
Show Finder
Ava: The Secret Conversations
First Preview: Jul 30, 2025
Opening Date: Aug 7, 2025
Closing Date: Sep 14, 2025
Running Time: 01:30
Playing @
New York City Center - Stage I
131 West 55th St, New York, NY 10019
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!”
The Golden Age of Cinema’s Ava Gardner sat for a series of real-life interviews with writer Peter Evans in an attempt to glean the juicy details about her life story, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra, and her turbulent relationship to Howard Hughes. Initially barred from publication, Evans’ stories of a bygone era were published twenty-five years later with permission from Gardener’s estate and are now reimagined on stage played by “two powerful forces” Elizabeth McGovern as Ava and Aaron Costa Ganis as Peter.
The Golden Age of Cinema’s Ava Gardner sat for a series of real-life interviews with writer Peter Evans in an attempt to glean the juicy details about her life story, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra, and her turbulent relationship to Howard Hughes. Initially barred from publication, Evans’ stories of a bygone era were published twenty-five years later with permission from Gardener’s estate and are now reimagined on stage played by “two powerful forces” Elizabeth McGovern as Ava and Aaron Costa Ganis as Peter.
Show Notes: No intermission
Age Guidance: 12
Audience Advisory: This production contains profanity, discussions of sex and sexual assault, herbal cigarette smoke and flashes of light.
Performance Schedule
Visit nycitycenter.org for full schedule.
Cast
- Elizabeth McGovern
- Aaron Costa Ganis
Written By
- Elizabeth McGovern
- based on the book The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans & Ava Gardner
Director
- Moritz von Stuelpnagel
TDF Tickets Offers:
TDF Member tickets:
Not currently available for this show
Listed at 
Never
Full-price tickets:
$63.00 - $219.00
Accessibility
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Assisted Listening System
Wireless FM assistive listening devices are available free of charge with the presentation of either a driver's license or credit card. Assistive listening devices are available at coat check on the first landing on the east side of the theater. -
Restroom
Restrooms are located on the mezzanine lobby level and are accessible for persons in wheelchairs via the elevator. -
Wheelchair Info
New York City Center’s Mainstage, Stage I, Stage II and Studio 5 spaces are all wheelchair accessible. Seats for patrons with disabilities are available online, by phone, and at the box office. Please advise us at the time of ticket purchase of your particular needs. Locations are available in the first row. -
Box Office
The box office is in the lobby. It is wheelchair accessible. -
Parking
1345 Garage: 126 West 55th Street (212.710.8230, 212.977.7636); GMC Parking: 211 West 56th Street (800.836.6666) -
Seating
The seats in our theater range from 19”-22” wide and are 18” deep. There are armrests on all. They are all joined together, no space between. Some ends have armrests that can fold up for ADA access when wheelchair or walker patrons want to transfer or slide in. Please contact info@nycitycenter.org in advance of your visit if you require accommodations to your seats.










