By Alix Cohen

“I was never an actress—none of us kids at MGM were. We were just good to look at.”

Ava – The Secret Conversations was based on candid interviews conducted by ghost writer, journalist Peter Evans, between 1988 and 1990. It was published, with estate permission, in 2013. Raw and confessional, the book dishes on the actress’s three husbands and admits her own outrageous behavior. It additionally contains Evans’ personal reflections.

“She was infuriating, bawdy, frank, and unreasonable. She was also kind, affectionate, trusting, and often touching.”
The Secret Conversations

Peter Evans (Aaron Costa Ganis) is writing a novel when talked into working with Ava (Elizabeth McGovern) by his agent. She was 65, recovering from a pair of strokes (not evident here) and nearly broke. Faced with her beauty, he surprises himself by nervously babbling. She eyes him. “How do you want to start, honey?…I either write the book or sell the jewels… and I’m kinda sentimental about the jewels.”

The actress has a mouth like a truck driver, a deep, throaty cackle and the watchfulness of a creature about to pounce. Appointments are made and broken, memory lapses admitted. She smokes, drinks, and swings between imperiousness and self-loathing, frustrating the increasingly invested Evans.

We learn just a little about Ava’s North Carolina past. She adamantly disputes articles calling her family “dirt poor” -they struggled during the Depression- and bemusedly remembers being a tomboy. Evans wants to delve further but the actress can’t believe anyone would be interested and her publisher only wants revelations about men and career.

As each husband is described, Costa Ganis steps into the role portraying a past relationship. McGoven becomes younger Ava. Projections of the men, newspaper articles and old photos of the couple cover the set’s three walls in vibrant color. (Projection Designer –Alex Basco Koch in tandem with Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker) Unusually this works, both aesthetically and in terms of illuminating context.


By Paul Hesse 1948- Public Domain

Mickey Rooney, long a star at 21, is cocky and aggressive to newly arrived, 18 year-old Ava. He immediately proposes marriage, subsequently mounting an all out campaign. “I suppose you could say Mickey taught me how to fuck…” Her husband’s outsized libido readily found additional outlets. One year and four months later they divorced. McGovern’s accent is aptly stronger in this exchange.

Marriage to bandleader Artie Shaw fared even less well at one year and one week. Shaw is portrayed as bullying and intellectually pompous. In her own words, Ava “worshiped” him, but could “never measure up” to his cerebral nature. Much like Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, he regularly derided her. Shaw got a quick Mexican divorce to marry wife #6.

Evans becomes confessor, foil, and provocateur. He needs a scoop. Ava resists being commodified. Tension driving narrative is compounded by her flirting and his attraction. She remains glamorous and fiercely independent. He feels manipulated, seduced, and stonewalled by the star’s capricious moods.

Six months in, Ava finally talks of Frank Sinatra. Evans’ agent wants “the penis story” verbatim. He can’t bring himself to ask. “I ruined Frank’s life. I knew he was married. He lost everything because of me,” she says ruefully. (The scandal eliminated bookings) “Peter, you’re married, walk away.”

The actress didn’t want Sinatra hanging around with gangsters. He was volatile and possessive, particularly suspicious of her decades’ long friendship with Howard Hughes. She was tempestuous. Fights became tabloid fodder. Ava found at least one way to make it up to him securing an important film role for her unemployed mate. (They remained close until her death.)

Evans was fired after Ava discovered that her ex-husband had a past run in with the journalist and was displeased with the project. The play implies that at least two other factors were present- dangerously increasing intimacy and self-criticism, having painted what she felt was an ugly picture.

McGovern’s piece is deftly edited/written. Both characters are three dimensional, both sympathetic. An arc is manifest. Several films are called out to reflect Ava’s lack of confidence and remind us of the power of both her public persona and the work. Colorful details enhance throughout.

In Aaron Costa Ganis’s capable hands, Peter Evans begins ambivalent and grows believably besotted. Change can be visually and emotionally tracked. Frustration and admiration are palpable. The actor wisely channels rather than imitates Ava’s husbands, including a nicely voiced vocal by Sinatra.

Elizabeth McGovern inhabits a proud, mercurial and wounded Ava. She’s less earthy than one might want; we garner less impression of wildness than one might imagine. McGovern is, however, talented and committed. With one exception- a dreadfully fake kiss- she’s credibly seductive. The actress moves like a woman who’s accustomed to being in the spotlight.

Director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel keeps narrative humming along without rushing. Actors are given time to think and react. Proximity and touching are selectively employed. Transitions between ‘real time’ and the past emerge smooth.

Scenic Design is appropriately gracious, though personal touches would have made it more interesting.
Toni-Leslie James’ costumes are spot-on for style, luxe and era.

The play is entertaining and illuminating.

“She was a woman who had been adored by millions, but she was now alone, ill, and frightened. I was her confessor, her sounding board, her punching bag. Sometimes I felt like her last friend on earth.” Peter Evans

1990’s self-curated, posthumously published book, Ava-My Story, is less
profane, more legacy-focused and critiques MGM’s exploitation of her image. The actress approved this one before her death that year.

Photos- Jeff Lorch

Ava- The Secret Conversations by Elizabeth McGovern
Based on the book The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner
Produced with the support of The Ava Gardner Trust
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Through September 14, 2025
Stage I New York City Center 131 West 55th Street
https://avagardnerplay.com/