Posted on Sep 27, 2007

Bill Finlay

Bill Finlay is always looking for a good fight.

The professor of theater, who specializes in stage fighting, will give a talk about combat choreography on Sunday, Sept. 30, at 1:30 p.m. at Capital Rep, 111 North Pearl St., Albany. About 40 Union students are expected to attend.

Finlay choreographed a scene involving a character who slaps a maid in Capital Repertory Theatre’s production of Moonlight and Magnolias. Finlay’s moment comes at the end of Act One.

The comedy deals with the back story of the making of Gone With the Wind. Three weeks into filming, producer David O. Selznick halts production because he is unhappy with the script. He calls together director Victor Fleming (Wizard of Oz) and screenwriter Ben Hecht. The problem: Hecht hasn’t read Margaret Mitchell’s magnum opus. So it falls to Selznick and Fleming to act out the parts of Rhett and Scarlet.

The closing performance of Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson, directed by Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill, is Sunday at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call the box office at 445-SHOW (7469) or visit www.capitalrep.org.