Frank and Ava

The story of this segment of the love- and professional-lives of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner is so strong and moving that when the lights came up on the unexpectedly sentimental last scene, the audience started applauding and just wouldn't stop. It's good that there are no lines in that scene, because we wouldn't have heard them over the applause. We had come to care deeply about the fates of this long-dead couple. Playwright Willard Manus has gotten right into the heart of Frank Sinatra (shown at a moment when his career is bottoming out) and actor Rico Simonini grabs hold of every well-chosen word and squeezes all the juice from them. Beautiful Stefany Northcutt's role as Ava is underwritten, but with vocal intonations, facial expression... full review

What a perfect show for this fresh new 3 Clubs fringe venue! The woman playing Eva was hypnotic - though she stumbled over some lines in the preview, i couldnt take my eyes off her. The "Frank" was very comitted and showed nice voulnerability. There were a couple spots where his accent got in the way of his words and he sounded like a muffled mouth Tony Danza but that was only when he was acting as Frank reading from the script of From Here To Eternity and I'm not sure if that was intentional. Anyway, I got the sense that the writer had really studied these characters and though it was repetitive with every scene ends with them kissing, I constantly felt endeared to them as a couple. ... full review

Wow, I was blown away by the writing, acting, and directing of this piece. So far my favorite. This is must see. I really felt these must have been the real conversations between these two icons. Both parts beautifully written and portrayed as they love, dance, and go at each other's throats, then kiss and make up. Surprisingly moving. ... full review

Playwright Will Manus is slowly becoming recognized as a local treasure in L.A. His plays are shown in venues throughout the city, and he seems to specialize in hour-long pieces that hold the audience's attention to the end. Frank and Ava is no exception. As someone who has met Ava Gardner, and just completed a book of Conversations that I did with her in 1988, I knew a lot of her stories about Frank Sinatra. Will Manus has got it right. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship that couldn't work because they were too similar in temperament. Sinatra was at a low point in his career, and hers was at its zenith. The actors capture the events in their lives accurately, and as the play warms up, so do they. It's tough to try to portray such iconic ... full review

This is a gem. Well-performed, well-written, well-produced and well-directed, Frank and Ava offers us glimpses into the lives of two icons we only thought we knew well. It's a brilliant marriage of piece and venue with nuanced and committed performances. Sitting in booths, cocktail in hand, makes the audience feel like we just heard Frank at a secret gig. Truly appreciated the care with which the Sinatra numbers were chosen to bridge scenes.... full review

This was very well done. The venue was perfect for the setting. Loved the costumes. I did not like how the audience was encouraged to come and go during the scene changes. The show is short enough that everyone should sit and be quiet. The producer should start the show on time so that we can get to other shows with more time.... full review

For ratpack-Hollywood-in-the-'50s geeks, this is your cuppa. Helped by the tawdry fragrance of old Hollyweird that can never be scrubbed away from the wonderful Three of Clubs bar on Vine Street where Frank and Ava is staged, the play explores the troubled love relationship and careers of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. Bookended by a Sinatra soundtrack the characters are soaked with booze (the sound of ice cubes clinking in the actors' glasses was ever-present throughout the show.) Though they appropriately slur out their noir-ish dialogue, at first I was mildly irritated by what seemed rather imitative badinage and by the fact that the gorgeous Stefany Northcutt playing Ava seemed to be acting for an intimate camera and didn't match her act... full review

I went not expecting to much, because two character plays are usually hard to pull off,and then when I finally found the venue at 1123 Vine St, I was more turned off. You enter in this rowdy bar. There was loud talking and two females laughing loudly and hysterically like laughing hyenas, and they didn't let up. I asked the guy taking reservations, where the theatre was, and he pointed to a door right next to all this going on in the bar, and I was sure I'd would be hearing more of the bar than the play. Well, that was the bad part, but when I finally got in this beautiful little intimate space, it was like Alice going into the Looking Glass.It was charming with tables on the top and seats around the set of the living room. It was the ... full review

I was a little bummed when I learned that the understudies would be performing this afternoon, but I was surprised at their level of performance. They were engaging and believable and especially in the Three Clubs setting, they brought me back to Frank and Eva's tumultuous times... Bravo! I'm going back to see Stefany and Rico... Can't wait!!! Jim Clemente, Tech Advisor, Writer, Criminal Minds... full review