Grey Gardens: The Musical peers through the facade of high society to the real story of what could be happening behind closed doors.

Based on the true story of Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, the relatives of former US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the production is the Australian premiere of a 2006 musical, which is based on a 1975 documentary of the same name.

The musical – staged by The Production Company – covers two time periods: 1941 when the women were gauzy aristocrats; and 1973 when they lived in the isolated squalor of the Grey Gardens estate.

Melbourne actor Bert LaBonte (pictured above) plays Brooks, the African-American butler who waited on the Beales.

“He wasn’t a submissive type of helper. He was very much part of the landscape of the family,” LaBonte says. “He could speak his mind and they spoke quite freely around him about matters concerning the house. He had a bit of authority in the house, he wasn’t the ‘Yes, sir, no sir’ type.”

LaBonte says director Roger Hodgman shared his view that Brooks was an integral part of the family, but that still presented challenges when portraying the character.

“It’s a balance of not overstepping the line and also, not being trodden on. He’s got to know his place, but he has to have a balance between that and being about to tell the Major what needs to be done.”

After three weeks of rehearsals for the nine cast members, Grey Gardens will run for 12 performances.

“On face value, not everything is as it seems,” says LaBonte of the thought provoking production. “It’s just a sense of making sure you look after the well-being of those in your family unit. [For] a lot of people who live the high life, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”