THE FILMING is not going well in Moonlight and Magnolias at Leamington’s Loft Theatre.
It’s 1939 and Hollywood is abuzz. Legendary producer David O Selznick has shut down production of the most eagerly anticipated movie in history – his mega budget version of Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling novel Gone With The Wind – because the script just isn’t working.
While fending off the film’s stars, gossip columnists and his own father-in-law, Selznick sends a car for famed script doctor Ben Hecht – possibly the only person in America who hasn’t read the novel.
He also pulls Victor Fleming from the set of The Wizard of Oz where he has been squabbling with the Munchkins and coming to blows with Judy Garland.
Summoning them both to his office, he locks the doors, pulls down the blinds, and – on a diet of bananas and peanuts – the three men labour over five days to fashion the screenplay that will become the blueprint for one of most successful films of all time.
As well as directing the production, Tim Willis also takes on the role of David O Selznick. Sam Harris is his long-suffering secretary Miss Poppenghul, with Oli Jones as Ben Hecht, and Chris Gilbey Smith as Victor Fleming.
The production of Coventry-raised Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight and Magnolias runs from April 9 to 16.
Visit www.loft-theatre.co.uk for tickets and further details.
