Twelve O'Clock Tales with Ava Gardner at Whitefire Theatre

Twelve O'Clock Tales with Ava Gardner

Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks

Hollywood, California… 1974. On the set of the blockbuster disaster film, Earthquake, Oscar nominated screen siren Ava Gardner is focusing on her first big budget starring role in over a decade. Tucked away in her dressing room bungalow, the “queen of the scandal sheets” does battle with her past. But only a fool would bet against Ava.

Thru - Mar 5, 2023

Sundays: 2:00pm

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Box Office: 818-990-2324

www.whitefiretheatre.com

Twelve O'Clock Tales with Ava Gardner Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Broadway World - Highly Recommended

"...Alessandra Assaf, who enacts the Hollywood icon in 12 O'CLOCK TALES WITH Ava Gardner, the play she has written with Michael Lorre, brings out all of the actress's fire, charisma and messiness. The 80-minute play, directed by Michael A. Shepperd is one of count 'em 50 shows that make up the Whitefire Theatre's Solofest. Can't speak to the other 49, but TWELVE O'CLOCK TALES is more than enough to makes me want to investigate further."

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- Evan Henerson

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...Alessandra Assaf delivers a spellbinding solo turn as one of the most glamorous screen goddesses in Hollywood history in Twelve O’clock Tales with Ava Gardner, now playing Sunday matinees at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks."

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- Steven Stanley

Showmag - Recommended

"...Biographical plays are a good source of learning, and that’s the reason I’m a devotee to such stories. Plus, it’s interesting to see the skills an actor can bring to such a reincarnation. Ms. Assaf’s embodiment of Ava Gardner is credible and, at times, even magnetic. If there’s a complaint to be had with Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner, it’s with the murky relationship with the off-scene assistant with whom Ms. Gardner is supposedly conversing as she sits in her dressing room. Still, what is brought to light is well worth knowing as her views on religion as an unabashed atheist and her passion for civil rights and desegregation are revealed."

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- Ben Miles

Stage Raw - Recommended

"...As Ava, Assaf is a sharply focused storyteller and unflappably glamorous. Even when recounting humiliating jabs from Ava’s first husband Mickey Rooney or horrific abuse at the hands of her former lover George C. Scott, she never drops her carefully curated aura of grace. Assaf luxuriates in every gesture, every word dripping with a dialect somewhere in between a Southern drawl and a mid-Atlantic accent. Twelve O’Clock Tales never quite gives us a truly raw Ava, but maybe that’s the point. Somewhere along the line, Ava from small-town Grabtown, North Carolina was thoroughly consumed by the idea of Ava Gardner, an image larger than life and even more enduring."

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- Taylor Kass

Larchmont Buzz - Recommended

"...Gardner's life story is told in Twelve O'Clock Tales with Ava Gardner, co-written by and starring Alessandra Assaf. It's an extended one-way conversation with Rene Jordan, her long-time personal assistant, and a couple of cassettes worth of memories as Gardner considers publishing her memoir."

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- Laura Foti Cohen

Glamgical - Recommended

"...Through dialogue and blocking, Assaf, Lorre, and Shepperd offer an entertaining and witty piece that brings memories and spicy details of the iconic life of one of the greatest stars of the golden age of Hollywood, when MGM was one of the Big 5 and Louis B. Mayer was at the helm. The play is a window to the star system and the positive and negative consequences that came with it."

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Twelve O'Clock Tales with Ava Gardner at Whitefire Theatre