Steel Magnolias is a beloved comedy-drama about the bond among a group of Southern women in a home beauty salon in northwest Louisiana. The title suggests the “female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel”. Steel Magnolias was directed by Rebekah Price.
Synopsis:
The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength-and love-which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Steel Magnolias Performed February 16-26, 2024 in The Black Box
Cast List:
- ShelbyKaylie Short
- M’LynnJudy Binns
- TruvyKristen Warden
- AnneleMadelyn Salazar
- OuiserKim Hansen
- ClaireeWendy Johnson Richhart
