Inside Grey Gardens.

From the Master bedroom, used by Big Edie.





A view of the main staircase from the second floor.









The great thing is, the couple who bought Grey Gardens from little Edie after the death of her mother, have had it restored to its original grandeur and apparently use the home as a summer place today!



The rest of the photo essay can be viewed here.



PS- I'll be getting my NYC film developed tomorrow. The bad news? I was prevented from taking photographs inside of the theatre but, I may have captured a few nice shots from Central Park and around the city.





Sunny Side Up!,

Krista

I'm Off!

to NYC.
To see South Pacific
Pictures and the like will be forthcoming or, eventually.

A Rousing Rendition.

Of I'm Still Here from the musical Follies , performed by the lovely Yvonne De Carlo :



Quite fabulous, right?

Sunny Side Up!,
Krista

Hey, its ART!

I adore burlesque. Bulesque today is primarily defined as a more artistic form of the striptease and is mingled with vintage pinup elements. The performances revolve around one specific theme. At times, fire breathing acts, comedy routines, and other forms of satire are included although, primarily, today's form focuses on the beautiful ladies and the physical feats that their pronounced flexibility allows them to perform.

All of that to say that this video of a show that was done in Medulin, Croatia that is sexy but still classy but, if underwear and pasties offend you, skip it:


I would kill to go to a performance myself. Just the right bit of the sleaze factor without being classified as smut.

You can see tons of videos of two other wildly popular entertainers, Fanny Tastic and Michelle L'amour at YouTube or visit the site of Frenchie Kiss who is one of the instructors at Studio L'amour where you can schedule classes!


Gypsy Rose Lee , the muse for the incomparable Broadway musical Gypsy and the most recognizable name in the world of burlesque.

Thanks to Behind the Curtain for turning me onto the above modern day entertainers.

Sunny Side Up!,
Krista

The Phantom of the Opera.

Hello loves!
How was everyone's weekend?
Mine was fantastic!!



I traveled by bus to NYC to see The Phantom of the Opera and there are no words to describe what an incredible experience that was.

We were seated IN THE FRONT ROW and, by front row, I mean we were so close that I could hear the performer's breathing.


Ahhhh.

We also traversed Madame Tussaud's wax museum before our 2PM showing.
Its quite obvious that I am unable to put my admiration and respect for such undeniable talent into words and so, I'll post a few craptastic photos and a clip olf my favorite part of the production.


New York, New York:










The Famous Sardi's (No I did not eat there but, have any of you? Was it worth it?:





Madame Trussaud's:


Francis Albert & myself:


My homegirl, Lucy & I:


The Phantom's Chandelier:


The Orchestra Pit:




MASQUERADE; the London cast but, you get the idea:



Its as if I'm still under its spell..I'm just dazzled.

Have you seen any Broadway productions? If so, which ones and if you've seen several, which was your favorite?

Sunny Side Up!,
Krista

Mother wanted me to come out in a kimono so, we had quite a fight.

The musical greatness that was Grey Gardens played its final performance on Broadway on July 29, 2007 so, my dream of seeing it never came to fruition because well, the time just was never quite right. Anyway, Grey Gardens took its premise mostly from the 1975 documentary of the same name.

This film followed Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her equally eccentric daughter, little Edie , who were the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her sister, Lee Radziwill and American socialites in their own right.

As a young mother, "Big Edie" pursued a singing career, hiring a personal accompanist and playing private parties for the most part. Edith's husband, Phelan Beale, abandoned her and his three children, (little Edie had two brothers) when she was 35 therefore, she was forced to depend upon her immediate family, the Bouviers, to support her along with her children.

Little Edie modeled clothes in department stores as a young girl and she attended the Spence School and graduated from Miss Porter's School in 1935. She resided in New York City and lodged at the Barbizon Hotel for Women from 1947-1952. At that point, she returned to the family home, Grey Gardens, to live with her mother. She never married claiming in The Beales of Grey Gardens a documentary follow-up released in 2006, that she always seemed to be drawn to Sagitarians, a bad match for a Scorpio such as herself.

In their later lives, these two women became notorious recluses living in squalor with more than 50 cats and virtually no indoor plumbing. At one point, the department of health interfered and cousin/niece Jacqueline invested over $30,000 in the attempt to clean the place up.

There is much more to be learned about these ladies and many hilarious anecdotes and tidbits of wisdom shelled out in large quantities by little Edie in the aforementioned film but, as my offering, I bring you the incomparable Christine Ebersole in her portrayal of Edie Beale performing Revolutionary Costume for Today as seen at the 2007 Tony Awards :


Inspiration for this number was taken from this:


Little Edie, I loveth thou.

Sunny Side Up!,
Krista