Due to popular demand, David and Hannah Mirvish are thrilled to announce an additional week of performances for the highly anticipated Canadian premiere of Ava: The Secret Conversations, written by and starring Elizabeth McGovern as Hollywood’s original femme fatale Ava Gardner.

This critically acclaimed new play, lauded by Entertainment Weekly as “mesmerizing and electric”, is making a three-city tour. It played in New York in July and Sept, and is now in Chicago, before coming to Toronto, November 6 to 30, at the CAA Theatre.

The production is directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway: Hand to God, Present Laughter) and produced by Karl Sydow (Los Angeles: The Last Ship, UK: Noises Off, The Light in the Piazza). Tickets for the new block (November 25 – 30) for Ava: The Secret Conversations are now on sale at www.mirvish.com  or by calling 1.800.461.3333.

In 1988, the Golden Age of Cinema’s Ava Gardner sat for a series of interviews with journalist Peter Evans that were to become the basis of an autobiography. There was lots of material to cover – her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra, her turbulent time with Howard Hughes, and the more than 50 films she made. Gardner’s relationship with Evans was tempestuous, and Gardner decided to write her memoir alone. Evans kept his notes and transcripts of those interviews and 25 years later, with permission from Gardner’s estate, he published the interviews and told the story of his time with Gardner. The book received rave reviews – Maureen Dowd in The New York Times called it “mesmerizing.”

Now, Evans’s book is reimagined on stage, adapted by the star of the show herself, Elizabeth McGovern, and also starring Aaron Costa Ganis as Peter Evans.

The creative team includes David Meyer (scenic design), Toni-Leslie James (costume design), Amith Chandrashaker (lighting design), Cricket S. Myers (sound design), Alex Basco Koch (projection design), and Matthew Armentrout (wig design). The Production Stage Manager is Avery Trunko. General management is by Pemberley Productions.

Elizabeth McGovern and Aaron Costa Ganis in

Ava: The Secret Conversations

Written by Elizabeth McGovern

Based on the book The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans & Ava Gardner

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel

Produced by Karl Sydow

CAA Theatre

651 Yonge St, Toronto ON

November 6 – 30, 2025

Tickets are now available www.mirvish.com  or by calling 1.800.461.3333

Performance Schedule:

Tue - Sat: 7:30PM

Wed: 1:30PM

Sat / Sun: 2PM