LA Production of “Ava: The Secret Conversations”

“The more I looked into her life, the more I fell in love with her. I think there are a few reasons for that. One of them is she is such an authentic person. She was somebody who carried herself with actually quite a lot of humility. Yet she was incredibly smart and obviously so unbelievably beautiful. I think one of the things that appeals to me about her is that she lived her life, in every decision she made, as a feminist, as a progressive person politically, as a very intuitively bright person. Yet she was never a someone who ascribed to any sort of cause. Her gift to the world was her life and her personality, even beyond the scope of her work as an actress.”

– Elizabeth McGovern –

My daughter, Ava Silver, and I traveled to Los Angeles on April 13th for Opening Night of Elizabeth McGovern’s play, Ava, The Secret Conversations, based on Peter Evan’s book of the same title. Opening Night was the official North American premier of the play and was for benefactors of the non-profit Geffen Theater and special invited guests. Our friends from Seven Jars Distillery and Winery traveled with us having shipped dozens of bottles of Ava’s new sparkling wine, Celebration and Ava’s award-winning bourbon, the Ava Gardner Select Bourbon. Everyone loved the Ava beverages, and every drop was consumed over the course of the evening. The evening began with an hour and a half reception at the Geffen Theatre and ended with an after-party at the W Hotel on Hilgard Avenue, just a couple of blocks from the theatre. The cast was present at the after party and everyone had a wonderful time.

Critics and reviewers have hailed the play as totally entertaining, and we certainly agree. We absolutely adore Elizabeth. Her personality reminds us so much of Ava’s personality. She is genuine, warm, and friendly. She and Ava would have been great friends had their paths crossed. The play is evolving, being somewhat different than the version at The Riverside Theatre in London in March of 2022.

(Left) Trustees Ava Thompson and Ava Silver enjoyed Ava Gardner spirits at the reception and also enjoyed meeting other play goers. (Right) After the play, the two Avas enjoyed connecting with Elizabeth.

Our favorite aspect of the play is the robust humor. This would also be Ava’s favorite part of the play since she never took her celebrity too seriously and she possessed a wonderful sense of humor.

The stage set and the costumes were great. Much research went into the period correct set by David Meyer. It was the drawing room of Ava’s London residence at 34 Ennismore Gardens and her bedroom. We think the set design captured the essence and elegance of Ava’s Knightsbridge second floor flat. The costumes by Toni-Leslie James were just right. I imagined the clothing to be what Ava would have worn. The costumes captured the glamour of “old Hollywood.”

(Left) Elizabeth McGovern in character as Ava Gardner. (Right) Playbill, flyer, and ticket stub from the LA production of “Ava: The Secret Conversations.”

One must realize this is not biographical. It is Elizabeth’s interpretation of the circumstances surrounding the work done by Peter Evans and Ava towards creating her autobiography as described by Peter in his book, The Secret Conversations. One could take the same book and develop an entirely different play. The core of Elizabeth’s writing process is the relationship that develops between Peter and Ava.

Elizabeth refers to this relationship as a journey of intimacy. She saw it as a metaphor for the journey one takes when beginning a romantic relationship. I can only speculate about the kind of intimacy that Evans was seeking, but for Ava, it was an intimacy of friendship. Her autobiographical recordings reveal, without a doubt, that she wanted to be friends with Peter and his family. She stated she wanted to be invited to dinner at Peter’s home and to meet his wife and children. There were many families in London where Ava was a close friend. Two of these included the Lionel Jeffries family, and the Paul Mills family just to mention a couple of these family friendships.

Seven Jars Distillery and Winery shipped numerous cases of Ava Gardner Select Bourbon and dozens of bottles of the Ava Gardner Celebration Sparkling Wine to the Geffen Playhouse. Every drop was happily consumed by the end of the evening. The spirits were served at the opening reception and at the after party. Everyone had a great time.

The intimacy of friendship certainly includes trust and love, although not romantic. In the final analysis, the friendship Ava was seeking was not achieved. However, the flirtatious and romantic behavior in the play, although fictional, certainly makes for good theatre. Elizabeth has informed us that, “It was my idea that Ava revisits the great loves of her life… The romantic scenes are… with Frank, Mickey, and Artie… I’m counting on the audience to make an imaginary leap” as Aaron Costa Ganis morphs into each of Ava’s husbands.

Elizabeth also explores other themes in her play including the price of celebrity and the nature of biography. The greatest cost of her celebrity status was the lack of privacy and intrusions into her personal life contributing to her decision to move to Spain, a bold and courageous decision. Ava informed us, “As someone who has been there and back what I’d really like to say about stardom is that it gave me everything I never wanted. What you have to understand about me, honey, is that I’m a normal human being just like any other. Sanity is more important to me than celebrity any day of the week, and I consider my personal life to be my own affair.”

We were delighted that Cecilia Peck-Voll, Gregory Peck's daughter, and her nephew, Christopher and his wife, Nandi, could join us for the play.

Although inescapable, Ava never let her celebrity status define her simply because she never took it too seriously. She traversed life’s disappointments and victories with a formidable grace and style, always landing squarely on her feet, always being grounded. Only Ava defined herself. Her celebrity did not define her. At her core, she was always the humble, loving child of the rural South.

As revealed in the autobiographical archives, she frequently found herself at odds with Peter Evans. He was under pressure from the publisher to get Ava to “dish the dirt” about her husbands and her co-stars. Ava flatly refused saying she did not want to hurt anyone or cause their families any pain.

Later in the week, we enjoyed visiting with Carmen, Cecilia and her nephew, Zack. Carmen was Ava's housekeeper and companion in the London years. We had tea and Carmen made an apple cake for the visit. So good! Ava taught her how to cook and passed on many Gardner family recipes.

Ava was very clear with Peter about the autobiography. She flatly and aggressively told him that it was “her f---ing book and she would write it just like she damned well pleased!” And that is certainly the nature of autobiography: whereas, a biographer seeks to deliver the facts in an unbiased way.

Aaron Costa Ganis as Peter Evans did a wonderful job and was able to steal a few scenes. We met him at the after party and he is such a nice fellow in person. He and Elizabeth seem to have a genuine chemistry. He certainly had a challenging role playing four different characters: Peter Evans, Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. As the play unfolded, he morphed into each of Ava’s three husbands. His role showed each of these marriages to be toxic. It showed that Ava had the strength to walk away from these marriages rather than staying and becoming a victim. We are most grateful that the marriages were portrayed for what they actually were.

(Left) Visiting Ava's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Middle - Our partners from Seven Jars Distillery, Scott McClure and Velda Ratcliff, joined us for a day of sightseeing. (Right) Also partners from Seven Jars Distillery, and trip sponsors, Sandra and Del Ratcliff had fun seeing all the Ava spots.

I don’t know why Ava repeatedly made statements about being in a position of financial hardship. I have no doubt that she said, “I either write the book or sell the jewels. I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.” This statement has been extensively used in most of the publicity for the play. Speaking as a Trustee of her estate and a member of the family, I can report that Ava was not broke. Her total worth would have enabled her to live very comfortably for many years beyond her death. She established her Trust in 1986 providing funds for her two surviving sisters, and since 1986, she has contributed just under two million dollars to her legally established beneficiaries. In today’s money, two million may not be considered very much, but in Ava’s time it was an impressive charitable sum.

She was always under pressure to work from her business managers. They also expressed concern over her spending and her generosity. I think her huge medical expenses after her stroke also caused her to be concerned about her finances. As for the jewels, she did in fact sell some. She said that she no longer had occasions to wear them, and the cost of keeping them in secure storage and providing insurance was too high to make it worth keeping them. She did retain her most loved pieces. The statement about selling the jewels is exaggerated by Ava herself.

This was an amazing "fine dining experience " at Spago, the flagship Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the heart of Beverly Hills. So many courses of delicious food and such great attention and service! Our friends from the Seven Jars Distillery made the evening just perfect!

Was she really a “whiskey soaked, chain smoking woman” in the last years? The answer is clearly no. She enjoyed a glass of wine in the late afternoon and sometimes had sherry before bed. Her interviews with Evans took place at 4:00 in the afternoons, and he often shared a glass of wine with her. She held her cigarettes without lighting them. Sometimes, as revealed in the recordings, she became frustrated and lit her cigarette if she could find a lighter. Carmen, her housekeeper, did not want her to smoke, so she hid the lighters. After her stroke, she did not chain smoke but did succumb at times.

We had a wonderful chance meeting with our sweet friend, Karie Bible, tour guide at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and host of the YouTube show “Hollywood Kitchen”, at the famed Roosevelt Hotel where the TCM Classic Film Festival was underway!

I applaud the play! Elizabeth’s clever handling of several themes makes for great, entertaining theatre. It showcases Ava’s irrepressible spirit and her strength of character. It showed that she lived life on her terms, and her story will always be hers and belong to no one else. Her courage and strength make her victorious over her toxic marriages and the Hollywood studio system. Hollywood created the legend, but it was owned by no one but Ava herself. She wrote her own story.

Elizabeth believed Ava to be a role model for a certain way to live; boldly, courageously, independently, kindly, compassionately, and generously. Leaving the play, we are left with the belief that Ava marched to the beat of her own drum. This viewer, having been very close to Ava, is grateful for the humorous elements of the play, the portrayal of the toxic nature of her marriages, and the fact that she emerged victorious over the challenges of her life.

Bravo Elizabeth! Hold onto your hats Ava friends and admirers! It isn’t over yet!