**** Recommended Elizabeth McGovern, who stars as Ava Gardner in AVA: The Secret Conversations, is one heck of an actress. I watched her play Lady Cora Crawley in every episode of Downton Abbey – and all three movies – and she was very good, but somehow dwarfed by the bigger personalities – her mother-in-law, her daughter, etc. – around the Abbey. Seeing her in this role, I see what a great actress she really is. 4 Spotlights
A would-be novelist, Peter Evans (Aaron Costa Ganis), has been moderately successful as a ghost writer. He thinks it’s time to work on his novel. Instead his agent sends him to a hotel room somewhere in London, where he meets the mercurial Ava Gardner (McGovern). She needs money and she thinks a book would be a good way to make some.
If she feels like talking, she does. If she doesn’t, she kicks him out. Meanwhile, Peter gets frequent phone calls from his agent, Ed Victor (the voice of Michael Bakkensen), who wants the dirt on her marriages, especially to Frank Sinatra.
When she did talk about her husbands – Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra – the dialog would change and somehow Peter morphed into a husband. From my perspective this is where the script fell short. There was no real segue, so each time it took me quite a while to figure out what was happening.
Although I’ve never been someone who kept up with stars’ lives, I kind of felt like an avid fan just waiting for the true story to be uncovered.
AVA: The Secret Conversations runs through October 12th at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan, Chicago. Parking is available at a reduced rate in the Grant Park South Garage. A link is available at www.fineartsbuilding.com.
Running time is about 90 minutes, no intermission. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:00 pm with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Tickets range from $40-$170. FYI (312) 753-3210 x102 or www.fineartsbuilding.com.
AVA: The Secret Conversations moves to Toronto next, opening at the CAA Theatre on November 6th. FYI www.avagardnerplay.com