CAMP HILL, Pa. — After weeks of filming in Feb. 1939 and at $50,000 a day (more than $1M in today's money), production was halted on a film that would become one of the most revered productions of all time.
That film? Gone with the Wind. In fact, producer David O. Selznick hated the screenplay so much that he found screenwriter Ben Hecht (who hadn't even read the book) and swept director Victor Fleming right off the set of The Wizard of Oz to save Gone with the Wind. The trio of men spent the next five days rewriting the entire script.
"It's total chaos by the end of the show," Matthew Golden, who plays Selznick in the film, said. "He's hired Ben. He's hired Vic. They are his helping hands in getting this done."
In the show, you'll find history along with some educated guesses in the comedic retelling of those 120 hours the trio spent locked up together.
"The only people who know the truth are the men who were in the room for five days," Golden said.
And whether you know, love, or hate Gone with the Wind, cast members still believe there's something for everyone.
"It's a very funny show," Gordon Einhorn, who plays screenwriter Ben Hecht, said. "Very witty, a lot of physical humor. They will have a good time."
Opening night of Moonlight and Magnolias is May 13 at the Oyster Mill Playhouse in Camp Hill, Cumberland County. Performances run through May 29.
Across the rest of South Central Pennsylvania, the Ephrata Performing Arts Center finishes its run of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on May 15.
Susquehanna Stage Company opens its production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this weekend.
And coming up next week, we'll preview Man of La Mancha at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster with performances through June 12.