The curse of the Kennedys hangs heavy over the sorry tale of Grey Gardens, the bittersweet and sour musical with a score by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie and a book by Doug Wright.
The resplendent, 28-room mansion was once a jewel in the East Hampton crown, snapped up by Wall Street lawyer Phelan Beale in 1924. It stayed in the family for just over half a century, during which time its lustre would dull disastrously.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, the future First Lady herself destined for tragedy, would often stay there as a child with her little sister Caroline ‘Lee’, as guests of their musically inclined socialite aunt, Edith ‘Big Edie’ Ewing Bouvier Beale, Phelan’s wife. The girls were fast friends with Big Edie’s daughter, later dubbed ‘Little Edie’.
The oft-absent Phelan sent word to Big Edie of their divorce by telegram shortly after the cessation of WWII, leaving her the house but very little means to maintain it. Little Edie left to pursue a showbusiness career in New York City but soon returned with her tail between her legs, her once-luscious hair lost to alopecia totalis.
Together they huddled, bickering in co-dependent disharmony as Grey Gardens gradually crumbled around them, filling up with festering rubbish as the water and heating failed, with the health department on the warpath alongside a cornucopia of cats, rats, raccoons, lice and fleas who promptly moved in.
Yikes, this sounds like it’s too sad to handle?
Look, you will feel the feels...
Brrr! The winter chill has well and truly settled in across Melbourne, but that doesn't mean you should remain curled up on the couch with the heater blasting. Chuck on a beanie, scarf and your North Face puffer jacket, and get ready to explore everything the city has to offer this month.
Any local knows that Melbourne in July is all about glowing and illuminated events. We're talking Lightscape in the Botanic Gardens (grab a mulled wine to really spice up the experience), Puffing Billy's magical Train of Lights and Firelight Festival in Docklands.
Regional Victoria has also turned up the heat, with a bunch of cosy festivals and events. The East Gippsland Winter Festival has fiery feasts, lantern parades and live music; Winter Glow at Adventure Park in Geelong is currently home to 300 tonnes of real snow and more than three million twinkling lights; while the Ballarat Winter Festival is serving up hot chocolates, ice skating and medieval jousting (yes, really).
And don't forget about Sovereign Hill's Winter Wonderlights spectacular, which has transformed the Gold Rush museum into a dazzling playground.
Back in the city, you can have a stickybeak into places usually hidden from the public eye as part of Open House Melbourne, or don a beret for the Bastille Day French Festival at the Queen Vic Market – expect plenty of cheese, croissants, crêpes and Champagne.
The sparkly Cartier display is on at the NGV (featuring almost 400 jewels, gemstones, watches and decorative objects), while a new exhibition at the Potter Museum of Art explores the significance of the iconic gum tree. And you can support the local music industry by checking out Leaps and Bounds Festival.
Phew! If that's not enough to stop you bingeing Netflix in your Oodie, we don't know what is. See you out there.
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