Moonlight and Magnolias
Hollywood, February 1939: Acclaimed movie producer David O. Selznick has a problem: his massively hyped production of “Gone With The Wind” is bleeding big money, the script is unfilmable, he has fired the director and the production has been shut down. Disaster looms! He needs a new script and a new director now!
With renowned screenwriter Ben Hecht (who hasn’t read the book) and celebrated director Victor Fleming (already up to his eyeballs in directing “The Wizard of Oz”), and a diet of bananas and peanuts, he locks the group in his office for five days to create a screenplay that will save the film. Filming the burning of Atlanta is easier than this!
“It’s a blend of lively nonsense and a tribute to the golden years of Hollywood moving making, with over-sized egos and larger than life personalities,” explains director Harry Dewar. “Based loosely on the real difficulties that the film faced in 1939, it’s an insight into what might have happened to get one of the greatest movies ever made up onto the screen.”
Frankly my dears, you must see this play!!
Feedback/Comments
I feel this show was a little dated. You really needed to know the story behind making Gone With The Wind into a movie. Most people these days do not realise that Gone With the Wind was such a big movie, and quite a few have never even heard of this movie - especially anyone under the age of 40. Well acted and quite funny in places, but a bit slow to start.
Hilarious show. Really enjoyed the storyline and characters, great night
Lots of laughs. Such an entertaining night! Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Show was slow and felt story line was too long
Enjoyable evening!
First half was a little slow but picked up in the second half. Entertaining.
A great show, plenty of everything.
Very entertaining and funny.
Full credit to the cast for remembering such long dialogues and great actor play.
Thoroughly enjoyable show, well performed.
Very good
Very funny, extremely entertaining
It took me a while to get into the story, definitely a different story-line than I was expecting. Full credit to the cast as there was so much to remember, without getting a break off-stage. They kept us focused and the funny lines came at the right moments to lighten it up.
Excellent acting
Great play enjoyed it.
Great show with a small cast - great story, characters and climax. One of the funniest final punchlines I’ve heard in live theatre ever.
I don't know how they remember all of those lines! Some funny parts, I loved the secretary, "Yes Mr. Selznick". The attention to detail with the set was amazing, look out for banana peels!
Fun and entertaining
Fantastic show, by half time we were so invested in the outcome. The acting was outstanding. Highly recommend!
Good performances by the cast but I found the story line a bit slow
Quite a fun show and showed a different side to Gone With the Wind - that of it being made. Actors all did well to hold the audience.
Some very funny bits too.
A very clever play. So much dialogue and only 4 actors, 3 of whom were on stage the entire time. How do they remember it all?! Except the poor secretary..."yes Mr Selznick". Loved it!
This was an unusual show: only one set, with just three main actors who never left the room! There WAS a fourth actor, who was called in occasionally and gave a great rendition of a secretary being ground down as the madness ground its way along...
The show started a bit shouty and hard to follow for myself: I had fears at first that the repartee would be indecipherable! (I am deaf, and only had one hearing aid in service). But as the trio got into the swing of things I found the to-and-fro among the protagonists making many sensible points, and a great deal of humour ensued as the plot developed.
The verbal pingpong, the wit & whimsy, and the shifting agreements/disagreements that united then separated the brainstorming characters flickered with all the fire of a trio of very solid individuals, all working toward a hard-fought consensus at the last moment!
I really enjoyed the whole thing, it was a very funny play indeed and I congratulate the cast for the fluency and confidence with which they declaimed their lines.
This was a great show
Mostly fast-paced, great humour, the three actors all did a great job of portraying their characters.
Good acting and interesting storyline. Enjoyable evening!