A Mother-Daughter Act
Drew and Jessica Share the Spotlight at Grey Gardens Premiere
Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange faced a tough crowd at the Ziegfeld Theatre premiere of their HBO film Grey Gardens on Tuesday night. Albert Maysles, who directed the 1975 documentary upon which the new movie is based, was in the audience, as were a number of social types who knew the Beales, or at the very least had grown up driving past their dilapidated Georgica Pond mansion in East Hampton. The good news is that everyone was quickly won over by the film, which re-creates not only the documentary that turned the mother-daughter duo into cult heroines, but the earlier events that led them to such unique circumstances as well. We counted at least two standing ovations, one when Barrymore absolutely nailed the scene in the garden where Little Edie riffs on her skirt costume ("the perfect look for the day"), and another when Lange as Big Edie belts out a number from her filthy bedroom. At the after-party at the Pierre hotel—which happens to be where Little Edie had her coming out on New Year's Day in 1936—Barrymore looked very Old Hollywood in an Alberta Ferretti dress, net veil, and marcelled hair. "I really thought reactions could go either way," she smiled. "So I'm pleased everyone is saying they're liking it."
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