Customer Reviews

Grey Gardens - Acting Edition

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I've fallen in love with the music from this show; so much so that I was highly anticipating the publishing of this vocal selections book. The contents include The Girl Who Has Everything, Peas in a Pod, Drift Away, Daddy's Girl, Will You?, The Revolutionary Costume for Today, The Cake I Had, Entering Grey Gardens, Jerry Likes My Corn, Around the World, Choose to Be Happy, and Another Winter in a Summer Town.

Unfortunately this book does NOT include some of my favorites, such as Hominy Grits, Goin' Places, or even for crying out loud, the opening production number, The Five-Fifteen. I would've gladly preferred Five-Fifteen over several of the songs that were included. (And I suppose it would just be wishful thinking to hope to find Better Fall Out of Love, which was replaced with Goin' Places during the transition from off-Broadway to Broadway, in this book.)

Or better yet, since the book is only 80 pages anyway, throw in some extra! This would not be the first short-run Broadway show to have a 100+ page vocal selections book with pictures from the show published by Hal Leonard (Parade comes to mind), so I'm not sure why Grey Gardens got the short shrift.

Be grateful for what songs *are* included, and the opportunity to see how the amazing Scott Frankel crafted such beautiful chords. I just wish this book were a bit more extensive.

The score of Grey Gardens, with music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, is the very best Broadway has heard since Adam Guettel's lush, romantic Light in the Piazza two seasons ago. However, Guettel's challenging work for that show, while wonderful, is probably not likely to be performed at cabarets and concerts (with the exception of two or three songs, maybe). Grey Gardens' score has many numbers cabaret entertainers can sing, Another Winter in a Summer Town comes to mind, as does Will You?. But the score, like Guettel's work, also serves the story brilliantly.

Frankel's music is difficult, yet tuneful and melodically inventive. Korie's lyrics are never short of spectacular.

My one gripe about this book is the lack of a few other crucial numbers. It would have been nice for the delightful minstrel pastiche Hominy Grits to be included, as well as the opening number, The Five-Fifteen. However, the numbers included in this book are great just like the show they are in.

Lush, emotional, rich music - this has become one of my favorite new shows. It's especially poignant if you were lucky enough to actually see Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson perform live before the show's premature closing this summer. This collection is wonderful - I do echo the other reviewer's wish that more ensemble numbers were included, but those are rarely a large part of Vocal Selections books. What I DO hope is eventually coming is an edition where the piano does NOT double the vocal line. The selections book from "Wicked" is published in two formats - one that doubles the melodic line and one that is the true piano accompaniment. As a professional pianist/music director, I want to play the actual orchestral reduction, not a simplified version. I realize the standard melodic-doubling publications are valued by those who play the songs for their own pleasure or who teach voice and need to assist their singers, but I do hope to see more publishers follow the path of "Wicked" and issue two formats.

i did not see anywhere on this book that it was a play so now i feel very unhappy. wish that was stated upfront and clear.

When I ordered it, the description appeared to be the book not the script. But maybe it was my misunderstanding.