Until May 18, Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchison at Metro Theatre takes us behind the scenes in the creation of the epic film, Gone With The Wind.
It’s 1939 and Hollywood producer David O. Selznick (played by J.D. Dueckman) is making his epic Gone With The Wind, but he has a problem, he’s fired his director and the current script, by Sidney Howard, is not up-to-par. Selznick shuts down production for a week to regroup, calls up his friend, the respected screenwriter social-activist Ben Hecht (David Wallace) – winner of the first Academy Award for Best Story. Under stress from co-financer, and father-in-law, Louis B. Mayer, Selznick feels the pressure to deliver a film masterpiece to match the sensational best-selling “big book” by Margaret Mitchell. Also called into the office is director Victor Fleming (Matt Ramer), pulled from the nearly completed Wizard Of Oz to now help steer Gone With The Wind in the right direction. Can they create a masterpiece in just 5 days, the time Hecht has available for the rewrites?
Moonlight and Magnolias evolves in Selznick’s studio-executive worthy office, created by Set Designer Francesca Albertazzi, the trio must get to work with nothing but bananas, peanuts and water provided by Miss Poppenghul, Selznick’s put upon Secretary, played to ‘exhaustion’ by Rachel Craft. Because Hecht has never read the book, as Selznick and Fleming brainstorm they also hilariously act out the scenes from the book, so Hecht can get familiar. As the days pass, the tedium of working day and night in the same 4 walls with limited sleep and food, takes its toll as they all face a gamut of emotions and states; energized, anxious, giddy, antagonistic, exasperated, exhausted and finally, relieved.
Because he’s not read the book, Ben Hecht views the Gone With The Wind from a practical point of view, reminding Selznick and Fleming about the underlying slavery that’s glamourized and glossed over in the story, and the fact that no Civil War movie has made any money. While Selznick and Fleming are aware its a near impossible task, but they need a faithful adaptation to turn the million and a half readers of Mitchell’s much-loved novel into tens of millions of movie-goers. As Dueckman’s Selznick notes ““…everything matters – one mistake and whole illusion’s lost, it’s just a bunch of actors standing in front of wood and canvas…”. This quote echoes in the play as Director Catherine Morrison has created a believable behind-the-scenes of what went on 75 years ago to bring us the most successful film in cinema history. The sets, the actors, the script create the illusion that we too were there in 1939 locked in the office, while the delivery and slapstick moments from the excellent cast, keep us clinging to every word in this engaging work.
Taking its title from old Hollywood’s habit of portraying the Civil War era as a glamourous time of moonlight and magnolias, while ignoring the real reasons for the War. While a film is anchored in a moment in time, as Selzick says “What is a movie? Specks of light stuck to a celluloid strip… a goddamn authentic miracle. A series of moments frozen in time by the only time machine ever invented.” In Moonlights and Magnolias, the play, Ron Hutchinson creates his own masterpiece as he touches on the topics of Civil War slavery and Jews in Hollywood pre-WWII which would be noticeable in their absence for a modern audience blending reality, history, social commentary, with comedy in a way that pays homage to the era while allowing the story to engage conservations of today.
Enjoy Moonlights and Magnolias for yourself, playing at Metro Theatre, 1370 Marine Drive, until May 18, 2024. Visit metrotheatre.com for showtimes and tickets.