This post was submitted by c_dubz

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Event Details: After the Garden: Little Edie is the Queen of 14th St. - :

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About fifteen minutes into Jeffrey Johnson’s performance, I completely forgot that I was watching a man in a red dress and matching decorative turban as I sat utterly transfixed.  He had brought Edith Bouvier Beale back to life and for the rest of the evening, I only saw “Little Edie.”  After the Garden: Edith Beale Live…At Reno Sweeney, presented by DC’s GLBT arts company, Ganymede Arts, is an inspired and intelligent accomplishment.  Written by Gerald Duval, Beale’s original manager and producer, the piece is a recreation of “Little Edie’s” performance on New Year’s Eve, 1978, at the Reno Sweeney nightclub in New York.  Before I go any further, a “Grey Gardens 101” may be in order.

As I mentioned in my March theatre roundup, the Beales have popped up quite a bit lately.  The wealthy East Hampton family was one of America’s social elite.  It’s widely believed that Little Edie dated J. Paul Getty and was once engaged to Joe Kennedy, Jr.  The successes of her cousin, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, mirror “what could have been” for Little Edie.  After some time in New York, Little Edie returned to the family’s East Hampton mansion, Grey Gardens, in 1952 to live with her mother, “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier.  Fast forward to 1971.  It is discovered that mother and daughter are living in squalor without running water.  Grey Gardens is literally falling apart and is infested with cats and raccoons.  Interested in exploring what could have brought these socialites to this extreme, documentarians Albert and David Maysles visited the house and filmed Grey Gardens in 1975.  The resulting fame gave both Big and Little Edie a taste of the spotlight they had always wanted.  In more recent years, their story has been turned into a Broadway musical, also named Grey Gardens, which was recently at DC’s Studio Theatre.  Finally, HBO will air a new Grey Gardens film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore this April.

Everything under the Grey Gardens title focuses on the relationship between the two Edies set against the backdrop of a decaying home.  After the Garden moves the story forward even more. Following Big Edie’s death in 1977, Little Edie found herself 60-years old and on her own for the first time.  Armed with a complicated past, a cult following of fans and endearingly optimistic illusions of grandeur, Little Edie attempted to start a cabaret career.  While Big Edie had a gorgeous voice and a history of performing, Little Edie could not sing and her dancing was not much more than childish marching.  Still, a week of performances was arranged at Reno Sweeney, a nightclub in New York, named after Ethel Merman’s character in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.  (Is this campy enough yet?)

Enter Gerald Duval, who managed and produced Little Edie at Reno Sweeney.  The local playwright gathered the songs and dialogue from the New Years Eve show and weaved them together with original material that Edie could have, might have and would have said.  The result is essentially the resurrection of Little Edie Beale, thanks to the talents of Duval and co-directors Rick Hammerly and Jeffrey Johnson.  Duval’s script is a gem and perfectly matches Edie’s own quirky way of speaking. (All of Edie’s “East Hampton-ese” is here).  Johnson stars as Little Edie and Keith Tittermary is Thomas, Edie’s on-stage pianist. Michael Winstead plays Gerald himself, operating the sound board and helping Edie with questions from the audience.

Johnson, who is also the Artistic Director of Ganymede Arts, deftly captures the intricacies of Little Edie and absorbs her physical mannerisms in a way that is nearly eerie with precision.  Johnson’s costume, designed by Allan Semanek, is also spot on.  (Little Edie was known for modifying dresses and capes in odd ways.  She began to lose her hair early in life and adopted the iconic turbans and wraps as a solution). 

Was Little Edie mentally unstable? Perhaps, at times, but she also had a sharp wit and a keen eye.  Johnson manages to convey her humor and deliver plenty of laughs.  However, what strikes deep are the poignant moments of internal sadness.  For the first time, I saw Little Edie as a tragic heroine.  She did what she thought was right for her family when she returned to Grey Gardens to care for her mother.  In turn, she was not given enough of her family’s money to care for themselves or the house.  (Only after the public outcry following the documentary did Jackie O. spend $32,000 to bring the mansion up to code). 

Johnson’s performance is especially heart-wrenching as he explains that “she” (Little Edie) was not by her mother’s side when she passed away.  Big and Little Edie had been the world to each other.  Her mother was Little Edie’s only close companion and that relationship, healthy or not, meant everything to her.  Little Edie’s attempts at glamour and showbiz are ultimately attempts at regaining a life for herself.  While watching Little Edie on Dec. 31, 1978 discuss all that can come for her in the new year, the contemporary audience knows that it isn’t to be.

Little Edie passed away, alone, on January 14, 2002, apparently from a heart attack.  It was days before she was found.  Johnson brings her to life for two more weeks.  After the Garden plays in the back room of Miss Pixie’s, on 14th Street NW, in a cozy and intimate theatre.  Audience members sit on Miss Pixie’s furniture and an open bar serves throughout the show, which runs without intermission.  Performances are March 27, 28 and 29th and the show has been extended through April 3rd and 4th.  All tickets are $25.

If you haven’t seen the documentary, there is still time to get your Netflix in gear.   Watch it.   Then rush to Miss Pixie’s to catch After the Garden.   This is a theatre experience unlike any other and Jeffrey Johnson, Gerald Duval and all the folks at Ganymede Arts deserve the roaring applause we all gave Little Edie as she took her final bows.

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After the Garden: Edith Beale Live…At Reno Sweeney is written by Gerald Duval.  Rick Hammerly and Jeffrey Johnson direct.  Set by Dan Van Why and Frani Geiger.  Lighting by Frani Geiger.  Costumes by Allan Semanek and sound by Johnathan Powers.  Scenic backdrop by Ryan Mitchell and Dan Van Why.  Photography by Katie Norwood.  Dramaturge is Sybil Lines.

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