RSC Presents a Fabulous One-Person Show Channeling Ava Gardner
by Stan Jenson
Usually when I see that a company is presenting a one person show, my first thought is, “Oh, they’re trying to save money.” Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner, which recently spent an all-too-short weekend at Revolution Stage Company (RSC), completely shattered that ill-conceived assumption of mine. The 90-minute tour de force, written and performed by Alessandra Assaf, held 100% of my attention throughout. The piece was co-written by Michael Lorre and directed by Michael Sheppard, and like any great piece of theatre, it appeared effortless.
In 1974, Ava Gardner was cast in the disaster movie Earthquake, an assignment that she felt was definitely beneath her, but she was 55 and sultry vixen roles weren’t coming her way. Twelve O’clock Tales is set in her spacious dressing room at Universal where she waits to see if she will be needed again during the day’s shooting. She occasionally speaks to her unseen and unheard assistant, Reenie, who assumedly is seated behind the last row of the audience. She sometimes speaks to a portable cassette recorder, and occasionally speaks on the phone, but, as I sit at my keyboard, I’m trying to analyze how the magic of the performance was achieved – and the performance was magic indeed!
It seems that most one-person shows rely on imaginary sets. Not so with this one. The well-furnished dressing room is visible as we enter the theatre. My eyes roamed over all the delicious playing areas: a chair set next to a small table holding a phone and a cassette recorder; a stool next to a stack of shoe boxes; a bar with a martini shaker and a couple of full booze bottles; a sofa center stage; a loaded costume rack; and a desk with chair. I think that the numerous playing areas were part of the key to why this show works so well. 90 minutes with one person speaking can be a long time, but Ava stage left mixing numerous martinis and Ava stage right deciding on whether she should deign to answer the phone give a great deal of variety that we don’t get with one person standing center stage.
I suppose the initial question is, “Did she look like Ava Gardner?” For the first minute or two I thought, “Attractive actress, black hair is absolutely correct, close enough on the face” but after that initial analysis, I totally forgot that I was watching a talented impersonator. I was watching the confident yet insecure, talented, insane, foul-mouthed movie star Ava Gardner wandering around her dressing room telling stories about husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, George C. Scott, and of course Frank Sinatra. Ava could probably teach the proverbial sailor how to swear. There was no emphasis or surprise as she described her previous husbands as “c*ck s*ckers” or worse. We were listening to Ava Gardner and of course that’s how she would talk. I can’t count the number of martinis she poured nor the number of cigarettes she lit, but on reflection, every drink, every smoke, every move was carefully planned and expertly executed by this astounding performer.
The greatest disappointment of the afternoon didn’t come from the stage; it came from the audience -- or lack thereof. In a town that worships movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, this was an incredible opportunity to meet one of them up close and personal, yet there were only 25-30 people in the lush and numerous seats at Revolution Stage Company. One of the great strengths of this relatively new theatre company is the number of productions they present in a month. I attended this show on a Saturday, at the 2 p.m. matinee, and there were three shows that followed on the same day, including a reprise of Twelve O’clock Tales with Ava Gardner at 7:30 p.m. (and I can’t imagine a performer doing a 90-minute monologue with such a range of honest emotions twice in the same day!).
The number of productions is also one of RSC’s liabilities. Everything I have seen there has been between “Very Good” and “Incredible,” but as convenient as it is to see great entertainment on non-traditional theatre days, I suspect that Revolution is still drawing from the same group of theatre cognoscenti who can only attend a finite number of shows, regardless of quality. The best solution will be to enlarge their audience base, and presenting shows of this quality is the key to doing that. I would love to hear that they are bringing it back in a couple of months, and I’m sure the word-of-mouth (the strongest advertising of all) will come closer to filling the house. This show definitely deserves it!
Revolution’s recent production of Avenue Q was the buzz of the Valley’s theatre scene, and it filled several added performances. I have high hopes for their next show, Witchland, which promises to be a piece of scary theatre. I know that they have several one-person shows on the calendar including Red Hot Mama: The Sophie Tucker Songbook; My Life in a Crack’dNutshell; Truman Talks Tennessee; and the truly delightful Mid-Century Moderns that plays most weekends through March. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out the theatre’s calendar every week or two at www.RevolutionStageCompany.com. Since you’re reading this website, I can guarantee that you will find several “must-sees” coming up at Revolution Stage Company!
RSC is a 501(c)(3) entity dedicated to bringing revolutionary offerings to discerning Palm Springs audiences. For more information or to purchase tickets to Revolution’s plays or other events, go to the Web site, at www.RevolutionStageCompany.com. The theater is located at 611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, in the same shopping center as the Palm Springs Revivals store.
The rest of Revolution’s 2023-24 offerings are as follows:
MID-CENTURY MODERNS plays weekends thru April 7.
WITCHLAND plays February 7 thru March 2.
THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR plays March 8 thru 31.
TRUMAN TALKS TENNESSEE, a one-man play by Broadway veteran JOEL VIG, plays on Mardi Gras 'Fat Tuesday,' Feb. 13 @ 7 PM
PIANO RIOT, a Broadway Sing-Along, alternately featuring musicians JEFF LESSER, JASON WEBER & RON PASS, every Saturday at 5 PM.
BILLIE! BACKSTAGE WITH LADY DAY plays weekends, April 12-21.