Grey Gardens: Mary Louise Wilson leaves on 29 Jul

2007 Tony Award winner Mary Louise Wilson is leaving the Broadway musical Grey Gardens on 29 Jul 2007. There is no word as to who will replace her, but an announcement is expected to be made soon.

For her performance as Edith Bouvier Beale, Mary Louise Wilson won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and last season was nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lortel awards and was honored by the Drama-League.

Christine Ebersole - who won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in the show - will continue with Grey Gardens for the run of her contract, which goes into the Fall of 2007. After that time she will recreate her Tony-winning performance for the musical�s London debut during the 2007-2008 season.

Both Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson have a long history with Grey Gardens, having been associated with the musical since it�s first workshop in late 2004 at The Sundance Institute at White Oak. At the time, only the first act had been written, and the musical�s creative team � author Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel, lyricist Michael Korie and director Michael Greif � have expressed how instrumental both actresses were to the development of their characters and the musical itself.

Both Ebersole and Wilson have likened their onstage partnership to �a beautiful game of tennis,� and in the press room at this year�s Tony Awards, Ms. Wilson called the onstage pairing �the only really ideal relationship I�ve ever had with another actor.�

Grey Gardens had its world premiere at Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, where the show opened on 7 Mar and ran through to 30 Apr 2007. It transferred to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, opening on 2 Nov 2007. The show is currently booking through to 9 Sep 2007.

The musical opened to positive reviews: "Christine Ebersole delivers a bona fide star turn that is awesome, amazing and astonishing - and that's just the A's." (New York Daily News); "A production that, for all its drollness, transcends the kitschiness that's prominent on Broadway's musical-comedy menu. Dig in and enjoy." (USA Today); "Boldly odd, original and beguiling." (Variety); "I can't say enough good things about veteran Mary Louise Wilson's performance as the aged and bed-ridden Big Edie in act two." (New York Theatre Guide).

As well as Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, the cast also features: John McMartin, Matt Cavenaugh, Erin Davie, Kelsey Fowler, Sarah Hyland, Michael Potts, Bob Stillman.

The musical is directed by Michael Greif and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun.

Based on the legendary 1975 film Grey Gardens, the musical features a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie.

Set design by Allen Moyer, costumes by William Ivey, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan.

Grey Gardens: Once among the brightest names in the pre-Camelot social register, the deliciously eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are now East Hampton�s most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion. Facing an uncertain future, Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter, 'Little' Edie, are forced to revisit their storied past and come to terms with it � for better, and for worse.