TELLICO VILLAGE, Tenn. — It’s 1939, and we’re locked in an office nestled in the Hollywood Hills. Victor Lonzo Fleming has a week left of shoots on “The Wizard of Oz” — when, all of a sudden, a big-time producer bursts through his door with a hefty volume and an even more grand idea.

David O. Selznick is hell bent on getting “Gone with the Wind,” a thousand-page epic about life and love in the Civil War, projected onto the silver screen. The idea is so invasive in his mind that he’s not letting his prized director and esteemed screenwriter Ben Hecht leave the office until his vision is seen through … even if that means hysteria and a less-than-nutritional diet during the process.

Based on the creative process that originally got “Gone with the Wind” from page to screen, “Moonlight and Magnolias” recounts the two-week journey and transcription with an air of silliness that masks its social undertones — some of which even bleed into today’s discourse. As zany and spoof-laden as the production can get in its most rib-tickling moments, Director Steve Mayberry says a simple Google search could tell you how much truth there is to be found in between the on-stage gags.


“It’s not all giggles and laughs, there’s some seriousness to it,” Mayberry said. “When you have a farce, you overemphasize and you play it over the top. But then, you have to bring it back, because the audience can only take so much over the top for an hour and a half.”

COMEDY AND COMMENTARY

That push and pull between comedy and commentary is an interesting, yet exciting challenge for this crop of new and returning thespians to the Tellico Community Playhouse. The single-stage, small-cast iteration of the play provides an interesting challenge for its actors, three of whom occupy the set for the entire runtime and one who has at least a dozen different entrances and exits from the show. Actors swerve from passion to madness as their characters get cabin fever wedged between movie lots, and that craziness even helps further define some of the personas they’re trying to portray.

“A lot of the humor comes from [us] bouncing off each other,” explained Gordon Michaels, who plays David O. Selznick. “Sometimes violently. With this small of a cast, the three characters locked in the room are so sharply defined.”

A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK

In adapting a story so closely linked to one of cinema’s crown jewels, the preparation for the presentation of such a play has been daunting. Chuck Hawes, who plays screenwriter Ben Hecht, was a little timid to tackle his specific role of a Jewish writer at a time when the group was facing inequalities in America and injustices abroad.

Coupled with a source material backdropped by ideas like slavery and segregation, the themes and their diversions seemed like a tough nut to crack. Though, everyone involved seems to feel that the subtext is subtle, appropriate and still lingering in modern culture enough to be addressed in an expressionist setting.

But the context isn’t all dour and dreary, as Bill Paxson (Victor Fleming) puts it. If you’ve ever wanted a peek behind the curtain, or to feel like you’re sitting in on a meeting with big wig movie executives, then look no further. The dynamics of the development, as displayed through one of the highest earners in box office history, are hysterical when they act as the springboard of a film full of pageantry and regality.

Especially given its intended audience, there’s a little bit of revelation to be found in moments that are now staples in cinematic storytelling.

“We’ve grown up with older movies like this,” Paxson said. “And this one is just so iconic. Everyone has heard of Scarlett O’Hara, everyone has heard of Rhett Butler — so there are characters that you love and have heard of that you just want to know more about.”

One of those characters, acting as a sort of amalgamation of multiple historical individuals, makes sure to tether the story and audience together on multiple levels. Playing Miss Poppenghul, Denise Steele had little experience with public performance before taking on the role of Mr. Selznick’s spunky secretary. She said her character is a sort of relief for the crowd, letting them breathe upon her many entrances and brace for impact once she exits stage right.

A former stage hand and sound designer for the Community Theater, she said it’s a perfect role for her to dip her toes into the direct dramatics of it all. Poppenghul, in between feeding her male counterparts peanuts and bananas, seems to acknowledge how wacky the whole situation is.

“Selznick really gives it to her,” Steele said about her and her boss’s relationship throughout the story. “But at the same time, she gives it back a little bit so she can maintain her own dignity. I do think there are some comedic parts for [Poppenghul] in the play, but she just hangs in there with everybody else to see that the job gets done.”

Tickets for “Moonlight and Magnolias” are currently available at the Tellico Community Playhouse website, and you can purchase them by going to https://www.tellicocommunityplayhouse.org/. Show dates and times are listed below.

December 4-6, 7:30 p.m.

December 7, 1:30 p.m.

December 11-13, 7:30 p.m.

December 14, 1:30 p.m.

December 18-20, 7:30 p.m.

December 21, 1:30 p.m.