Grey Gardens

Everybody said Grey Gardens was good. Even Peter Filichia. But I didn't want to just buy it, as I've been burned by doing that before (i.e. Martin Guerre). I have to admit, I have found some musicals I love that I bought sight-unseen (or unheard, as it were: The Scarlet Pimpernel, A Class Act), and I might have taken a chance on Grey Gardens if there hadn't been two versions to choose from: the Off-Broadway Cast and the Original Broadway Cast.

Now, just a few weeks ago, I was at my local library, and I happened to glance at the display of "Employee Picks" CDs. And there was the Off-Broadway Cast of Grey Gardens, of all things. So of course I took it out. And not even two weeks later, I was at another library I visit frequently (call it Library W), flipping through their soundtrack CDs (they have the largest collection of soundtrack CDs I've seen, but too many movies), and there was the Broadway Cast of Grey Gardens! Again, I snatched it up right then and there. I'm simply amazed at this turn of events, for a couple of reasons. For one, my local library doesn't get new Broadway CDs very often (and if they do, it's something that's been out so long, I've either gotten it from Library W or bought it myself), and secondly, Library W is currently under construction, so I didn't expect them to be adding anything to that section any time soon. And yet, where there was no Grey Gardens, suddenly there's two.

Anyway, between the two CDs, I've been listening to Grey Gardens a lot, and I really do like it (as I suspected I would). I'm not sure which I like better, but the majority of the songs are the same on both. This whole post, though, has just been a big preface to the fact that I'm now obsessed with the song "Another Winter in a Summer Town." It's just so plantive, I can't listen to it without wanting to cry, but I can't stop listening to it. You can hear it, too, on the official website, along with five other songs from the show.
I guess the only thing to do now is watch the documentary that inspired the show. It's in my Blockbuster queue, but I don't know when it'll actually make it here.