From The Hamptons To Utopia

Fall Theater Includes Eccentrics, Revolutionaries
By Barry Bassis
One sure bet for the fall season is Grey Gardens, with a script by playwright Doug Wright and songs by composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie. The musical is based on the Maysles Brothers' documentary film of the same name. The story focuses on the eccentric Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, "Little" Edie. They became press sensations when it was discovered that the pair, who were living in a filthy and dilapidated 28-room mansion in East Hampton, were the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
In his review of the 1976 documentary, Leonard Maltin noted that the “film would have had more depth had we been given a better picture of mother and daughter in their youth.” The creative team on the musical apparently took this criticism to heart by setting the first act in 1941 at the lavish mansion. In a tour-de-force performance, which garnered a string of awards when the show premiered at Playwrights Horizons, Christine Ebersole plays the overbearing mother in the earlier scene and her daughter in the second act, which takes place in 1973. The excellent Mary Louise Wilson plays the elder Beale in the later section. Fortunately, both of them will return in the Broadway production, scheduled to start previews on Oct. 3, with opening set for Nov. 2 at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W. 48th St., 212-239-5200). The original cast recording has just been released on PS Classics, so you can sample the outstanding score and cast before deciding to buy tickets.
Another acclaimed off-Broadway show moving to the Great White Way is Douglas Carter Beane’s The Little Dog Laughed. The farce deals with a movie star covering up his homosexuality. Previews begin October 26 with opening scheduled for November 13 at the Cort Theatre (138 W. 48th St., 212-239-6200).
The most ambitious work slated to open this fall is Lincoln Center Theater’s production of The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s nine-hour drama—three separate sequential plays—spanning three decades in the lives of real-life mid-19th century Russian literary and political figures. Part One—Voyage is set in 1833 in Moscow and St. Petersburg; Part Two—Shipwreck begins 13 years later in Moscow and then moves to Paris, Dresden and Nice; and Part Three—Salvage takes place in London and Geneva over a 12-year period. The epic, featuring a cast of over 30 actors playing more than 70 roles, will be directed by Jack O’Brien, who also collaborated with the playwright on Hapgood and Invention of Love. The promising cast includes Brían F. O'Byrne, Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke, Richard Easton, Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Amy Irving and Josh Hamilton. The Coast of Utopia will run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway at 65th St.; 212-239-6200) from Nov. 5, 2006 to March 3, 2007.
A few seasons ago, Michael Cumpsty was an impressive Hamlet under Brian Kulick’s direction. The pair returns with another Shakespearean play, Richard II, which will run at Classic Stage Company (136 E. 13th St., 212-352-3101) from Sept. 6-Oct. 15.
Roundabout Theatre Company will present Shaw’s Heartbreak House starring Philip Bosco and Swoozie Kurtz. Performances start on September 15th at the American Airlines Theater (227 West 42nd St., 212-719-1300).