Curtain Call
‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ offers comical caricature
By LEE CLARK ZUMPE
| Article published on Monday, Jan. 21, 2008 |
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| American Stage Theatre’s “Moonlight and Magnolias” features, front to back, Matthew McGee as Ben Hecht, Bryan Barter as David O. Selznick, and Christopher Swan as Victor Fleming. |
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ST. PETERSBURG - American Stage Theatre Company continues its 29th season with “Moonlight and Magnolias,” running through Feb. 10, at 211 Third St. S.
Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Matinees are Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m.
Written by Ron Hutchinson, this uproarious homage to the making of “Gone With the Wind” takes a bit of Hollywood history and develops it into an amusing apocryphal whimsy.
Fact: After two years of preproduction work and three weeks of actual shooting, director George Cukor was fired from “Gone with the Wind.” Producer David O. Selznick replaced him by pulling Victor Fleming from the set of “The Wizard of Oz.” With production halted, Selznick calls in famed screenwriter Ben Hecht – who hasn’t actually read Margaret Mitchell’s book – to fix a broken screenplay.
That’s all Hutchinson really needed to set up this situation comedy. In “Moonlight and Magnolias,” Selznick locks Hecht and Fleming in his office, demanding their complicity. Hecht reluctantly agrees to work on the project for five days. Since he’s only read one page of the book, Selznick and Fleming have to act out key scenes. Among other characters, Selznick portrays Scarlett O’Hara; Fleming gets to play Prissy.
Their diet for the duration of indentured servitude? Peanuts and bananas.
Directed by Drew Fracher, “Moonlight and Magnolias” stars local favorites Christopher Swan, Matthew McGee, Bryan Barter and Susan O’Gara.
Barter’s Selznick is equal parts pomposity and prophetic visionary. Barter embraces the role, playing it with a larger-than-life pretentiousness that lampoons generations of Hollywood movie moguls.
Swan’s Fleming is equally sardonic, gleefully personifying every arrogant director with delusions of godhood. Swan bounces between Fleming and Prissy seamlessly.
O’Gara’s Miss Poppenghul – Selznick’s assistant – punctuates scenes perfectly, playing the dutiful and obedient menial laborer who thanklessly enacts Selznick’s totalitarian edicts. Her numerous, albeit brief, appearances accentuate the escalating tumult in the office.
McGee’s depiction of Hecht borders on comic brilliance as he balances the character’s social conscience with the outlandishness of the entire situation.
Without undermining the play’s comic appeal, Hutchinson does manage to address some of the social issues that often go unspoken in discussions about “Gone with the Wind.” While Selznick is determined to remain loyal to Mitchell’s book, Hecht believes that making Scarlett – who he describes as an “adulterous, two-timing, slave-driving heroine” – a sympathetic character is impossible, particularly, as Hecht points out, when she is “about to add child abuse to her résumé.”
The social commentary, though, is mostly done through quick satirical barbs volleyed between Selznick and Hecht. It neither compromises the play’s frenzied pace nor eclipses the side-splitting humor.
Fracher and his actors also employ physical humor frequently, not necessarily connected to the dialog, so that during lulls in the banter there are sight gags and slapstick to keep the laughs coming.
While fashioned from factual events, “Moonlight and Magnolias” takes audiences on a purely fictional backstage jaunt, poking fun at the Hollywood icons who crafted an American movie classic in a riotous romp.
Tickets range from $22 to $35. Student rush tickets are $10 30 minutes prior to curtain. Pay What You Can Night will be Tuesday, Jan. 29. Call 823-7259 or visit americanstage.org.
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Article published on Monday, Jan. 21, 2008
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