Ebersole Appears at Kennedy Center Honors; Moore Steps In

The producers of the new hit Broadway musical Grey Gardens- East of Doheny, Staunch Entertainment, Randall L. Wreghitt/Mort Swinsky, Michael Alden and Edwin M. Schloss, in association with Playwrights Horizons - have announced that the musical's acclaimed leading lady, Tony Award-winner Christine Ebersole, has been invited to make a special appearance at The Kennedy Center Honors Gala in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, December 3. 

One of the highlights of the cultural year, The Kennedy Center Honors are awarded annually for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts.  Presented live at The Kennedy Center, this year's 29th Annual Honors Gala will be filmed by the CBS Network as a two-hour prime time special to be broadcast on Tuesday, December 26.    

"Hailed last Spring for giving one of the most acclaimed stage performances in years, Christine Ebersole is being newly-celebrated for her work in the Broadway premiere," state press notes. 

"An invitation to be part of The Kennedy Center Honors Gala is an incredible honor and everyone in the Grey Gardens family is thrilled that the peerless Christine Ebersole will be part of what promises to be an unforgettable evening," said Kelly Gonda, President of East of Doheny, which is the lead producer of the musical.  "We congratulate Christine and look forward to seeing her on the Honors Gala's television broadcast.  Additionally, in the time-honored tradition of 'The show must go on,' we're lucky to have the wonderful Maureen Moore step into the show for Christine that day.  As anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Maureen perform knows - and her Mama Rose in the recent Broadway revival of Gypsy was staggering - she is a passionate, talented and accomplished actress.  We look forward to Maureen making her Grey Gardens debut and for audiences to experience her Edith and 'Little' Edie.  We're proud that she'll be the second of what we hope will be a long line of Edies in the years to come."

On December 3, New York audiences will have the e opportunity to experience the performance of Broadway veteran Maureen Moore, Ms. Ebersole's Standby.  Making her Grey Gardens debut, Moore will perform at the 3PM matinee in the dual roles of Edith Bouvier Beale in Act One and "Little" Edie Beale in Act Two. 

Maureen Moore has a long history as a trusted Standby for leading Broadway actresses.  Most notably, she went on regularly for Bernadette Peters in the role of Mamma Rose during the 2003 revival of Gypsy.  She also stood by for Peters as Emma in Song & Dance and her other Standby credits include the leading roles of  Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and Fraulein Schneider in the 1998 revival of Cabaret.

Moore's numerous non-Standby Broadway credits include Fantine in Les Miserables, Claire in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Constanze in Amadeus, Cordelia in Falsettos and her Broadway debut as June in the 1974 revival of Gypsy.  She's also familiar to TV viewers for her performance as Countess Charlotte Malcolm in the PBS "Live from Lincoln Center" broadcast of the New York City Opera production of A Little Night Music.

"The incredible story of Jackie Kennedy Onassis's most outrageous relatives, Grey Gardens brings to life her delightfully eccentric aunt and cousin: Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter 'Little' Edie.  Once among the brightest names in the pre-Camelot social register, these two women became East Hampton's most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion.  Set in two eras - in 1941 when the estate was in its prime and in 1973 when it was reduced to squalor - the musical tells the alternately hilarious and heartbreaking story of two indomitable individuals." 

In addition to Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson as Big Edie, the musical's cast includes five-time Tony Award nominee John McMartin as both 'Major' Bouvier and Norman Vincent Peale; Matt Cavenaugh as both Joe Kennedy, Jr. and Jerry; Erin Davie as Young 'Little' Edie Beale; Kelsey Fowler as Lee Bouvier; SARAH HYLANd as Jacqueline Bouvier; Obie Award winner Michael Potts as Brooks Sr. and Brooks Jr.; and two-time Tony Award nominee Bob Stillman as George Gould Strong.

Visit www.greygardensthemusical.com for more on Grey Gardens.