A first play which met with immediate critical and popular acceptance in its premier production by New York's WPA Theatre. Concerned with a group of gossipy southern ladies in a small-town beauty parlor, the play is alternately hilarious and touching—and, in the end, deeply revealing of the strength and purposefulness which underlies the antic banter of its characters.
"Harling has given his women sharp, funny dialogue…The play builds to a conclusion that is deeply moving." —NY Daily News.
"…a skillfully crafted, lovingly evoked picture of eccentricity in the small-town South…Robert Harling is a new voice in the theatre and the qualities of STEEL MAGNOLIAS suggest he may be an important one." —Drama-Logue.
"…suffused with humor and tinged with tragedy." —NY Post.
THE STORY: 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.
Robert Harling was born in 1951 in Louisiana. Harling is an American writer and film director best known for his play Steel Magnolias. In 1989, he adapted the play into a popular film starring Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, and Sally Field. He originally studied to become a lawyer, but shortly before graduating from the Tulane University School of Law, he decided that acting was the better profession and never took his Bar exam. Harling lived in New York for several years, acting and working as a voiceover artist
LtoR: Sheri Storer as Truvy Jones, Yvonne Alton as Clairee Belcher
and Katelin Stack as Annell Dupuy-Desoto |
Kim Scharlow as Shelby Eatenton and
Shannon Mayhall as M'Lynn Eatenton |
Harling was an aspiring actor when the death of his younger sister inspired him to write the play that remains his most famous work.
Harling has concentrated on working as a screenwriter in subsequent years. He is the author of the screenplays to the films Soapdish (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), Laws of Attraction (2004), and is currently working on the screenplay for the film version of Dallas. He also wrote and directed the sequel to Terms of Endearment titled The Evening Star (1996).
The Cast (in alphabetical order)
Yvonne Alton - Clairee Belcher
Chris Kelecius - Ousier Boudreaux
Shannon Mayhall - M'Lynn Eatenton
Kim Scharlow - Shelby Eatenton
Katelin Stack - Annell Dupuy-Desoto
Sheri Storer - Truvy Jones
The Staff
Rob Scharlow - Artistic Director & Set Designer
Janie & Lou Czarny - Producers
Trish Gonzales - Stage Manager
Karen Jorgensen - Property Manager
Kathy Bruhnke - Costume Designer
Paul Bayer - Lighting Designer
Chris Kelecius as Ousier |
Katelin Stack as Annell |
Kim Scharlow as Shelby |
Shannon Mayhall as M'Lynn |
Sheri Storer ast Truvy |
Yvonne Alton as Clairee |
As seen in The Northwest Herald
By KURT BEGALKA kbegalka@nwnewsgroup.com
In a ramshackle pole barn off Route 47
in Woodstock, a group of actors are making
magic – or, more to the point, “Steel.”
Woodstock-based Marco Woods Productions, Inc. will perform Steel Magnolias Friday and Saturday in
Drendel Ballroom.
Steel Magnolias is about a close-knit
circle of friends who frequent Truvy
Jones’ beauty salon in Chinquapin, La.
Helped by Annelle Dupuy-Desoto, the outspoken,
wise-cracking, Truvy dispenses
shampoos and free advice to all who will
listen.
The cast include Sheri Storer
(daughter of Sun City residents Dick and
Patricia Storer) as Truvy; Yvonne Alton
as Clairee Belcher, the former mayor’s
wife; Chris Kelecius as eccentric millionaire
Ousier Boudreaux; Shannon Mayhall
as M’Lynn Eatenton and Kim Scharlow as
Eatenton’s daughter, Shelby.
Shelby, the prettiest girl in town, is
about to marry a good ol’ boy. When we
learn Shelby has cancer, the news devastates
the group but also unites them.
Scharlow, the daughter of Harmony
Productions actress and Sun City regular
Donna Kaye, has been acting for 15 years.
But she said the range of emotions required
make this role among her most
challenging. She and the cast also had to
hone their Lou’sianna drawls. Scharlow
said she watched movies like the Divine
Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Big
Easy. She also listened to an “accent” CD.
A substantial amount of research also
was required to pinpoint hairstyles,
clothing and furniture popular in the
’80s. Hair Directors in Woodstock
donated a couple of old salon chairs.
Some theatrical slight of hand also
was needed, with the help of a sheer
screen, wigs and a laundry tub to create
the illusion of a customer getting her
hair washed without getting wet.
Sheri Storer, 29, of Huntley, said she’s
made a point of not watching the 1989
movie, which starred Dolly Parton as
Truvy. “It was a little tempting to try and
see what she did with the part,” Sheri
said of Parton. “But I wanted to bring my
own interpretation to the character.”
Sheri graduated from Eastern Illinois
University with a degree in early childhood
education and a minor in theater.
As Christian education director at First
Congregational Church of Huntley, she
orchestrates numerous productions – including
the annual Hobo Show.
“I like to do show after show after
show,” Sheri said of theater. “It’s my
favorite thing to do. It helps you work out
your frustrations and it’s really neat to
step inside someone else’s shoes... I love
to do roles where the character is very
different from myself.”
Six weeks of rehearsing – two to three
days each week – culminated with three
shows last weekend at the Woodstock
Opera House and its first ever performance
at Sun City this weekend.
As the sextet rehearsed the final scene,
it was clear they were these characters.
Their love for each other, their pain
following the death of Shelby, comes
pouring out.
“Everything was fine for a little while,
and the next minute everything went
wrong. It was like dominos,” M’Lynn says.
“We need to deal with it the best way we
know how and get on with it. I just wish
my mind would explain it to my heart.”
Mayhall, 47, of Cary, studied theater at
Illinois State University before embracing
a “starving actor” lifestyle in Chicago
for a dozen years. She became a speech
therapy assistant for District 15 in
McHenry.
But she never lost her passion for acting.
“I love being able to escape into a
character and reveal that person to an audience,”
she said. Clairiee is the town’s
matriarch – whether she wants to admit it
or not. There is an irreverence, an edge,
about her that Alton embraces.
When tragedy strikes one of their
own, the women rally to each other’s side.
They weep. They hug. They pray. And
then they pull together and carry on.
“Most of the time when we see a stage
production, there is a very elaborate set.
But because we are traveling with the
show, we decided to be much more minimalistic
on it,” director Rob Scharlow
said. “Because we have a strong female
cast, I wanted to focus more on the characters...
We’re taking a different approach
with antagonist and protagonist. The
disease is the antagonist. The protagonist
is the six women in the show".
Take a peek at rehearsals
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