"King of the Hollywood Fixers" – Free Play Reading Series

Monday, April 14, 2025 @ 7:00pm

Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065

American Theater Group (ATG) in partnership with Union County Performing Arts Center’s Free Play Reading Series resumes with King of the Hollywood Fixers by Douglas J. Cohen. In January 1942, MGM “fixers” Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling converge at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas with the studio’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 over motives, methods, and morals—while all three fight to survive, reflecting the struggles of Hollywood and the nation amid war and rising fascism.

Veteran actor, director, producer and teacher Chris Wells (Broadway: Titanic, Crazy for You) will direct the reading, which will feature Briga Heelan (Broadway: Once Upon a One More Time, TV’s Cougar Town), Robert Sella (Broadway: Side Man, Cabaret), Larry Mitchell (TV’s Paterno and Zero Day) and Mike Giese (Triptych, The Barrow Group).

Join us and experience this exciting new work. While the reading is free, donations will be gratefully accepted.