Theater Review: ‘GWTW’ birth pangs hilarious at Playhouse

Judging by playwright Ron Hutchinson’s concept of how the script for “Gone With the Wind” came together, audiences might have applauded the weeklong cramming session even more than the movie itself.

Seventy years after Scarlett O’Hara contemplated her plans for tomorrow, the Laguna Playhouse is presenting an absolutely hilarious account of the rewriting period involving producer David O. Selznick, screenwriter Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming — the latter two summoned three weeks into the original production.

Entitled “Moonlight and Magnolias,” it’s a biting look at the inner workings of Hollywood in 1939 as three violently opinionated men put their heads together for five days of restructuring what would become one of the greatest movies of all time.

It’s a huge triumph as well for playhouse Artistic Director Andrew Barnicle, whose staging is perpetually laugh-inducing. Selznick — superbly played by Jeff Marlow as an ambitious young Turk married to the daughter of MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer and desperately striving to escape from L.B.’s shadow — has stopped production on “GWTW,” fired director George Cukor and brought in Fleming (Brendan Ford), yanking him off the set of another 1939 classic, “The Wizard of Oz.”

He’s also recruited Hecht (Leonard Kelly-Young) to revamp an unworkable script. The only problem is, Hecht probably is the only person in Hollywood who hasn’t read Margaret Mitchell’s novel. So there’s work to be done.

Marlow sets the tone beautifully, exerting his authority with a sweeping power lust as he and Fleming act out the novel so that Hecht can put it into printed words — it’s easier than waiting for Hecht to actually read the book. There’s a grandiose style here that reeks of old Hollywood, and Marlow captures it expertly.

Kelly-Young’s harried, reluctant screenwriter is a stark contrast — a worn-down wordsmith from a Chicago newspaper with a dim view of Tinseltown and its obsequious inhabitants.

The macho director Fleming is another plum assignment, and Ford tackles it with gusto, striking sparks with Hecht in the process.

A fourth character, who flits in and out of the action, is Emily Eiden’s chirpy secretary whose dialogue consists chiefly of “Yes, Mr. Selznick,” but who delivers it so crisply that she makes a fine impression.

Bruce Goodrich’s vast office setting, the inner sanctum of a Hollywood mogul, is quite imposing, as are the lighting effects from Paulie Jenkins (one can almost envision the burning of Atlanta from Selznick’s window). “Moonlight and Magnolias” may be the funniest play you’ll see this year.

If You Go

What: “Moonlight and Magnolias”

Where: Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays until Nov. 1

Cost: $35 to $65

Call: (494) 497-2787

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.