![]() Hutchinson's crackling dialogue, delivered on a beautiful set decorated with Art Deco style, and physical antics directed with energy and élan by Mark Spina turn what must have been a serious endeavor into a comedic romp that feels a lot like farce. Just listening to Selznick hum the opening bars of the Gone With the Wind theme will set you giggling, even though the music was probably composed long after the script was completed. You don’t have to be familiar with the film-or even to have seen it-but it sure makes the funny even funnier. ![]() Seeing only the bottom (financial) line, Selznick is not above imprisoning the duo with him in his office for the script to be written-from scratch-feeding them only bananas and peanuts brought in by his efficient secretary, Miss Poppenguhl. And Hecht's moral compass is outraged at the idea of glorifying slavery and the Confederacy and presenting it to the masses as something to admire. The rivalry between Hecht and Fleming is intense, with each throwing barbed insults at the other, sometimes coming to blows. To remedy this deficiency, Selznick and Fleming act out the plot, hilariously, while Hecht writes.īut the road to success is never smooth. One problem: Despite the novel's having sold an amazing 1.2 million copies in 12 months, Hecht has neither read the book, nor does he even know what it is about. Selznick has fired both screenwriter and director and replaced them with Chicago journalist-turned-script-writer Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming and has given them one week to come up with material he can put onscreen. In 1939, just several weeks into filming his cinematic version, producer David O. The play's title refers to the setting for Margaret Mitchell's sprawling, melodramatic, very un-PC blockbuster novel, Gone With the Wind. There, the sharp-elbowed jibes at Hollywood and the glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes to get a blockbuster movie on the screen will delight theater lovers and film buffs alike. And this is evident onstage at the Burgdorff Performing Arts Center in Maplewood where The Theater Project is in the middle of its run of Ron Hutchinson's Moonlight and Magnolias. ![]() With a clever script, talented actors and great timing, a well-crafted comedy is a glorious thing to behold.
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