New York Times critic Ben Brantley has a tendency to SWOON for certain actresses - Kristen Chenoweth, Donna Murphy, Cherry Jones and once even Melanie Griffith. So though he still did not seem to approve of "Grey Gardens" as a new musical, in and of itself, his love letter of a review of Christine Ebersole, was even more metaphoric than the one he penned last year when the show was at Playwrights Horizons.
Personally, I liked the show more BACK THEN. I think the score of Act One was a lot stronger, before they pulled four particular songs: "Tomorrow's Woman," "Being Bouvier," "Better Fall Out of Love" and "Body Beautiful Beale." I also liked Sara Gettelfinger's performance than that of Erin Davie, as Gettelfinger was more fierce and compelling. But as I mentioned in my review, I think the setup (Act One in 1941, Act Two in 1971) was problematic. It should have taken place entirely in 1971, with intermittant flashbacks to 1941 within it.