David DeSorbo of Glenville sees a lot of himself in the fictional person he is portraying in Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight & Magnolias.
As the talented Victor Fleming, who is one of only a handful of directors whose films – Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz — were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in the same year — DeSorbo describes his character as being “someone who cares about turning out a good product, even if you have to be firm about it.”
That is because DeSorbo, who has been teaching 12th grade English at Cohoes High School for the past 25 years, feels a sort of kinship to Fleming. “As a teacher, there are objectives to be reached and sometimes you have to be strict in order to meet them.
“I initially looked into his history to help me get a grasp of who he was,” he adds. “You want to capture the essence of the man and do him justice.”
Widely acclaimed for his use of camera angles and cinematography – the former stunt car driver was assigned to the photographic section for the United States Army during World War 1 and reportedly later served as U.S. President’s Woodrow Wilson’s chief photographer in Versailles, France – Fleming was known as a “man’s director” because of his robustness and love of outdoor sports.
Considering his reputation, he was somewhat of an odd choice to helm the treasured L. Frank Baum fantasy. In fact, he famously slapped Judy Garland during the Oz shoot because she couldn’t stop laughing while filming a scene with Bert Lahr.
And while DeSorbo isn’t an advocate of corporal punishment, the father of two does feel that, if the situation warrants, it is perfectly permissible to be exacting.
“As a teacher, I can be a stern individual in order to meet goals,” explains DeSorbo, who has been married to his wife, Karen, for more than two decades. “That is why I found Fleming’s commitment to his craft commendable.”
Early reviews of DeSorbo’s performance in the show he’s now rehearsing are commendable too. A madcap comedy, Moonlight & Magnolias is about the drama that occurred behind-the-scenes during the making of Gone With the Wind ; the show will be performed by Classic Theater Guild starting next month, on Thursday, April 23rd,, at Congregation Beth Israel on Eastern Parkway in Niskayuna NY.
“Up on stage, you want to create a near perfect illusion,” says DeSorbo. “After work, it is a nice release to be someone else for a bit.”
