Grey Garden’s MemoraBEALEia
It appears HBO’s dramatization of Grey Gardens this past weekend, the prodigious publicity campaign leading up to it, and the Broadway musical a few years back is not enough to sate the morbidly curious. Word has come down that the Grey Gardens Online website has been revamped to include every possible thing you ever wanted to know about the Beales and every unimaginable trinket you could hoard in their memory. I find a certain pathos and vulgar exploitation to this bit of news. One can only hope that Big and Little Edie are giggling in delight at the fame and, certainly, fortune denied them in life.
In addition to endless information, anecdotes and asides, scavenger hunters everywhere will thrill over the “Memorabealeia” section, where, predictably, bibelots abound. Little Edie Beale Bears, Little Edie Bobble Head Dolls, Grey Gardens Greeting Cards, HBO Promo Leather Photo Books and the ultimate Grey Garden collectible — little Edie’s signature brooch which finished off every “revolutionary costume” she wore.
According to sales details, “David Crotty, a fan and admirer of Little Edie, painstakingly re-created it with extraordinary attention to detail. The brooch is four inches long and is handmade in brass and gold with white topaz.” Bragging rights include the fact that an identical replica was worn by Christine Ebersole in the musical and Drew Barrymore in the televised production. Purchase online HERE and follow up with a novena for their dearly departed souls.
At the rate this franchise is going, there will probably be a Grey Gardens like Busch Gardens sometime soon. Kind of a shame.