Michael B Druxman

The Hollywood Cavalcade Michael B Druxman

THE HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE is the third anthology of plays from THE HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS collection. Unlike the previous two volumes, the trilogy of plays in this offering deals with several people who I met during my years in the film community or got to know. Indeed, my encounters with Edward G. Robinson, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Frank Sinatra at various show business functions may have been brief, but I had several meetings and dealings with George Raft and John Carradine, and in 1979, I designed a publicity campaign for Mickey Rooney, which resulted in the actor receiving an Oscar nomination for THE BLACK STALLION. ROBINSON & RAFT explores the contentious relationship between two actors from totally diverse backgrounds who were among the screen's premier "tough guys". The play is set in the mid-1950s when both performer's careers were at a low ebb. Edward G. Robinson has been "blacklisted" by the HUAC and, after the assassination of "Bugsy" Siegel, George Raft's connections with Mob figures have finally caught up with him. Now, both actors must decide if they want to work together again in A BULLET FOR JOEY, a film that could revitalize their careers. In THE LAST MONSTERS, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and John Carradine gather together in 1956 to appear in THE BLACK SLEEP, the final gesture to the classic horror films of the 1930s and 1940s. Now, as the trio waits on the set to act out their brief, secondary roles, old resentments, personal frustrations and insecurities rise to the surface, wreaking havoc on a troubled picture that is already behind schedule. AVA & HER GUYS, set in 1966, finds a frightened Ava Gardner ensconced in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, avoiding violent actor George C. Scott, who has been stalking her. Now, with a drink in her hand, she revisits the life choices she's made, as well as her relationships with former husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra; billionaire Howard Hughes and other men who have brought her to this fragile moment. The plays utilize simple costumes and props, and are designed to be staged on a single setting with shifts in lighting to denote changes in time and place.