Interview with Moonlight and Magnolias Director, Andy Barnicle

Q: What made you want to do this particular play?
A: I saw the premiere at the Old Globe in San Diego some years ago, and I felt that one day it would be a good fit for me and Laguna Playhouse. I'm at my best with comedy that has heart, and this one surely does. The story of the creation of the screenplay for Gone with the Wind also reveals some interesting things about the ethnic tension in Hollywood in what we usually refer to as the "glory days." Maybe they weren't so glorious after all.

Q: This is based on real characters and a real situation. What challenge does this pose on you and the actors as far as being authentic to history?
A: The play is actually Hutchinson's speculation on what happened. He has altered the actual circumstances slightly in order to create a unity of time, place and action so that the pressure of finishing the project is greater on the characters. My research has shown that, in actuality, the trio of main characters took nearly a week on this job, they were only holed up in Selznick's office for one long day and then came in for regular workdays after that, and they only finished the first half of the movie so that Selznick could begin shooting again. Otherwise, most of the circumstantial facts are true. I think enough time has passed that most folk don't carry an actual memory of the physical behavior of Hecht, Selznick and Fleming, but we are seeking actors who won't completely betray type.

Q: How much research on the real life people involved in this play will you and the actors do? Will there be a group screening of GWTW for actors and crew?
A: I have read whatever biographies and auto-biographies exist about these characters. I suspect that I have retraced Hutchinson's research steps, because I found the source material for many of the lines and ideas in the play. There's a lot of material, especially a collection of Selznick's daily memos, which were prolific, which sometimes Hutchnison quotes.

Q: The play reads at times like a rapid fire Marx Brothers-style movie, and the overall feel is very comic. How difficult is it to stage/direct this kind of play?
A: The difficult task here is to stage the farcical moments in balance with, or outgrowths of, the serious ideas. Creating comedy that seems possible will allow the motivational forces behind these real people to manifest themselves. If we go too far in either direction we will have a problem--a really slick farce that doesn't allow for the human urges underneath, or a too serious play that has occasional bizarre and unlikely behavior in it. All in all, the theory is to find out who the people are and what they want in order to justify the extreme behavior. These men have needs so great, and there is so much at stake, that they are driven to extreme behavior. If this extreme behavior gets disconnected from its need to exist however, what results are cartoon characters who are difficult to invest in.