Moonlight and Magnolias, a very funny farce about the making of Gone with the Wind, plays at the Colony through March 6.
CRITIC'S PICK
Moonlight and Magnolias
by Ron Hutchinson
directed by Andrew Barnicle
through March 6
In a town where producers, directors and screenwriters are born gamblers, it makes sense to farcicalize the work, as does Ron Hutchinson with Moonlight and Magnolias, whose ideas, although it takes place almost 75 years ago, still hold up. Hollywood is always looking for the great picture, to make the most money, and it all must rely on the power of the audience and what they want. All of this is explored in the play, which is receiving a thoroughly rewarding production at the Colony Theatre, under the steady hand of director Andrew Barnicle.
As headstrong and stubborn David O. Selznick Roy Abramsohn creates the perfect mogul, the big shot who has to keep 10 giant steps ahead of everyone else. At times, he is tender as well as tough, so we almost root for him to win, and can smile when he calls Louis B. Mayer "Pappa". Abramsohn captures the humanity and never makes Selznick a cartoon. Matt Gottlieb as Ben Hecht wins admiration as the ruthless ex-newspaperman who longs to tell the truth, and when he must give in to the big boss, gives his salary to charity. He creates one great speech for Prissy proclaiming the rights and equality of all black slaves, which, of course, is never used in the final script. It's a great acting moment for Gottlieb. Brendan Ford as Victor Fleming just wants to get on with it like most directors, and being so driven and egocentric, he provides some wonderfully comic moments as with reenacting the skittish Prissy and when he envisions positioning the camera below for great takes above. Emily Eiden is hilarious as Miss Poppenghul, the secretary who, like a speeding locomotive slows to a screeching halt when the pressure becomes too much.
Hutchinson has created one very funny play in Moonlight and Magnolias. Based on a true incident of Selznick, Hecht and Fleming being locked behind closed doors for a stressful short period of time to finish the screenplay for Gone with the Wind, its realistically crazed depiction of the characters and the movie business in general is right on target.
5 out of 5 stars
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