Annie Potts, Becky Ann Baker, Mary Pat Gleason & More to Star in Alliance Theatre's STEEL MAGNOLIAS this Fall

The Alliance Theatre has announced the cast and creative team behind its upcoming production of Robert Harling's STEEL MAGNOLIAS. The quintessential story of family and friendship, this moving Southern classic tells the story of six complex women sharing life's ups and downs in the safe-haven created in a home beauty salon.

The STEEL MAGNOLIAS creative team is led by Director Judith Ivey. Ivey, a two-time Tony Award winning actress, in 2012 directed sold-out staged readings of STEEL MAGNOLIAS in New York and Los Angeles to celebrate its 25th anniversary, benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The six dynamic women in STEEL MAGNOLIAS will be depicted by Becky Ann Baker (Broadway: Good People, TV: Girls) playing the cheerful, straightforward Clairee, Mary Pat Gleason (TV: The Guiding Light) playing the delightfully cantankerous Ouiser, Deirdre Lovejoy (Broadway: Lucky Guy, TV: The Wire) playing salon owner Truvy, Annie Potts (Broadway: Pippin, TV: Designing Women) playing the steady M'Lynn, Sarah Stiles (Broadway: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) playing Truvy's newest beautician and new girl in town Annelle, and Zoe Winters (Off-Broadway: 4000 Miles, Much Ado About Nothing) playing the glowing newlywed Shelby,M'Lynn's daughter. Stiles and Potts were both part of Ivey's 2012 New York STEEL MAGNOLIAS benefit, with Stiles reading as Annelle and Potts reading as Truvy.

"This community of women is such a delightful and touching story to tell. It truly is an ensemble play for if we didn't have one of the six there would definitely be something and someone missing in the story," said Director Judith Ivey, "Their histories deepen this story beyond its surface of humor and teasing. The intelligence of that humor is based on those histories and relationships. It really is a love story celebrating the woman as well as the human being."

Members of the STEEL MAGNOLIAS creative team include Set Designer Michael Yeargan (Broadway: The Bridges of Madison County, South Pacific), Costume Designer Joseph G. Aulisi (Broadway: Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Broadway Bound), Lighting Designer Liz Lee (Alliance: The Whipping Man, God of Carnage), and Sound Designer Kendall Simpson (Alliance: Warrior Class, In Love and Warcraft).

Performances for STEEL MAGNOLIAS are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm, October 22 - November 9, 2014. Opening Night is October 29, 2014, at 7:30 pm. There will be no 2:30 pm performance on October 25.

Tickets start at $25 and are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office in person or by calling 404.733.5000. Tickets are also available online at www.alliancetheatre.org/steelmagnolias. Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 404.733.4690. Discounted rates are also available for members of the military, seniors, and students. The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, at the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS is part of the Coca-Cola Series on the Alliance Stage. STEEL MAGNOLIAS is also supported by The Home Depot Foundation.

Photo by Walter McBride