I remember Ava Gardner as a glamorous and talented actress from the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was voluptuous and exuded a simmering passion in her onscreen demeanor. I didn't know much about her private life except from the television movie Sinatra (1992) with Jeanne Tripplehorn as Gardner. Peter Evans wrote an autobiography published posthumously in 2013. He listed Gardner as an author, but it was more of an "as told to" type of book. In 2023, Ava: The Secret Conversations premiered in Los Angeles. The playwright is Elizabeth McGovern, who also stars. The play is directed by Morris Von Stuepnagel. The play premiered Saturday at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building.
Ava: The Secret Conversations also stars Aaron Costa as the journalist Peter Evans and all three of Gardner's husbands, Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. The Studebaker is a perfect venue for a bio play of Gardner. The sumptuous red curtains and movie palace decor exude old Hollywood glamour. I wish that there had been more of that in the play. There were numerous projections of the real Gardner from her most famous roles, which still hold the star's hypnotic power.
McGovern plays Gardner with the original Virginia accent that MGM trained out of her with elocution and singing lessons. The play is set in London, where Gardner spent her final years. After she had a stroke, Sinatra flew her to the USA to receive specialized care. The set is a dream apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and movie star accoutrements, including a bar trolley, with brilliant crystal barware. McGovern does a good job of playing an actor who has had a stroke, but other than the character being based on a real person, she did not convey the charisma or petulance of a reluctant star. There were moments when I wanted a subtitle when McGovern swallowed some of the words in the Virginia accent.
Costa is a good actor and does a stellar job of portraying the hyperactive energy of Mickey Rooney. It is like the Andy Hardy character come to life. His portrayal of Artie Shaw yielded new information that I did not know. I did know that Gardner was only married to him for a year after he was married to Lana Turner, but I was unaware of his intellectual abuse and dour existential moodiness. Acosta gave the role real juice, and by doing that, he added another dimension to the world where Gardner existed.
The Sinatra years were given more stage time than the others. It may have been that the marriage was such a scandal or that it lasted longer than the previous two. There is a third character, a voiceover from Evans's publisher named Ed, played by Michael Bakkensen. Ed injects a level of sleaze into the pursuit of Gardner's book. He repeatedly mentions that Gardner once said that "Sinatra was only 119lbs and 19 is cock." I have read that quote before, but it felt unnecessarily salacious and exploitative in the play.
Costa's Sinatra had the best chemistry with McGovern's Ava. The alleged brashness and Jersey attitude come off as sexy and project the Sinatra appeal. It is made clear that Ava was still in touch with Sinatra up until her death. Gardner's projectionres accompany the transitions between scenes. It is a suitable device for between scenes, but the actors' segues anot as smooth as they could be.
I enjoyed the play's insider information angle, even though I think some of it was manufactured by Evans and his agent. I did not read the book and have no interest in doing so. The play was sufficient entertainment about Gardner's life. Ava: The Secret Conversations was written by McGovern as a vehicle for her own talent, but it is a thin slice that could have had more substance. It needs more emotional or comic depth than just gossip and retold quotes. The play got an automatic standing ovation, which seemed more for seeing a film and television star in real life than for the play. I applauded but stayed seated.
Ava: The Secret Conversations runs 90 minutes with no intermission. It is now playing through October 12 at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S Michigan Ave. Tickets available here.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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