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Grey Gardens @ Beck Center, 2/27 Grey Gardens proves that with the right talent, a musical may be made of anything. In this case, it's the story of Jackie O's poor little rich girl relatives who can't take care of themselves once their money runs out. What happens if a daughter never forges her own life? In Act II Lenne Snively's blowsy, obscenely fascinating Edith Bouvier Beale exhibits so much on-stage charisma (it's like watching a snake eat a rabbit) that it's hard to pay attention to her daughter (played by Maryann Nagel) as she flails through life trying to escape her mother's clutches. When Snively sings "The Cake I Had" and "Jerry Likes My Corn" she brings both force and charm to the crazy old woman lying half-exposed in her bed.

In this Beck Center production directed by Victoria Bussert, there’s much to admire: Nagel’s navigation of dual roles as both “mother and daughter; Jillian Kates Bumpas’s projection of fragility and desperation as “Little” Edie; Jonathan Walker White’s complete transformation from Act I’s stuffy Joe Kennedy, Jr. to slacker Jerry in Act II; Patrick Janson’s indulgent piano-playing “Gould”; Darryl Lewis’s “Brooks, Sr. and Jr.” and the ever-amusing George Roth as both stuffy Major Bouvier and the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale. When ensemble members turn into cats or gospel singers, the stage just glows.

Music Director Jodi Ricci lets every lyric be heard with music moving from one tragi-comic moment to the next. The Beck Center studio theatre has a cozy setup, with comfy seats and good views for all, that makes it seem as if we are sitting right in the Grey Gardens living room, voyeurs watching this sad little story of lotsa money gone bad.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com

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