Billboard Women in Music 2025
Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) will reprise her role as movie star Ava Gardner in the play Ava: The Secret Conversations at New York City Center this summer. The play, written by McGovern, premiered in 2023 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
The New York production, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and produced by Karl Sydow, begins performances July 30, with an official opening on August 7. Ava, which will also feature Aaron Costa Ganis as writer Peter Evans, will play a strictly limited engagement through September 13.
The synopsis: “At the height of the Golden Age of Cinema, starlet Ava Gardner sat for a series of interviews with writer Peter Evans for him to glean the juicy details about her life story, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra, and her turbulent relationship to Howard Hughes. Initially barred from publication, Evans’ account of a bygone era was published twenty-five years later with permission from Gardner’s estate and is now reimagined on stage.”
McGovern last appeared on the New York stage in Broadway’s Time and The Conways in 2017. Best known for her role as Lady Cora in the Downton Abbey, McGovern will be seen this fall on in the sequel, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. She also stars in Anne Rice’s The Talamasca on AMC this fall
McGovern said in a statement, “Gardner’s life was one of incredible complexity, and I feel so privileged to step into her world and share her story onstage at NY City Center this summer.”
Scenic design is by David Meyer, costume design is by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design is by Amith Chandrashaker, sound design is by Cricket S. Myers, projection design is by Alex Basco Koch, and wig design is by Matthew Armentrout.
