The cast of ‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ includes Marnie Azzarelli as the secretary, Miss Poppenghul, Paul J. Gallo as producer David O. Selznick, David Hunisch as script doctor Ben Hecht and Seth Golden as GWTW director Victor Fleming.
Submitted photo
Comedy opens with April 20 preview in Scranton
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Maybe you love the part where Scarlett raises her hand and vows, “As God is my witness … I’ll never be hungry again.”
Or the scene where she decides to use drapes from the window as dress material.
Or the point where she and Rhett sum each other up with her comment, “Sir, you are no gentleman,” and his retort, “And you, Miss, are no lady.”
Whatever you enjoy about David O. Selznick’s award-winning movie “Gone With the Wind,” chances are Brink Powell enjoys it, too.
“Every year I set aside the day after Thanksgiving to kind of hole myself up and watch it,” she said. “I love the movie.”
From April 20 through April 30, Powell will help local GWTW fans experience the story of Scarlett and Rhett and 1860s Georgia in another way, as Actors Circle presents “Moonlight and Magnolias” at the Providence Playhouse in Scranton.
The comedy, which Powell is directing, is set in 1939, and producer David O. Selznick (played by Paul J. Gallo) is not happy with the screenplay for his big-budget movie. So he locks himself in his office with GWTW director Victor Fleming (played by Seth Golden), script doctor Ben Hecht (played by David Hunisch) and a typewriter, and decides to fix the script.
“The gag is that the writer who’s brought in to basically redo the entire screenplay has never read the book,” Powell said.
Selznick and Fleming “are incredulous. ‘Everyone in the world has read this book; how could you not?’ They figure the best way to tell him the story is to act it out for him, and it’s absolutely hysterical.”
When one of the men plays Scarlett and the other plays her eventual husband, Rhett; or when one plays Scarlett and the other plays the mild-mannered neighbor she thinks she loves, Ashley; or when the men enact Melanie’s birthing scene, Powell said, “our actors milk it for all it’s worth.”
The beauty of the stage play, Powell said, is that whether or not you’ve read Margaret Mitchell’s original novel or seen Selznick’s Academy Award-winning classic movie, you’ll be able to figure out what’s going on.
“The writer of the script did an excellent job of making it accessible,” she said.
So, how much is truth and how much is fiction?
“Reliable Hollywood facts tell us Selznick was unhappy with how it was going and he did shut production down and bring in another writer,” Powell said. “If you watch the film, Ben Hecht is not credited, but that’s probably because he was considered a script doctor and often went uncredited. As far as ‘did they act out the novel,’ I have no idea. And did Selznick lock them in an office for five days? I don’t know, but it’s fun to think he did.”
With slightly more than a week until opening night, Powell said, she’s been grateful to see the stage crew enjoying rehearsals. “In my experience as an actor, director and stage manager,” she said, “if the crew is still laughing at this point in the rehearsal process, you’re golden.”
Following a preview show at 7 p.m. April 20 (all tickets $10) Actors Circle will present “Moonlight and Magnolias” April 21 through April 30 with Friday and Saturday shows at 7 p.m. and Sunday shows at 2 p.m. at Providence Playhouse, 1256 Providence Road, Scranton. Tickets will be $15, $12 and $10. For reservations, call 570-342-9707 or visit actorscircle.com or Facebook.