The life of Hollywood legend Ava Gardner unfolds in the traveling show AVA: The Secret Conversations, starring acclaimed actress Elizabeth McGovern. The Evanston native wrote the piece that will run at the historic Studebaker Theater before moving on to Toronto in November.
The Chicago date follows previous performances in Los Angeles and New York. Ava Gardner was not from these big cities—she was born in Grabtown, North Carolina. She rose to fame after moving to Hollywood in 1941 and she eventually graduated from smaller roles to bigger parts in MGM films. She became one of the top stars in the business and will forever be remembered for Show Boat, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Barefoot Contessa, among many other films. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Mogambo and a Golden Globe for The Night of the Iguana. Gardner authored a book about her life in 1990 titled Ava: My Story and later in 2012, a book was released called Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations based on the notes of Peter Evans. These conversations have now been adapted for the stage by McGovern.
Elizabeth has received three Golden Globe Award nominations and one Academy Award nomination herself. She has carved out a career from such memorable films as Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America and The Bedroom Window. Her portrayal of Cora Crawley on the television series Downton Abbey and subsequent films has brought her more accolades.
She sat down for a brief chat about the Ava Gardner project that has returned the performer to her roots.
Windy City Times: Being from Evanston, Illinois, do you get to visit your hometown while you are in Chicago?
Elizabeth McGovern: I hope so. I always want to make plans, but then doing a play, I wind up waking up feeling exhausted.
WCT: What fascinated you about Ava Gardner in the first place?
EM: I was hooked by the book called Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations. At the end of Ava’s life, she sat down to have a conversation with her biographer as a way to get into the story of her life. It was more about the way that two people would write it, which is a totally different exercise than just a life’s story.
I thought that would take me into some interesting places about what a biography is and that it would raise some questions: How does one sum up their life and what does it all add up to? How does a person face the painful prospect of that at the end of their life? What kind of intimacy would be created with the person who goes on that journey with you and where will that lead the two people?
So you have two people, as well as the subject matter of the biography. That makes it more alive onstage rather than someone telling anecdotes about their past. My hope was that something that functions on all of these levels would be engaging for an audience.
That led me to researching about her and it was not an onerous task to do, because she was a great character study. Watching all of those movies was a lot of fun.
WCT: Is there a book about your life?
ECT: No. [laughs] I can’t imagine that would be interesting.
WCT: I am sure you have a lot of behind-the-scenes stories to tell. Are Ava’s relationships with women depicted in your show?
EM: We don’t get into her sexuality in the show, but of course, I had read a lot about it. I think her relationships were highly sexualized, partly because of how she came of age in Hollywood and something to do with her nature.
I don’t get into whether she was or was not bisexual because my focus was on the three people she married. She does reference some of the women she felt were close to her in the past. I was looking at her relationship with the biographer, and I had to limit the story to her coming to terms with her three marriages, which were to men. There is a lot that I had to leave out, not because it wasn’t interesting, but I had to streamline everything for the sake of the energy of the evening.
WCT: It would make a good movie version of her life or a documentary.
EM: Yes, that would be a different take on it.
WCT: Your co-star, Aaron Costa Ganis, is playing all of the different men?
EM: Yes, he is. It is a challenge and one of the hardest parts ever written, but he does a beautiful job and is fantastic.
WCT: I read the first time Ava met Mickey Rooney, he was in drag. Does Aaron perform in drag for this show?
EM: No. Mickey was dressed up as Carmen Miranda for a movie. That was pragmatically not possible for this show.
WCT: It was known that Ava Gardner went out to the gay bars sometimes. Are you going to Sidetrack, possibly for the promotion Musical Mondays, while you are in town?
EM: I would love to, so hopefully I can while I am here.
WCT: You have played lesbians in the past, such as in The Handmaid’s Tale film. What did you take away from the experience?
EM: That’s a question I have never been asked before. I feel that people are people and love is love. In my mind, I don’t have a big division. For me, it wasn’t different than playing somebody who has a heterosexual inclination. I just approach them as people.
WCT: My gay uncle loves Downton Abbey and the franchise has such a huge queer following. Have you noticed that?
EM: Yes, and it has a big following everywhere. I have no idea what that is about, but I love it.
WCT: You probably worked in a bubble and didn’t know how it would react with fans.
EM: We would disappear on soundstages and work on it, then we would come out to be absolutely shocked that people were responding so much all over the world. It’s what you completely hope for, but you never really expect.
WCT: I am from the generation that loved John Hughes and She’s Having a Baby. It was filmed here, wasn’t it?
EM: It was, and I keep forgetting that.
WCT: Whatever happened to the baby in She’s Having a Baby?
EM: I don’t know, but that’s a good question.
WCT: Do you have another project lined up after this one?
EM: I think I am taking a break, which I am looking forward to.
WCT: How have the results been from the other places AVA has played so far?
EM: It has gotten good reviews, and the production continues to grow even better. We learn something every time that we do it. I am lucky to work with a director who is really helpful in finding the clarity and the precision of the play.
Some of my ideas were muddled at first, and every stop has gotten better. We are at the best version just in time for Chicago.
WCT: How do you get into the mindset to play Ava each time?
EM: I am backstage and thinking about what I should do, but the play starts and it just sort of happens. I think about trying to get into the mindset, but the play just comes to life. I can’t really explain why. I sometimes stand backstage and think I should prepare more, but it’s always okay when it starts.
WCT: I just interviewed Glenn Close for the new Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man and she told me costumes help her become the character.
EM: Oh, that’s true. One of the things I will miss is that we smoked herbal cigarettes and that really helped me because she was a big smoker. We can’t do that in Chicago, so I don’t know what that will be like for me.
WCT: We are sitting here looking at the set being assembled right now from the balcony and it looks beautiful. You can just immerse yourself in that time period. What a great project to work on.
EM: It is definitely fun and entertaining.
AVA: The Secret Conversations spills the tea from Sept. 24 to Oct. 12 at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave. Find tickets at avagardnerplay.com.