The Fourth Walsh

Karl Sydow presents AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS.

In the Golden Age of Hollywood, Ava Gardener was a true movie star. She was as famous for her work as an actress as she was infamous for her marriages and affairs. Her story is irresistible. She grew up beautiful and poor in North Carolina. MGM plucked her out of obscurity and made her into a screen sensation.  Although Hollywood has changed over the decades, the allure of celebrityhood still leaves us starstruck. Elizabeth McGovern (Ava), best known for her iconic role as Lady Cora on “Downton Abbey”, plays the legend in this reflection of Gardener’s life.

Serving as both star and playwright, McGovern based this play on the book “The Secret Conversations” by Peter Evans and Ava Gardener. The essences of the ‘true’ story is Gardener recruited Evans to ghostwrite her biography. The ‘truth’ is subjective as recollections are soaked in booze. She plays the role of Ava part tipsy, part sexpot and part actress. She mischievously hints at tumultuous times between husbands and lovers but always behind a veneer of Hollywood mystique. Despite her relational reveals, the messiness is delivered with cool confidence. She is always in control of the narrative. McGovern perfectly owns this glamorous role of diva-in-retirement.      

Under the direction of Moritz Von Stuelpnagel, the sequence of intimate conversations take place over days revealing Ava’s life over decades. Aaron Costa Ganis not only plays Peter Evans, he also plays her husbands. While interviewing McGovern about her first husband, Ganis becomes him, Mickey Rooney. Both teenagers at the time, Ganis as Rooney is this animated, self-assured actor while McGovern is this naive, Southern girl just arriving in Tinsel Town. Later, Ganis morphs into a domineering Artie Shaw and smooth-talking Frank Sinatra. The transitions are aided by photos and news clippings projected (Designer Alex Basco Koch) on the backdrop.       

AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS is an evening of drinks with Hollywood royalty. McGovern chronicles Ava’s life with dignity and enough honesty to satisfy. It truly feels like a respected kinship between the past and present day of Hollywood. McGovern’s tribute is a love letter to Gardener.

Running Time: Ninety minutes with no intermission

Studebaker Theatre at the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan

Based on the book “The Secret Conversations” by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner

Written by Elizabeth McGovern

Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel

Performances are:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Thru October 12

For more information or tickets

Production photos by Jeff Lorch

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