When Tim’s away there’s a real danger 100sand1000s will become my own personal salute to Broadway. I swear there’s non-Broadway stuff on its way. Not that All Broadway All The Time is a bad thing. No apologies!
For now though I have to share, if you haven’t already found it, the intense amazingness that is Christine Ebersole. This video clip is from Grey Gardens, the 2006 musical based on the story of a mother and daughter both named Edith Bouvier. In Act I, set in the early 1940s, Christine Ebersole plays the mother and in the second act - set about 30 years later - she becomes Little Edie while Mary Louise Wilson plays the elder Edith. Even with very little context this performance is incredibly powerful - Ebersole’s ability to snap between harsh delivery and clear, smooth singing without ever overacting or adding in unnecessary notes is stunning. Obviously she’s gorgeous (those wide eyes and youthful face!) but its her pure voice and assured acting ability that make this the sort of video I can watch over and over again.
If you make it through that, you might as well see her performing, also from Grey Gardens, The Revolutionary Costume For Today with steely comedic timing, and the incredibly beautiful Will You from Act I when she’s the mother. Time well spent, I promise you. Elaine Stritch thinks so too.
