More information about Little Edie Beale's diary, now available for preorder

So we heard about this last week, and now there's more information about Little Edie Beale's diary from 1929 being published. And it's even available for preorder at Amazon.com now!

I Only Mark the Hours that Shine

From Jezebel, by Tracie, on June 28, 2010

Little Edie Beale's Diary to be Published

This is huge news for Grey Gardens fans: the nephew of Little Edie Beale is publishing her 1929 diary—in which the then 11-year-old wrote a detailed entry every day—titled I Only Mark the Hours that Shine.

The book—which is a transcribed rendition of Little Edie's handwritten original—will be released in hardcover on August 1, featuring an introduction by her nephew Bouvier Beale Jr.

Aside from getting a glimpse at the interior of Little Edie's life long before documentary cameras were there to capture it, the diary will give us the unique opportunity—from a historical aspect—to understand what life was like in 1929 for a little girl from a wealthy, established family, in her own words. It's like a nonfiction version of the American Girl books.

Also interesting is that the personality of the Little Edie we got to know as an adult, through the Maysles brother's films, was already shining through as a child, as evidenced by her head wrap and dance shoes featured on the book cover. Little Edie's relationship with her mother—Big Edie—and flair for hyperbole are both present in this short passage from her diary:

I bought some wonderful things, a marvelous tennis racket which was $15.00 but I got it for $10.00, also... some perfume for Mother—a new kind: you press a button, the metal case opens, and out pops the perfume. Margo Meade had me sell balloons, candy, cherries, and flowers till I was dead.

While it is no Marble Faun, Little Edie still might've said of her diary, "It's very deep; I don't know whether you... Well, I guess you're up to it."

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Music inspired by (?) Grey Gardens

Austrian musician Patrick Pulsinger collaborated with Franz Hautzinger on a piece entitled "Grey Gardens." I'm not sure how much it was inspired by Grey Gardens, but I couldn't not share it with you all!

From Amazon.com

Patrick Pulsinger - Grey Gardens (feat. Franz Hautzinger)

From the album Impassive Skies

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LOL Raccoons want your garbage and more

We saw LOL Grey Gardens a while back, but a fan sent in these LOL Raccoons, who were too cute not to share!

From ICanHasCheezBurger, by Aaron Macfarlane & Chris10a, via @toria970 on Twitter

look at us, just look at us... it’s cold, it’s wet, we’re doing our best to look adorable; the least you could do is put out your garbage a little early so we have a chance to get at it before the garbage truck come by and takes it all away.

And be sure to enjoy this delightful fellow!

From TweetPhoto, via Danny1989Pup on Twitter

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Want to live next door to Grey Gardens? Here's your chance!

For only $30 million, you can have the house next door to Grey Gardens. Perhaps the ghost of Edie will visit you in the evenings and write things on your walls!

From Curbed.com, by Ian Ratner, on June 24, 2010

$30M Oceanfront Estate Comes with Miniature Version of Itself

Say hello to East Hampton's newest oceanfront estate, which just hit the market for $30 million. The spread sits on West End Road, which is shared by Grey Gardens, Calvin Klein, and people who buy houses just to burn them down. At 3.5-acres, the property will certainly make waves—even if the Sheffer-designed house seems dated. But what really sets this property apart? We'd have to point to the oceanfront cabana, which was fashioned to look like a miniature version of the main house. At 1,200 square feet, the two bedroom, two bath cottage can claim up to $60,000 in rent—and it's kinda a wreck! The main house also comes with a try before you buy option: it's available for rent from July through August for $175k.

A positive review of Staunch: A Grey Gardens Festival II

So Staunch: A Grey Gardens Festival II was last weekend, and Ryan went to it. He sent in this review:

By Ryan

The "Grey Gardens" viewing & Q/A forum on Friday @ Maysles Cinema in Harlem was an iconic evening. It was hosted by Sarah Maysles, interviewing her father Al- as well as Lucy- the producer on the HBO film version, as well as Jerry "The Marble Faun".

The very small theater sat 48 people, and maybe 25 were in attendance- largely older gay men and film students. The 1975 film was viewed and then the panel gave their impressions of the Bouviers temperment, thought process, the South Hampton city ordinances, Jackie O's response to the film, and the ideas of mental health, eccentricity, art, etc.

The questions seemed very standard from the audience, but the replies were very informative and introspective. Such an indescribable feeling actually hearing 'from' the sources.

Jerry's marble art work was shown in the basement lobby, along with various film memorabilia/artwork/promotional items.

A shame that the crowd was not larger.

Let's hope they continue to do these, and that there's a greater turnout next year!

Eva Beale's upcoming book: I Only Mark the Hours That Shine, Little Edie's Diary–1929

This could be interesting!

From Hamptons Magazine, by Michael Braverman, on June 2010, via SylviaEnder on Twitter

Make Room for Daddy

A look back at the life of one of the East End's most famous fathers

Theirs was the most famous mother-daughter relationship in recent American history. But what about Phelan Beale, husband of Big Edie and father to Little Edie? Before he faded from their lives and later obtained a divorce, Phelan was a concerned—if somewhat distant—father, not unlike many of his time and social class.

In 1929 a perceptive, and perhaps prescient, 12-year-old Edie wrote in her diary, "Poor handsome, hardworking, tired Dad! I always feel as if Dad was a stranger—perhaps it is because I have been with Mother so long. Yet still, because he is my father, I love him." The next year Edie happily joined him for a voyage to Europe aboard the SS Mauritania.

In a 1934 letter to his wife, Beale painfully explained that the family law firm was failing, and he was going broke. He asked her to remain at Grey Gardens and send their sons to school in Southampton to save money, while he moved into a cheap "bachelor hotel" in New York. He would borrow just enough for Little Edie to finish the year at Miss Porter's School.

According to Eva Marie Beale, editor of I Only Mark the Hours That Shine, Little Edie's Diary–1929 (which you can find soon at greygardenscollections.com): "He was a very responsible father in caring for his children and his wife, Edith. He gave his wife every luxury as long as he was able—and she had a lovely life in the earlier years. One gets the impression from Edie's diary that Phelan can be serious, but he can be fun, too."

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Massachusetts child actors: Be in Grey Gardens the Musical

They're auditioning for the roles of Jackie and Lee. Break a leg!

From Cape Playhouse

Audition Announcement

The Cape Playhouse announces auditions for local young ladies, age 10-14, for two roles in the upcoming professional musical production ofGrey Gardens. Grey Gardens is the Tony Award winning, musical version of the documentary "Grey Gardens" that tells the story of Edie Beale and her mother, cousins of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

Auditions will be for the roles of the young Jackie Bouvier (later to become Jackie Kennedy), and her sister, Lee (Bouvier) Radziwill. The roles are two young ladies brought up at the height of society in the 1930's... well bred, tasteful, and knowing how to behave in any given social situation. They should be bright and confident in their demeanor.

Auditions will be held Saturday morning, June 26th. Registration begins at 10:00am in the lobby of the Cape Playhouse. Each actress may be accompanied by up to two guardians.

Please prepare a STANDARD Broadway song (Rodgers & Hammerstein, Gershwin, etc.).

Bring your own sheet music. An accompanist will be provided.

Important Note

If cast in this production, the actresses must be available for all rehearsals and all performances at the Cape Playhouse.

Rehearsals

August 5 through August 8.

Performances

August 9 through August 21 Shows: Monday-Saturday evenings at 8pm, matinées on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday (8 shows per week)

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Report on the Hetrick-Martin Institute event at Grey Gardens

As we saw earlier, an event to raise money for LGBT youth (via The Hetrick-Martin Institute) was held at Grey Gardens on Saturday. This raccoon is impressed by the amount raised: $180,000! Nice work, Grey Gardens!

From The Wall Street Journal, by Marshall Heyman, on June 15, 2010

Grey Gardens Opens Grounds

As anyone who has seen the 1975 documentary "Grey Gardens" knows, the estate Big and Little Edie Bouvier Beale lived on in East Hampton was in a state of decrepit disrepair.

Former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, Sally Quinn, who is the subject of a prickly story in Vanity Fair this month, bought the house and restored it to a place that is both gorgeous and quaint.

The interior designer Celerie Kemble (who is at work on a second book) and her husband, Boykin Curry IV, of Eagle Capital, have rented Grey Gardens off-and-on for the last few years, and Saturday they opened the grounds for School's Out, a benefit for The Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of The Harvey Milk High School for gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. (The event sold out and raised $180,000.)

Guests were sadly not allowed to wander inside the house, though many pulled out their personal cameras to take posed photos in front of the flora and fauna as well as the various charming gazebos that sit on the property.

The fashion Saturday was no match for the strange contraptions Little Edie and Big Edie wore in the original documentary (fur coats, strange headgear, body suits). There was lots of ribbon-belted khaki, some seersucker, and a few pairs of floral-printed pants.

I hadn't ever read that Boykin and Celerie had rented Grey Gardens before!

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Staunch: A Grey Gardens Festival II, this weekend!

This just in: Staunch: A Grey Gardens Festival II will be happening this weekend!

Be sure to view the full poster as well by clicking on it. Ticket info and more can be found at mayslesinstitute.org.

By Sara Maysles, on June 15, 2010

STAUNCH: The Second Annual Grey Gardens Festival

Friday, June 18th–Sunday, June 20th

A Weekend Celebrating Grey Gardens

This year Staunch loosely draws upon the world of the Bouvier-Beales—their past, their influences, and the life of one of the people they had a profound effect upon. On Friday we will start with the basics—Grey Gardens itself, and our panel will include executive producer Lucy Donnelly who did extensive research for the HBO narrative film, also titled Grey Gardens. A double feature of films from the '30's, the era of Little Edie's youth, explores the tension between women's familial allegiances, societal expectations, and their own ambitions—Blonde Venus starring Little Edie's beloved (and Big Edie's despised) Marlene Dietrich, and Imitation of Life. Exploring the other side of the Bouvier coin, represented by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Albert Maysles will screen Robert Drew's Primary, which follows JFK's first primary election—an early example of the intimate Direct Cinema style that informed Grey Gardens. The festival concludes Sunday with a brunch celebration of sculptor and one—time Grey Gardens handyman, Jerry "The Marble Faun" Torre, and a screening of The Beales of Grey Gardens.

On Display

Sculptures and drawings by Jerry Torre, Grey Gardens photographs and film—stills by Albert Maysles, photographs by Ron Lieberman (who photographed Little Edie for her Reno Sweeney cabaret performance poster) and other artists TBA. If you would like your 'Grey Gardens' inspired art displayed on a fan tribute wall please email sara@mayslesinstitute.org with the subject heading "STAUNCH! Art".

For Sale

Grey Gardens books, posters, DVDs, t-shirts, original Grey Gardens film programs and tote bags, all proceeds going towards the Maysles Institute's cinema and education programs. Thanks to all who came last year—the proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise bought us our new theater seats!

Next year we'll plan further in advance with a return to the theatricality of the first year (which included a burlesque Grey Gardens performance), with youtube/vimeo based contests and readings/singers from Grey Gardens inspired work perhaps even Grey Gardens Karaoke! So stay tuned—and if anyone has any ideas or work they'd like to contribute, again, email sara@mayslesinstitute.org with STAUNCH in the subject.

Decades after the heyday of Grey Gardens, raccoons continue their rampage across the country

Poor Rusty! Although those poor newscasters look terrified!

From YouTube, by captaintornado, on June 10, 2010

Rusty the Raccoon Invades the Studio!

This was our morning show where Rusty the Raccoon entered through the garage door, to our studio! He scared Liz to death when he ran the wrong way. We finally were able to shoo him on out the door!

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Saturday: Support LGBT youth at Grey Gardens!

So we heard about this a while ago, but this raccoon had completely forgotten about it. As I said before, Grey Gardens is such a wonderful house!

Unfortunately for us latecomers, the event is already sold out, which surely must be wonderful news to HMI. Congratulations!

From Sag Harbor Online

Sat Jun 12

11^th Annual “Schools Out”

An evening of cocktails and dancing to benefit Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk High School for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. 6 to 8:30 p.m. Grey Gardens estate, East Hampton. $250 includes an after party.

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Grey Gardens the musical lands at Cape Playhouse, July 9 – August 7

There's not much information yet, but I'll provide more as it comes in. Hopefully we'll get some pictures soon!

From Cape Playhouse

2010 Cape Playhouse Main Stage Season

Grey Gardens

July 9 – August 7

Book by Doug Wright, Music by Scott Frankel, Lyrics by Michael Korie
Directed and Choreographed by Pam Hunt
Musical Direction by Michael Hartman
Set Design & Costumes by Lisa Zinni

Beth Fowler
Jacquelyn Piro Donovan
Vanessa Reseland
Tim Fitz-Gerald
John Schuck
Edwin Cahill

Purchase Tickets

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Fashion designer Thom Browne draws inspiration from Little Edie's headscarves

Fashion designer Thom Browne may have used Grey Gardens as inspiration in the past, and it looks like he may have used it again!

From 10 Magazine, on May 15, 2010

Thom Browne A/W 10 x Grey Gardens

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Little Edie's Barbizon Hotel featured in Vanity Fair

Thanks to Sara for sending this in! The excerpt about Edie is below, but be sure to read the entire article!

From Vanity Fair, by Michael Callahan, on April 2010

Sorority on E. 63rd St.

Edith Bouvier Beale, the cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy who became a cult figure as "Little Edie" in Grey Gardens, checked in for five years, starting in 1947.

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