Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy® Award-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern stars as Hollywood’s original femme fatale Ava Gardner in a critically acclaimed new play lauded by Entertainment Weekly as “mesmerizing and electric!” Ava: The Secret Conversations will make its highly anticipated Canadian Premiere in Toronto this Fall. The production, 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), will play Toronto’s CAA Theatre from November 6 through November 23, 2025.

Tickets for Ava: The Secret Conversations will go on public sale at 10AM on Monday June 16 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.

THE CAST:

Elizabeth McGovern (Ava Gardner, Playwright). Elizabeth McGovern’s internationally renowned career spans theatre, film, television, and music. In 2019, Elizabeth played Lady Cora in the feature film adaptation of the multiple award-winning television show “Downton Abbey,” a role for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy and won a SAG Award. We then saw Elizabeth reprising her role of Lady Cora on the big screen in the sequel Downton Abbey 2, starring alongside Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville. Elizabeth received an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for her role in Ragtime, her second feature film, following her debut in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People while still a student at Julliard. She has worked with John Hughes in She’s Having a Baby, Curtis Hanson in The Bedroom Window and Steven Soderbergh in King of the Hill. Other major film roles have included starring opposite Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage in Racing with the Moon. In 2018, Elizabeth worked on The Commuter with Liam Neeson and later starred in Michael Engler’s The Chaperone which Elizabeth also produced. Elizabeth has performed in both American and UK theatres, winning the 2013 Will Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Other notable productions include Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Sunset at the Villa Thalia, Lindsay Posner’s God of Carnage last year in Bath, The Misanthrope at the Young Vic, Three Days of Rain at the Donmar and David Mamet’s The Shawl at the Arcola Theatre. 2017 saw her return to Broadway in J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways. Elizabeth also recently appeared in the West End premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s The Starry Messenger with Matthew Broderick. Elizabeth was most recently seen on the stage, writing and starring in her own adaptation of Peter Evans’ memoir of the same name, AVA: The Secret Conversations. This wonderful production was also reprised earlier this year at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles. Last year, Elizabeth was seen on the big screen in And Mrs. alongside Harriet Walter and Aisling Bea. Elizabeth will next be seen reprising her role as Lady Cora in Downton Abbey 3. We will also see her star in Anne Rice’s TV adaptation “The Talamasca” as Helen. With her band, Sadie and the Hotheads, Elizabeth has released four albums through Universal Music, and there is a fifth album pending, tentatively titled “Let’s Stop Fighting.”

Aaron Costa Ganis (Peter Evans) is an actor, writer, and director who has worked theatrically at the Roundabout Theatre Company, LAByrinth, Second Stage Theater, The Public Theater, Williamstown, the Geffen and Pasadena Playhouse. He currently recurs on “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” and can recently be seen on TV in “Fantasy Island,” “The Endgame,” “Bull,” “Almost Family,” “Blue Bloods,” “Jessica Jones, House of Cards,” and more. He can be seen in the upcoming Untitled Steven Spielberg Film for Universal and previously in the films Susie Searches, The Noel Diary, Lazy Eye, Monsters and Men and Set It Up. Aaron dedicates this show to June and Rick, his mom and dad. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program, BA: Brandeis University & University of Oxford.

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.

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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

November 6 – November 23, 2025

CAA Theatre

651 Yonge St, Toronto ON

Tickets are available on Monday June 16 at www.mirvish.com

 or by calling 1.800.461.3333 

Performance Schedule 

Tue - Sat: 7:30PM

Wed: 1:30PM

Sat / Sun: 2PM