CONWAY — The Conway Community Arts Association and the Lantern Theatre will take patrons behind the scenes of one of the most beloved movies of all time when they present Moonlight and Magnolias, by Ron Hutchinson, Sept. 11-13 and 17-20.
Many may know the story of how Gone With the Wind almost ended up on the chopping block, but others may not. That story will unfold under the direction of Trent Reese of Conway, with stage management by Zoe Allison, also of Conway.
It’s 1939 in Hollywood, and producer David O. Selznick has shut down production on Gone With the Wind, based on the book by Margaret Mitchell.
“He’s fired the director and original screenplay writer and hired Ben Hecht as the writer and Victor Fleming as the director to finish the movie,” Reese said, recalling the historical facts of the situation. “That did happen in history, but as far as the rest of this story, probably not.
“Selznick proceeds to lock himself in a room with Hecht and Fleming to rewrite the screenplay. They are going to condense the whole story into about 50 pages.
“The trouble is, Hecht has not read the book. There is no screenplay, so they are writing the screenplay from the book, with Selznick and Fleming re-enacting the scenes as they go, while Hecht is fast at work at the typewriter.
“They’re living on peanuts and bananas,” Reese said with a laugh. “That’s giving our props people a fit. They are having a bit of fun with that.”
Reese describes the upcoming production as “high energy … really fast paced … a lot of fun.”
“It’s a comedy, very much a comedy,” said Reese, who is vice president of the CCAA Board of Directors and a 2012 graduate of the University of Central Missouri. Reese most recently directed Sordid Lives for the community theater group in June. He is employed part time at Barnes & Noble in Little Rock and is the production stage manager at Blackbird Academy.
“While it is a huge comedy, there are other events taking place at this time in history,” Reece said. “It’s 1939, and the threat of World War II is great. Selznick and Hecht are both Jewish and have very different viewpoints. There are a lot of racial tones as well, with Gone With the Wind set in the South during the time of slavery and the Civil War.
“It also touches on the issue of what do we, as theater artists, want to produce?” Reese said. “Do we produce what we want to or what we think the audience wants to see?
“Nonetheless, this play is hysterical,” Reese said. “If someone leaves the theater without crying from laughter, I’ll be disappointed.”
Appearing in Moonlight and Magnolias are the following:
• Jeff Ward of Conway portrays Victor Fleming, the director.
“My character already worked for the studio when he was pulled off The Wizard of Oz to work on Gone With the Wind. It was a very different way of acting back then. Actors would have a seven- or eight-picture deal with one studio,” Ward said.
“Actually, he was quite pleased to be off The Wizard of Oz,” Ward said, discussing some of the history of the movie. “So here he is in a room with Hecht and Selznick. He and Selznick are acting out the scenes for Hecht, who has not read the book.
“Hecht and Fleming do not like each other. They have different ways of doing things. There is certainly no love lost between the two.
“I think these three men will be liked in the end. They were three assertive jerks in real life.”
Ward is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway with a degree in theater. He has been in several productions at The Lantern, including the Late Night at the Lantern production of God in Carnage, which won the Arkansas American Association of Community Theaters Festival (AACTFest) Feb. 7 in Pine Bluff, where he won an award for the Outstanding Male Actor. The play won the Regional AACTFest in New Mexico in April and went on to compete in the National AACTFest June 23-27 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ward is an account executive with Cumulus Media in Little Rock. He is a member of the CCAA Board of Directors.
• Shua Miller of Conway appears as David O. Selznick, the producer.
“I’m liking it,” Miller said of Moonlight and Magnolias.
“It’s a fun show,” he said. “Some of our more recent shows have been more drama than comedy. This is strictly a comedy.
“David O. Selznick actually did stop production of Gone With the Wind when they were three weeks into it. He was without a scriptwriter and a director.
“This play addresses a lot of issues. Among them, as Trent said, is the question of who do you produce for? … Yourself, as an artist, or the people, giving them what you think they want?”
Miller has a degree in theater from UCA and is working on a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at UCA. He is an administrative specialist in the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication and is president of the CCAA Board of Directors.
He is a longtime supporter of Conway Community Arts, both directing and acting in its productions. He most recently directed The Orphans in July and August. He played Alan in God of Carnage and was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor when the cast presented the play at the National AACTFest in Michigan.
• Shane Atkinson of Morrilton plays Ben Hecht, the screenwriter.
This is Atkinson’s first appearance with the Conway Community Arts Association. He has been a supporter of the Rialto Players in Morrilton for several years and recently served as president of the Rialto Community Arts Center Board of Directors.
“Like Hecht, the character I play, I’ve never read the book, either,” Atkinson said with a laugh. “I’m going to after we finish the play.”
Atkinson describes Hecht as “a complete smart aleck.”
“He finds everything incredibly humorous, at least in the first act. By the second act, he’s more subdued.
“As this character, I just sit at the desk, typing,” Atkinson said. “We get to the ending, which, of course, is no real ending. We get to where Rhett Butler delivers his famous line, “‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a ….’”
“But Hecht wants it to have a happy ending.”
Atkinson said the play is “rapid fire.”
“We’re stumbling all over each other on stage,” he said with a laugh.
Atkinson directed The Odd Couple and played Vinnie in the play at The Rialto in Morrilton in March 2014. Atkinson did some directing when he was a student at UCA. He has appeared in Rex’s Exes, Deep in the Heart and Dearly Departed at the Rialto. He won a Best Actor award for his work in The Express Line at the 2009 Arkansas American Association of Community Theaters Festival AACTFest competition.
Atkinson works in the information technology department at L’Oreal in North Little Rock.
• Jeannie Denniston of Morrilton portrays Miss Poppenghul, Selznick’s “especially efficient secretary.”
Denniston has also been a longtime supporter of the Rialto Players in Morrilton. She has appeared in several productions at The Lantern, including Mrs. Mannerly and, most recently, The Hammerstone in April.
Denniston is a part-time district judge and a part-time attorney in Conway County.
Moonlight and Magnolias will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11, 12, 17 and 19; and at 2 p.m. Sept. 13 and 20 at the Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St. in Conway.
Tickets are $15. Reservations may be made online at ConwayLanternTheatre@gmail.com.
Carmen’s Antiques of Conway is the corporate sponsor for Moonlight and Magnolias.