So, Grey Gardens. Gosh, how long have I had these tickets? How long have I been looking forward to seeing this show? What a perfect way to celebrate my 30th birthday, I thought, seeing something I really love... And the show, it must be said, was wonderful.
What I could see of it.
I had bought my tickets, and was delighted to see that I got close seats (wheeee! 2nd row! Happy birthday to me!). What they failed to mention to me, when I purchased those tickets, was that I wouldn't be able to see a damn thing during the second act, because the !@#&*$^ piano was obstructing my view any time the 2 Edies were inside the house. WHich is, like you know, pretty much the entire second act. If I leaned over to my extreme right, I could see Little Edie. But big Edie? When she came out to take her bow, I was like, who are you? Oh, right. Well, bravo, but I couldn't see you, ever. The only time I could see anything was when they were off the rotating house set, and then they never faced me anyway. The first act was okay, we saw a lot of backs, but it was fine. We attempted to try and switch seats, but the place was packed, no additional seats to be had. And the front of house manager, it has to be said, wasn't much help.
Here's the thing: I paid full price for those tickets and it never said, anywhere, I that these were obstructed view seats. Because if it had, I would not have bought them. You all know me and my ticket buying tendencies. I do not pay full price for crappy seats. So boo, Northlight, see if I ever darken your doors again. I just sent an email to the director of marketing over at northlight, inviting him to sit in those seats during the second act and see just how much of it he would be able to see. And, in case you're thinking this was just me, the people in front of me had the exact same problem, and had no prior knowledge of the obstructed view. I just went and checked on tickets.com and nada. It says nowhere that there is even a possibility of not being able to see the entire !@&^$ second act (Jerry loves my corn!! Arrgh!) from that seat for which I paid full price.
But hmm, let's get on with the show. I liked the performances. Who needs to see, right? The cast did a great job with the material, which I still think is a little uneven. Hollis Resnik was a great Big and then Little Edie, even if her accent veered from East Hampton to British sometimes. She did her songs well - "Will You" "Around the World" and "Another Winter in a Summer Town" being my favorites.
I was, as usual, the youngest person in the audience (which is saying something, seeing as I am nearly on the eve of leaving my 20s) but they seemed pretty with it. Heck, they probably all read about the Edies in the newspaper, voted for Nixon, etc etc.
The verdict?? Go and see it. I'm disappointed with my experience, but I won't say a bad word about Grey Gardens because it is certainly not the show's fault that I had crappy seats. I love the show, it's a great, tragic and funny story, it's well done, the music is gorgeous. Northlight and BJ Jones do a great job with the show and it deserves to have wide viewership outside of NYC. But a word to the wise? Call ahead when you book your tickets. I would suggest seats in the center section and back a bit, because there are a few scenes in the attic that really suck if you're in the second row all the way on the danged side.
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