by RON HUTCHINSON
Fridays & Saturdays through
February 4 at 8 PM
Sunday January 22 at 2 PM
40
River Street, Chagrin Falls
TICKETS: $18 / $4 off student, senior - discounts available for groups and fundraisers!
Details & Tickets: http://www.cvlt.org/87thSeason/moonlight or call 440-247-8955
Directed by STEPHEN KAY
Starring:
Ed Conrad as David O. Selznick
Robert McCoy as Victor Fleming
Tim Champion as Ben Hecht
Kristen Jezek as Miss Poppenghul
Five weeks into shooting, MGM's epic Civil War film Gone with the Wind was headed toward an epic failure. Fearing critical and financial disaster, producer David O. Selznick called up director Victor Fleming from the set of The Wizard of Oz to replace the original clueless director, and called in"script doctor" Ben Hecht to rewrite the awful original script. But Hecht hadn't ever read Margaret Mitchell's sprawling, thousand-page novel! Over the course of just five days, the three men and Selznick's assistant, Miss Poppenghul, frantically act out the book in Selznick's office and craft what was to become a legendary script.
CVLT's production is directed by Stephen Kay, of Solon. "The story is mostly true," Kay said. "That aspect attracted me to want to direct it, along with some genuinely funny scenes that we are bringing to the stage. I don't want to give too much away, but peanuts and bananas are involved."
The cast includes actor Ed Conrad in the role of real-life demanding film producer, David O Selznick (his second turn in this role). Actors Robert McCoy and Tim Champion portray director Fleming and writer Hecht, who are composite characters based on their real-life counterparts. Kristen Jezek plays the role of Miss Poppenghul.
"After the roles were cast, we all met at the director's house and watched Gone with the Wind," said CVLT stage manager Cindee Catalano. "It's a very long movie. That helped give us the right perspective of the enormous job Selznick and the writers undertook in less than a week."
The play is set in 1939, with the shadow of Nazi Germany and the undercurrent of Selznick and Hecht's Jewish identity, as well as the treatment of blacks in the Civil War era.
CVLT is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and supported by the Ohio Arts Council. CVLT is a proud member of the American Association of Community Theatre and the Ohio Community Theatre Association.