Vanguard

'Moonlight and Magnolias' will be gut-cramping hit

Isenburg, Amber-Marie

Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: Fine Arts

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The Mobile Theatre Guild will have their opening performance of "Moonlight and Magnolias" on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Scarlett and Suellen O'Hara fans alike will not want to miss this hilarious comedy about the script writing for "Gone with the Wind."
Picture it, if you will: It is 1939, and three of Hollywood's most brilliant men- producer David O. Selznick, script writer Ben Hecht and the infamous movie director Victor Fleming, are trapped in one room with each other for five days and five nights with only peanuts and bananas for food and the single task of writing a script.
Now, why, you may ask, are these men trapped in a room for five days to write the script? Well, it just so happens that Selznick had just fired the writer and the director for "Gone with the Wind." He pulled Fleming from the filming of the "Wizard of Oz," much to the relief of Fleming who stated that he will no longer have to deal with "160 munchkins dead-drunk and fornicating." Hecht was recruited due to the rumor about an apparent uncomfortable incident with the previous "Gone with the Wind" director, George Cuker, in an
MGM men's restroom in the presence of Clark Gable, who plays Rhett Butler.
Now that thousands of cast members are waiting impatiently for the start of shooting and Selznick's father-in-law and head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, is watching him like a hawk, it is officially panic time. The cast has been restless for three weeks now; Vivian Leigh (Scarlett) is ready to pack her bags and wait in London until these men have finished writing the script, and Selznick realizes that Mayer is waiting eagerly for him to screw up.
"Moonlight and Magnolias" was written by accomplished screen play writer Ron Hutchison. His comedy about the making of "Gone with the Wind" is a gut-cramping hit. Village Voice claims it is "wacky and extravagant," while the Austin Chronicle praises it for being "extremely entertaining." Don't miss your chance to experience a night full of laughter and fun with the cast of "Moonlight and Magnolias" at the Mobile Theatre Guild this month. You can make your reservations online at http://www.mobiletheatreguild.org or by calling 433-7513.

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