Hedda! A Musical Conversation at Athenaeum Theatre, Studio Two

HEDDA! A MUSICAL CONVERSATION takes place in the living room of Hedda Hopper, the hat-crazed gossip columnist and political pundit of Hollywood’s Golden Age who has recently returned to the public consciousness as a character in the feature film TRUMBO and in the TV mini-series FEUD: BETTE AND JOAN. Through a series of lively phone conversations, thirteen clever and engaging songs, and chats with the audience, Gabrielle brings to life Hedda’s story…from her Quaker upbringing, to her run as an MGM bit player, to her meteoric rise as the hat-crazed Hollywood gossip columnist. The audience is made privy to: her legendary feuds with Hollywood’s elite; the use of her column to promote her own political and moral agenda; her smear campaigns against Charlie Chaplin and other Hollywood Communist sympathizers; and the Liz/Eddie/Debbie debacle. Scores of her legendary hats live on stage with her.