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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Steel Magnolias Also see Richard's review of Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Robert Harling's memory play (based on the life of his sister) opened Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in March of 1987 and moved to the Lucille Lortel Theatre the following June, where it completed an initial run of over 1,100 performances. Steel Magnolias is two and a half hours long, with a 15 minute intermission. And in many ways this felt like the first time I'd ever really seen the show. I should say that there is one actress who actually does remind me of the '89 film. But we like here–right now–we like her! Susan Wylie looks, and even sounds, like Sally Field this time out on stage. She gets away with it because (like the others) she builds her character bit by bit, taking her own route to M'Lynn's famous final scene. The characters blend together in a way that seems like magic, and the definition of what real ensemble playing should be. But past performances (especially in the movie) sometimes seemed like portraiture–which may just be inevitable, particularly in the medium of film. At Hawthorne Players it's all natural beauty and subtle in-grouping, creating the sense of a secret club for mostly middle-aged women in the American South of 1987. They live in a world dominated by men and football. But hidden away from all that male posing and pretense, their wives and the neighborhood widows privately exchange their outward, worn-out beauty for new. In the process, the cast exposes great inner beauty in a totally female frequency. And just as one mask comes off and another is about to lock into place, a deeper understanding emerges amidst a cloud of hairspray. Or, that would be the normal sequence, were it not for the fact that it's a big wedding day at lights-up. Which somehow also tells you it's going to be great theatre. Therese Melnykov is outstanding as Truvy, the salon owner, and Lily Buehler is excellent as her new assistant, Annelle. The impressive set is by Pippin McGowan. And the highly respected Nancy Crouse does the great costumes. Ms. Crouse and Carol Hodson make for a splendid light comic team onstage as the older women, Ouiser and Clairee. And yet their best comic moments are just the trimmings around this show, in aid of a higher goal. As Ouiser, Ms. Crouse is like some throwback to an irascible frontier woman. And Ms. Hodson is like all the well-to-do moms I knew growing up here in the 1970s, as Clairee, in a way my teenaged self could not understand. Natalie Sannes is the perfect Shelby, girlish and glowing. And weirdly, Methodologically shocking in her diabetic moment in the beauty parlor: scrunching into a vicious little gollum as her blood sugar plunges. The loveliest theatre often demands grotesque little moments like this, as if the hand of fate were jabbing you in the eye. But she takes us through all the twists and turns of being alive and in love. We can feel it from the very first scene. In the end, this Steel Magnolias takes us to where we were truly meant to be all along: perfectly balanced between life and death, and beauty and nature. Steel Magnolias runs through April 6, 2025, at the Florissant Performing Arts Center, #1 James J. Eagan Drive St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.hawthorneplayers.com. Cast: Production Staff: |
