Aqua City Actors Theatre will conclude its 2017‑18 season — Maine, Manners and Mayhem — with the comedy “Moonlight and Magnolias” by Ron Hutchinson. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, June 1 and 2, 8 and 9 and at 2 p.m. Sundays June 3 and 10 at Studio 93 at The Center, 93 Main St. in Waterville.

“Moonlight and Magnolias” is set in 1939. This comedy-farce imagines the rewriting of the screenplay for the much anticipated film “Gone with the Wind,” based on Margaret Mitchell’s popular novel.

The case of "Moonlight and Magnolias," from left, Joe Klapatch, Randolph M. Jones and Peter Diplock. Photo courtesy of Aqua City Actors Theatre

From left: Karen LaPlante, Peter Diplock, Randolph M. Jones and Joe Klapatch in a scene from "Moonlight and Magnolias." Photo courtesy of Aqua City Actors Theatre

Legendary producer David O. Selznick has fired the director of his new epic and shut down production, because the original screenplay simply doesn’t work. While fending off the film’s stars, gossip columnists and his own father-in-law, Selznick sends for screenwriter Ben Hecht and pulls director Victor Fleming from the set of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Locked in Selznick’s office for five days, the three men hysterically act out iconic scenes from the novel and labor to fashion a screenplay that will become the blueprint for one of the most successful and beloved films of all time.

Directed by Michael Jinbo, the play features a quartet of veteran ACAT actors: Randolph M. Jones as Hollywood producer David O. Selznick; Peter Diplock as screenwriter and newspaperman Ben Hecht; Joe Klapatch as film director Victor Fleming; and Karen LaPlante as Selznick’s secretary, Miss Poppenghul.

General admission tickets cost $15 for adults; $10 for senior citizens and children. Tickets will be available at the door and can be reserved in advance at acattheatre.org.

Related Stories