or Direct Cinema, movement of the 1950s and 60s, and, along with Frederick Wiseman, Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Robert Drew, are among the progenitors of modern documentary cinema.The recent discovery of a cache of original film negatives, plus hours of outtake film, numerous stills, production notes and personal and business letters is the occasion for this retrospective publication and exhibition. Using the latest digital technology to scan and print from original footage, images from both major and lesser-known films are reproduced, alongside significant writings by Albert and others (many published for the first time). With further contributions from admirers and collaborators including Pennebaker, Leacock, Elliot Erwitt, Bruce Davidson and Norman Mailer, and an introduction by Martin Scorsese, this volume is a long-awaited testament to one of the most important and influential filmmaking teams of our time.

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Harper's Bazaar's Big and Little Edie: Lauren Hutton and Mary-Kate Olsen

Very nicely done, despite Mary-Kate as an odd choice for Edie (at least in this raccoon's humble opinion).

Thanks to Mary Ellen for sending this in!

From Harper's Bazaar, by Peter Lindbergh, on October 2007

Mary-Kate Olsen's Singular Style

Source: here and here

Al Maysles visits Loft Cinema in Tuscon, AZ

Al is there in person on Sunday, 23 September at 1:00pm. That's tomorrow!

From Loft Cinema

At our first Essential Cinema screening, meet world-renowned documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles (Salesman, Gimme Shelter), who will introduce and discuss his 1975 cult classic Grey Gardens, co-directed by David Maysles. Mr. Maysles will introduce the film and host a Q&A afterwards. The film will also screen on Monday, September 24th at 7:00 p.m. without Mr. Maysles in attendance.

Grey Gardens, which was recently adapted into a successful Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, documents the stranger-than-fiction tale of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, "Little Edie" - high society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jackie O. - living and thriving together amidst the decay and disorder of their ramshackle East Hampton mansion.

Full of humor, strangeness and startling poignancy, Grey Gardens is an intimate portrait of the unexpected, and an eerie echo of the Kennedy Camelot. The film's utterly unique subject matter, masterful direction and enduring appeal have turned it into a cult classic, even establishing Little Edie as a fashion icon and philosopher queen.

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Details on the upcoming Grey Gardens film with Barrymore and Lange

This little article fills in a lot of the blanks; here's hoping it has a theatrical release and doesn't just run on TV!

From Hollywood Reporter, by Kimberly Nordyke, on 18 September 2007

HBO cultivates 'Gardens' film

HBO Films has greenlighted "Grey Gardens," a movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange that's based on the 1975 documentary about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' eccentric cousin and aunt.

The movie is based on the documentary by Albert and David Maysles. It follows the relationship between the mother-daughter duo of "Big Edie" (Lange) and "Little Edie" Beale (Barrymore), who spent most of their lives in a decaying mansion on New York's Long Island.

The project was originally announced as a feature film in early 2006, though HBO Films was not involved at the time.

Along with Barrymore and Lange, other original auspices on board are commercials helmer Michael Sucsy, who is directing and wrote the script with Patricia Rozema ("This Might Be Good"), and executive producers Rachael Horovitz ("Little Black Book") and Lucy Barzun Donnelly ("The Go-Getter"). David Coatsworth (HBO's "John Adams") is producing.

It's yet to be determined if the movie will be released theatrically before it airs on HBO.

Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale made national headlines in 1971 when the Suffolk County Health Department raided their dilapidated East Hampton, N.Y., mansion -- named Grey Gardens -- and found more than 50 cats, raccoons, fleas, piles of garbage, human and cat excrement and no heat or running water. The department threatened to kick the pair out of the 28-room mansion before Kennedy Onassis stepped in and paid to help clean it up.

Big Edie died in 1977, and Little Edie sold the house to Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn two years later. Little Edie went on to become a nightclub singer before eventually moving to Florida. She died in 2002.

It's not the first time the documentary has been adapted. In spring 2006, "Grey Gardens" opened as a musical at Playwright Horizons before moving to Broadway in November at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The show, starring Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson -- both of whom won Tony Awards for their roles -- ended its Broadway run in July. Ebersole will reprise her role when the show opens this season in London.

Barrymore's upcoming credits include the films "He's Just Not That Into You" and "South of the Border." She is repped by CAA and attorney Steve Warren.

Lange's recent credits include CBS' "Sybil" and the film "Bonneville." She is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, and attorney Diane Golden.

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Another Grey Gardens the musical item in the charity auction

There's a charity auction for Broadway Cares this Sunday, and they just added another Grey Gardens item into the mix.

Someone should get this as a Christmas present for Jerry Torre. How sweet would that be?

From Broadway Cares

ZZ) "Jerry Likes My Corn" musical phrase from GREY GARDENS, handwritten and signed by Scott Frankel & Michael Korie.

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Al Maysles visits the Detroit Institute of Arts

He was recently at the University of Alabama, and he's currently at Canada's Atlantic Filmmakers Co-op. Next month, he'll be at Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and both Grey Gardens and The Beales of Grey Gardens will be shown. Al will speak at the showing of Grey Gardens.

From Detroit Institute of Arts

Al Maysles in Person with Grey Gardens

Saturday, October 20, 2007

(US—1976—a film by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, Susan Froemke)

Behind the walls of a once-grand East Hampton estate, we meet – up-close and very personal – Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, “Little Edie.” Upon meeting them, the Beales, reclusive relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, can perhaps best be described as “high-society dropouts,” living together amid the decay and often alarming disorder of their deteriorating, ramshackle East Hampton mansion known as Grey Gardens.

The intimacy the Maysles managed to achieve with their subjects is still every bit as jaw-dropping as it is moving; Grey Gardens has gone on to become a cult classic, establishing Little Edie as a fashion icon and even spawning a Tony-nominated Broadway musical. A Q&A session with Albert Maysles will follow the screening, after which he will show clips of his much-anticipated new work-in-progress, a film autobiography of his remarkable life and work. (3 hours total)

And...

From Detroit Institute of Arts

The Beales of Grey Gardens

Sunday, October 21, 2007

(US—2006—a film by Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Ian Markiewicz)

Drawn entirely from never-before-seen footage from the Maysles archives which was shot for, but not used in, the 1976 Grey Gardens, the 2006 The Beales of Grey Gardens is a love letter to the many fans of the original film and to the two women at its heart. Without reusing footage from the first film, Albert Maysles and editor Ian Markiewicz have fashioned another compelling look at these women at the same moment in their lives, but built around events and incidents that we weren’t aware of in the first film. The result is not only another fascinating look at the Beales, but a lesson about the impact of choices – both small and large – when directing, shooting and editing a film. Recalling the first film as if in a dream, The Beales of Grey Gardens is a slightly surreal, if not cubist, experience – particularly when seen within a short time after the original. (90 min.)

Source: here and here

Gorgeous photos of Grey Gardens from 27east

So many really fantastic photos!

From 27east, by Dana Shaw, via Grey Gardens Yahoo Group

Grey Gardens Revisited

Grey Gardens, the infamous East Hampton estate that gained notoriety in the mid-1970s when Albert and David Maysles released their documentary about the ramshackle home and its eccentric owners, Edith “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith “Little Edie,” is enjoying a rebirth under the ownership of Washington Post Vice President Ben Bradlee and his wife, author and journalist Sally Quinn. The 2-acre property and home, which was once so badly deteriorated that the Suffolk County Health Department raided it, is now full of lush, but well manicured foliage and light and airy interiors in pristine condition. Some 30 years after buying the decrepit estate, Mr. Bradlee and Ms. Quinn opened their doors and allowed The Press Newsgroup Photo Editor Dana Shaw and reporter Oliver Peterson to take a look at what they’ve done with the place.

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Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee on their East Hampton home Grey Gardens

You've probably read similar stories before, but it's always great for Grey Gardens to get publicity, and for Sally to get kudos for saving the house!

From Southampton Press, by Oliver Peterson, on 3 September 2007, via Grey Gardens Yahoo Group

Grey Gardens Revisited

Grey Gardens, the former home of Big and Little Edie Beale, was a ramshackle mess when Ben Bradlee and his wife, Sally Quinn, bought it. Three decades later, it’s a showplace.

Grey Gardens stood crippled and barely upright on scorched earth, the grounds devoured by thorny overgrowth, its walls flapping in the wind. The squalid rooms inside contained cat skeletons, excrement and all manner of detritus from its owner’s damaged life.

But Sally Quinn saw something beautiful.

Ms. Quinn, an author and journalist, and her husband, Ben Bradlee, the Washington Post’s vice president and former executive editor, bought the East Hampton estate for $220,000 in 1979 and restored the lonely ruins from a sad curiosity to a rich and thriving home that is as attractive as it is accessible.

Grey Gardens first drew national attention through Gail Sheehy’s 1972 New York magazine cover story that looked into the lives of the two eccentric residents who allowed the property to deteriorate in inconceivable ways. Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, lived in seclusion on the once-magnificent 2-acre property that fell so far beyond reproach that it was eventually raided by the Suffolk County Health Department. A documentary film made in 1976 by Albert and David Maysles about the Edies and their decaying home, called “Grey Gardens,” became a cult classic.

“It was worse than the movie,” Ms. Quinn said, describing what she encountered on her first visit to the house at 3 West End Avenue. The windows were broken, vines climbed high up on the house, and the outside wall garden was so overgrown that she and her husband had only the word of Little Edie and their real estate agent that it existed.

Inside, shreds of fabric that once were curtains caught the wind as it traveled under unhinged walls and twisted through jagged glass window fragments. On the floor, Ms. Quinn recalls finding holes, raccoon skulls and waste from 52 cats that had become feral while still living within the property lines.

“The smell of the house was beyond anything you can imagine,” she said, later noting that the film never captured how awful it really was. “If you could put the smell on a DVD, you could get the picture.”

The showing had been arranged by a local real estate broker whom Ms. Quinn called a “killer agent” who would do anything to sell—but, repelled by the state of Grey Gardens, the broker refused to join her inside.

She had no intention of purchasing Grey Gardens, but it was on the market and affordable, and she was curious. “We had a small house in Amagansett, and we were looking around for something larger,” Ms. Quinn said.

Big Edie died in 1977, two years before Ms. Quinn visited Grey Gardens alone in 1979. She was greeted by Little Edie and toured the estate, finding that despite its condition, the property, designed by Joseph Greenleaf Thorpe in 1897, was fabulous.

Ms. Quinn, who is in East Hampton with Mr. Bradlee for the month of August, said she and her husband love ruins and had no intention of tearing Grey Gardens down when they bought it. “We don’t like to tear things down,” Ms. Quinn said. That fact separated the Bradlees from other buyers and secured them Little Edie’s blessing to buy Grey Gardens.

“All it needs is a coat of paint,” Ms. Quinn recalled Little Edie telling her while twirling whimsically in the living room.

Today, the wall garden that was buried in growth behind the house resembles a lush secret garden and contains a vast array of diverse flowers and plants. Accessible by a small door in the stone wall, the garden has been enjoyed by invited guests at parties and benefits held over the years since the restoration was completed. Nothing is overly manicured, but everything is well maintained.

“It’s not so awesome that you can’t have a good time here,” Mr. Bradlee said. He pointed out the small garden house within the wall garden and said he wrote much of his memoir, “A Good Life,” inside its tight confines.

The house has been regularly described as a “28-room mansion,” but the Bradlees, including their son, Quinn Bradlee, 16, feel that to be an irksome overstatement. The house has more like 14 rooms, they said, but admitted there were a number of other smaller rooms before the restoration.

Downstairs, the primary spaces comprise a kitchen, dining room, sunroom and living room. Ms. Quinn said a grand piano stood in the corner of the living room when she first visited the house, but when she timidly began tapping the keys, it collapsed to the floor.

Mr. Bradlee’s first experience at Grey Gardens was even more distressing. At the behest of his wife, he found himself in the house, considering the purchase, when he was brought to his knees by a violent allergic attack triggered by the dense feline population.

The couple added French doors where there were once windows, and put a swimming pool in the back, outside the wall garden. Mr. Bradlee said the property was a mess, consisting of brown earth, overgrowth and thorny plants called “devil’s walking sticks,” which he said were “the meanest things you ever saw.”

“We leveled the whole goddamned place,” Mr. Bradlee said, later adding, “We literally bulldozed the entire property.”

Starting almost from scratch, the Bradlees began landscaping the gardens themselves until hiring noted gardener and author Victoria Fensterer, who created what exists today. “The garden is so good,” Mr. Bradlee said. “Fensterer is a genius.”

It was originally designed by Anna Gilman Hill, who brought the walls in from Spain.

The Bradlees found Gene Fudderman, an architect who followed their uncommon passion for keeping the structure standing and restoring it, and hired apprentice carpenter Robert Langman to do the building. It was Mr. Langman’s first job, but the results propelled his career and moved him to later work for notables like Kurt Vonnegut and Nora Ephron.

“The whole thing was a magical experience,” Ms. Quinn said.

As they moved ahead with the restoration and renovations, Lois Wright, a local public access television host who wrote a book about her experiences with her friends the Beales, came by with a message for Ms. Quinn from Big Edie, who died more than two years before: Ms. Wright said Big Edie was thrilled Ms. Quinn had bought the house and would watch over everything and make sure the massive job went smoothly.

The project came in on time and under budget, an almost impossibility on the East End, according to Ms. Quinn. “Clearly, Big Edie was on the case,” she said. “That was very reassuring.”

Although Little Edie lived until 2002, Ms. Quinn never saw her again after purchasing the house. “There was something really heartbreaking about her,” she said, noting Little Edie’s potential “had turned to dust.”

When Little Edie left, Ms. Quinn offered her the option to leave Grey Gardens as is or broom-cleaned—removing the furniture and debris. Little Edie, as she was, left everything.

“The entire attic was filled with fabulous furniture,” Ms. Quinn said, pointing out some of the original pieces in the living room, including wicker chairs, antique tables and a pair of seafoam green chaise lounges on which one could still conjure the image of the Edies, side by side, in all their enigmatic glory. Most of the furniture in Grey Gardens are restored pieces that Edie left behind.

The attic, which has since been converted into a dormitory for the Bradlees’ son, also contained a trunk of the Beales’ letters, which the Bradlees intend to bring to an archivist in Washington, where they live most of the year.

“Grey Gardens” the movie was recently adapted into a Broadway musical, and the Bradlees said they were thrilled. Christine Ebersole won a Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical this year for her role as Little Edie, and Ms. Quinn said she was amazing. “I thought it was brilliant,” she added.

“It was eerie,” Mr. Bradlee said, describing the “offbeat” production.

Though they spend only one month a year at Grey Gardens, the Bradlees enjoy the property while they’re here. They rent the house to Francis Hayward 11 months of the year and say the arrangement is flexible to their schedule and works well.

Ms. Hayward held a gathering for the Humane Society there in July, and has hosted benefits for the New York Philomusica over the years.

Touring Grey Gardens in 2007, it’s hard to imagine the lush and fanciful property disgraced as it was during the Beale women’s final years of residency. The Bradlees hired a professional photographer to document the wreckage before they removed even the first cobweb, but Ms. Quinn said she has been unable to find the photos for years. As the photos were taken more than three years after the Maysles shot their famous film, the photographs would be the only visual record of how ignoble Grey Gardens actually became. But the house stands as a living document of how magnificent it has become.

Grey Gardens-inspired fashion from Marc Jacobs and Thom Browne, possibly

Edie Beale's personal style has been making appearances in fashion for years, and numerous recent collections have paid homage to her. The fashion press has been citing the spring 2008 Marc Jacobs collection as referencing Edie, but online magazine Jezebel disagrees.

From Jezebel, by Slut Machine, on 11 September 2007

Marc Jacobs Channels 'Grey Gardens'? We Beg To Differ

Marc Jacobs showed his collection last night, and word on the street is that it's very Grey Gardens. We weren't allowed to attend, because we're bloggers. (We're not joking—that's what other bloggers told us by way of explanation for our exclusion.) Anyway, as soon as we heard that Spring 2008 was shaping up to be Grey, we figured that we'd be the judges of that, considering we're experts on everything Beale. Frankly, we don't really see it, other than the use of a lace cape. First of all, the models have hair, and nobody wore head scarves, and most importantly, there were no upside down skirts.

Don't miss Jezebel's Marc Jacobs gallery for their hilarious captions and photo evidence of the extent of a possible Grey Gardens influence.

And check out this suit from Thom Browne's Spring 2008 collection... the most literal interpretation of the phrase "grey gardens" that I've ever seen in fashion!

From Style.com

Next time, come out in a kimono instead...

Grey Gardens the Musical memorabilia up for auction

Thanks to Bobby McGuire of Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS for sending this in!

Grey Gardens at the BC/EFA Flea Market and Auction - September 23rd 2007

The 21st Annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction will be held this year on Sunday September 23rd from 10AM to 7PM in Shubert Alley and West 44th Street. All proceeds from the Flea Market go to benefit Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

Fans of the recently closed Grey Gardens musical will have the opportunity to pick up some rare and one of a kind items from the show. If you're not in NYC, you can still get in on the auction action by placing bids online at www.broadwaycares.org

The GG items in the auction this year include a rare one of a kind - "musical phrase" from ANOTHER WINTER IN A SUMMER TOWN - handwritten and signed by the composer and lyricist - You can view and place a bid on this by going here.

Also available in the auction is a poster of the show autographed by the entire cast - this can be viewed and bid on by going here.

For those able to attend the Flea Market in NYC, there will be a Grey Gardens table manned by one of the producers, East of Doheny - The GG table will be selling merchandise from the show along with GG scripts and opening night gifts that have never been made available to the public.

Tony winner Christine Ebersole will be one of 75 Broadway and TV stars on hand to meet fans and pose for photos at the "Celebrity Table".

The FLEA MARKET and AUCTION is a great event for a wonderful organization raising money for a really important cause. Take a look at the Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS website www.broadwaycares.org for more information on this and other BC/EFA events.

See Grey Gardens in the funny papers

That's right; Grey Gardens (and a certain raccoon...) are referenced in Sally Forth!

From Sally Forth, by Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh, on 5 September 2007

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Al Maysles visits Canada's Atlantic Filmmakers Co-op

Here's a press release about a master class and other events with Al Maysles at the Atlantic Fimmakers Co-op in Nova Scotia.

From AFCOOP, by Erin Oakes, on 4 September 2007

Legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles offers master class at AFCOOP

September 1/07, Halifax, N.S. - New York based documentarian, Albert Maysles, will be the next visiting artist at the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP) September 16-18, 2007. The highlight of his visit is a four-hour master class, taking place at the Delta Halifax Hotel on Monday, September 17 from 1pm to 5pm. The cost is $95 plus tax and space is limited.

"It is a rare opportunity to have such a prestigious figure in the world of cinema grace our city" says Walter Forsyth, Executive Director of AFCOOP. Universally recognized as one of the most important documentary filmmakers of all time, Albert (along with his brother David) pioneered "Direct Cinema" sparking a revolution in documentary filmmaking throughout the 60s and 70s and greatly influencing the filmmakers that have followed. The Maysles created three of the classics of non-fiction feature film, Gimme Shelter, Salesman and Grey Gardens.

Albert's impressive career has included thirty-six films, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Peabody, an Emmy, five Lifetime Achievement Awards, the award for best cinematography at Sundance and the Columbia Dupont Award. In 1999 Eastman Kodak saluted him as one of the 100 world's finest cinematographers. Jean-Luc Godard called him the greatest American cinematographer of all time.

Albert is known for his humanism, and his ability to transform the personal into the universal. He states. ³My films stick firmly to the belief that the lives of individuals can be transformed into works of art that can help us better understand one another."

Besides the master class, Mr. Maysles will participate in the following events:

• Sunday, Sept. 16, the Documentary Organization of Canada will host a party in his honour at Common Ground Studios, 9pm-12:30am. $10 or free to AFF delegates.
• The Atlantic Film Festival (AFF) will host an intimate breakfast on Monday, Sept.17, 9am-10:30am. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased through the AFF.
• Monday, Sept. 17th there is a screening of Gimme Shelter at the Atlantic Film Festival, 7:10pm at Empire Park Lane Cinemas. A question and answer period will follow. Tickets can be purchased at the Atlantic Film Festival box office.

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Blythe doll visits the Grey Gardens musical

This is definitely old news, but it just came across my desk and I can't help but post it.

This website showcases the 1970s Blythe doll in various costumes. The author transformed Blythe into Little Edie, and took the doll to the musical to meet the cast. The doll looks great:

And there are lots of great photos. My personal favorite is of Mary Louise Wilson with the doll:

MLW is my new hero after seeing this photo. What a great reaction! You'd think Blythe was going to the bathroom behind her portrait or something...

Check out the full post for images with more cast members!

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