ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre, 2013
Music and Lyrics: Scott Frankel & Michael Korie
Book: Doug Wright
Director: Kurt Beattie
Costumes: Catherine Hunt
Lights: M.L. Geiger
Sound: Brendan Patrick Hogan
"Set in The Allen Theatre—a theatre in the round—the cast is surrounded on all sides by the audience, but their ebb and flow around the stage (some of the entrances and exits happen up and down aisles) prevent a fishbowl feeling, and keep scenes from growing stagnant. Brilliant sets (Matthew Smucker) ascend and descend from beneath the stage, much like puzzle pieces. You never know what is going to come up next. It gives the “house” a feeling of interchangeableness—look what it was, look what it is...things will come and go, but it will always be Grey Gardens. A newsprint pattern covers the floor and sides of the stage—a subtle reminder that the Beales were women always surrounded by papers, gossip, celebrity. Part of the tragedy is that these two beautiful women went from the society pages to scandalous headlines for their descent into cluttered, reclusive lives." - City Arts
Production Photo Credits: Chris Bennion and Matthew Smucker