RAHWAY, NJ — During the Golden Age of Hollywood, “fixers” were employed by MGM studios. MGM had more stars than heaven and a fixer’s duty was to do anything in their power that was potentially damaging, so that stars came out unscathed.
“They saved careers,” said playwright Douglas J. Cohen.
“King of the Hollywood Fixers” is part of American Theater Group’s free Monday Night Play Reading Series, on April 14, at 7 p.m., at Hamilton Stage in Rahway.
It tells the story of Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling’s coverage at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, with MGM’s top star, Clark Gable, after a plane carrying his wife, actress Carole Lombard goes missing in the nearby mountains. Charged with managing the crisis and getting Gable back to work, the two fixers clash regarding motives, methods,and morals – while all three fight to survive. It’s a compelling look at the intersections of fame, loss and personal responsibility in an era when image was paramount and few could reveal their true selves.
“It covers material that, for me, really resonates,” said Cohen, a Manhattan resident who grew up in Storrs, Connecticut.
Growing up in Storrs, Cohen met Lillian Gish when she was promoting her book, “The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me.” At 11 years old, Cohen was entranced, learning about the silent era, seeing clips and hearing live accompaniment on the organ. “That hooked me into the possibilities of a classic film,” he said. “That’s when I first laid eyes on Carole Lombard. It changed my life. She was such a great comedian and there was a deity kind of glow to her. That started a mild obsession with her work and her life. I got to know about great stars and Gable. That led me to finding out more about her life and death. That was a part of my youth. I always knew that would remain a part of my life.”
When Cohen and his wife visited Goodsprings, Nevada, outside of Las Vegas, he thought about Gable and the four days he spent there waiting for the news of his wife after the plane she was on crashed.
Cohen said, “I started thinking about fixes and how it originated for these two men who came in and cleaned up everyone’s messes. Eddie Mannix, a general manager, oversaw a lot of financials. Howard Strickling was a newspaper man. They also knew how to alter a story. They paid people off for hit and runs. If people were gay, they made them straight. Gable was the No. 1 star at MGM for over a decade. He was the money-making machine. There was a financial reason for these fixers to fly to Las Vegas.”
Cohen is a 2021 Drama League nominee for Prospect Theater Company’s “Don’t Stay Safe,” co-written with Cheryl L. Davis. He received the Fred Ebb Award and two Richard Rodgers Awards for “No Way to Treat a Lady,” produced twice off-Broadway, including The York Theater, Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Revival, and “The Gig” – Manhattan Theatre Club Stage 2, Goodspeed, American Stage Company, The York Theater concert recording. Other musicals include “The Big Time,” “Children’s Letters to God,” “The Opposite of Sex,” “Bridges” and “Barnstormer.” His memoir, “How to Survive a Killer Musical: Agony and Ecstasy on the Road to Broadway,” was recently published by Applause Books. Cohen is a member of The Dramatists Guild and ASCAP.
The cast features Briga Heelan, known for TV’s “Cougar Town”; Robert Sella, whose many Broadway credits include “Cabaret”; Larry Mitchell, known for HBO’s “We Own This City”; and Mike Giese who has appeared on TV’s “Nurse Jackie.”
Veteran actor, director, producer and teacher Chris Wells will direct the reading. Wells has taught acting at New York City and is a senior faculty member at The Barrow Group. As an actor, Wells has played leading roles on Broadway.
“I forgot to say how excited I am to be working with my cast. They are all wonderful actors with impressive TV and theater credits,” said Cohen.
“Chris Wells is my director who has been so helpful and perceptive during these last couple months of rewrites.”
American Theater Group, founded in 2012, produces new and classic works, primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the reimagining of undeservedly neglected older ones. To learn more about ATG, visit: www.americantheatergroup.org.
Photos Courtesy of Douglas Cohen