A.C.T. artistic director Kurt Beattie will stage the intimate musical based on the Maysles brothers 1975 documentary film. Grey Gardens will officially open March 21 for a run through May 26 at A.C.T.
Cohenour (Drood, The Light in the Piazza, Phantom of the Opera) will take on the dual duty of portraying Edith Bouvier Beale in the 1940s-set first act, prior to donning the signature cape, skirt and turban to play Little Edie in the musical's second act, which takes place in the mid 1970s. Hunt will play Big Edie Bouvier Beale in the second act.
The cast will also feature Jessica Skerritt as Little Edie Beale (in Act One), Mark Anders as George Gould Strong, Allen Fitzpatrick at Major Bouvier Beale, Matt Owen as Joe Kennedy and Jerry, Ekello J. Harrid as Brooks, Montserrat Fleck as Lee Bouvier and Analiese Ermerson Guettinger as Jackie Bouvier.
Grey Gardens has a Tony Award-nominated score by composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie, and a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright. Frankel and Korie are also collaborating on the new musicals Finding Neverland and Far From Heaven.
The Seattle production will have musical direction by Chris DeStefano, musical staging by Noah Racey, scenic design by Matthew Smucker, costume design by Catherine Hunt, lighting design by Mary Louise Geiger and sound design by Brendan Patrick Hogan. Based on the Maysles brothers 1975 cult documentary, Grey Gardens traces the lives of East Hampton socialites "Big" and "Little" Edie Beale, whose mother-daughter tug of war ultimately finds the eccentric and resilient duo residing in a dilapidated mansion overrun with cats and raccoons.
Grey Gardens premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 2006 and subsequently transferred to Broadway, where it ran for 307 performances at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Grey Gardens earned a Tony nomination for Best Musical and garnered Tony Awards for leads Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, as well as for costume designer William Ivey Long.
For tickets, visit acttheatre.org. A.C.T. is located at 700 Union Street in Seattle.
