MTC Exchanges Leading Lady for Magnolias

Manhattan Theatre Club has officially announced the new Charles Busch play Our Leading Lady, which was expected to begin performances at Stage I on February 17, will not open off-Broadway this season. As previously reported, Ron Hutchinson's Moonlight and Magnolias will instead occupy that slot in the season.

Our Leading Lady focuses on real-life 19th century American stage luminary Laura Keene, who is preparing to appear at the Ford's Theatre on the fateful night when Abraham Lincoln will be in the audience. A spokesperson said that the show will not be seen in New York during 2004-2005, but it will likely find a home at MTC in the future.

In Moonlight and Magnolias, the year is 1939 and David O. Selznick is making the mother of all movies, Gone with the Wind. The cast is in place and cameras are rolling. There's just one problem--Selznick doesn't have a script yet. So he locks himself, director Victor Fleming and script doctor Ben Hecht in a room with little more than peanuts, bananas and a typewriter, and they proceed to re-enact the saga of Scarlett and Rhett.

MTC Artistic Director Lynne Meadow, who was attached to helm Our Leading Lady, will direct Moonlight and Magnolias. "Charles has decided he would like the first production of Our Leading Lady to be done outside of New York City, and we of course, support his wishes. I am looking forward to directing it," Meadow said in a statement. "In the meantime, I am delighted to be working with Ron Hutchinson on the New York premiere of his new play."