Actors’ Mission to present Moonlight & Magnolias in Rock Springs

Before Gone with the Wind established box office records, the making of the film risked going up in smoke much like Confederate Atlanta. An Actors’ Mission press release explains that the upcoming Actors’ Mission production of Moonlight & Magnolias portrays the largely factual account of how a frantic movie producer discarded the screenplay, dismissed the director, and assembled a fresh crew to rapidly whip up a replacement script within seven days.

Shows begin at 7 p.m. on October 1-4 and at 2 p.m. on October 3-4 at the Rock Springs High School auditorium, located at 1375 James Drive. Admission is free, and a complimentary meal will be served one hour before each performance begins, maintaining the group’s tradition to feed the body and nourish the mind. The production includes disturbing historical references, occasional sexual references, and strong language.

Production Background and Return After Sixteen Years

Longtime Actors’ Mission followers may remember the 2010 production of the play. Multiple members of that original team have returned to bring the show to a new audience. Aaron Volner reprises his role as producer David O. Selznick. Revisiting the character has been a fun and rewarding challenge, Volner stated, noting that the words are the same, but life experience over the last 16 years helps inform them. The director from the original Actors’ Mission play has returned as well. Roy O. Hansen stated that he is excited to bring the show back after 16 years, describing it as a humorous take on a historical event about a movie most people know.

Lydia Gomez Connects Role to Late Father

The cast features Aaron Volner as producer David O. Selznick alongside Caleb Michael Smith portraying writer Ben Hecht, Blain Myers acting as director Victor Fleming, and Lydia Gomez taking on the role of secretary Miss Poppenghul. Roy O. Hansen directs the show, assisted by Deb Jensen and Heather E. Pristash. Lydia Gomez has a personal connection to the story that inspired the play, noting that Gone with the Wind was her late father’s favorite movie. Playing in the production has helped bring him closer, Gomez stated. Caleb Michael Smith highlighted the value placed on local artists and community theater in Rock Springs.

The storyline features the daring producer, prolific writer, and ground-breaking director confined inside a space where departure is forbidden until a fresh screenplay for the Civil War masterpiece is completed. With the halted movie production losing thousands every day and the producer limiting intake to brain food only, the characters engage in a peanut- and banana-fueled bender. Because the new screenwriter is unacquainted with the source material, the producer and director act out key scenes, discussing issues of race, nationalism, conflicting expectations of art, and the magic of movies while working to turn a melodrama into a masterpiece.