HBO Premieres GREY GARDENS During Ordway's GREY GARDENS Regional Premiere 5/17

Minnesota now has the chance to experience not one, but two productions of "Grey Gardens," the quirky story of two eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The HBO non-musical movie premieres on the cable channel tomorrow and the regional premiere of the Broadway hit, co-produced by Ordway and Park Square Theatre, continues its run at the Ordway through May 17.

The HBO "Grey Gardens" film stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the delightfully eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The film captures the women's lives starting when "Little" Edie Beale is 18 years old then continues through her years as a struggling New York actress and her subsequent return to "Big" Edie and Grey Gardens, the dilapidated 28-room family mansion in East Hampton.

The New York Times review says, "...there is enough of the real Beales in this movie to please even avid fans. And there is enough of a movie to entertain viewers who have never once described a friend, a place or a mood as Grey Gardens."

Two of the Twin Cities' most accomplished actors, Wendy Lehr and Christina Baldwin, play the indomitable mother and daughter, "Big" Edie and "Little" Edie, in the Park Square Theatre and the Ordway co-production.

The show, by librettist Doug Wright, lyricist Michael Korie and composer Scott Frankel, earned widespread critical acclaim and three Tony® Awards during its nine-month run on Broadway. James Rocco, the Ordway's Producing Artistic Director, and Jayme McDaniel, the Ordway's Associate Artistic Director, co-direct the production.

James Rocco says, "We're taking a splashy Broadway musical and incorporating outstanding Minnesota talent and resources, including a set-build by Penumbra Theatre, in order to bring our audiences an experience they won't soon forget."

Both the HBO film and stage versions of "Grey Gardens" stem from the 1975 Maysles brothers' documentary of the Beale women. This story continues to endure and captivate theater and film directors and their audiences.