REVIEW: Laughing Through Tears At Stage Door Theatre’s STEEL MAGNOLIAS
The production runs through April 19th
Any Southern woman worth her salt can drop at least one quote from the classic play-cum-film Steel Magnolias, and now Atlantans of any gender have the chance to catch an excellent production of Robert Harling’s award-winning play right here at Stage Door Theatre in Dunwoody, now through April 19.
Set in the fictional Chinquapin Parish in Louisiana, Steel Magnolias interweaves the stories of six strong women as they mingle, gossip, laugh, and cry at Truvy’s hair salon. Alongside Truvy herself are bride-to-be Shelby, her mother M’Lynn, the meek born-again Christian Annelle, grand dame Clairee, and M’Lynn’s crotchety neighbor Ouiser.
Each woman comes with her own trials: Annelle seeks employment at Truvy’s salon to escape a troubled marriage, Clairee and Ouiser, now both widows, deal with their now-lonely lives, and M’Lynn’s motherly worries go beyond just mother-of-the-bride stressors as Shelby is a diabetic whose health issues cause multiple problems throughout the play. Despite all these trials, the characters consistently band together in the way only gossipy women in a beauty parlor can.
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I will fully admit that having been raised on Dolly Parton as Truvy in the film, seeing Atlanta theatre staple Brittani Minnieweather in the role jarred me at first. A black Truvy? In a modern world where hair types and curl patterns direct what hairdresser you visit, I was curious how the colorblind casting would play out with the both black and white clientele and hairdressers. Atlanta, take this as my public acknowledgement of poor judgment - Minnieweather was a gem.
Another casting matchup that I was wary of was Betsy Graver’s M’Lynn - she seemed much too young to be the mother of the bride. And perhaps she was, but her mother-daughter connection with Alejandra Ruiz’s charming Shelby was so believable that any age difference was quickly disregarded, and her tour de force breakdown at the end of the play left not one eye dry in the house.
More tears were shed for Ruiz herself, the youthful passion to M’Lynn’s nervous tension. She swings the audience back and forth between joy for her hopeful future and despair with her personal struggles. Viewers are lucky that the laughs are plentiful, thanks to the combined efforts of Molly Penny, Christy Baggett, and Tiffany Porter.
Penny’s Annelle is adorably awkward, and Baggett as Clairee is subtly hilarious in the way the best southern matriarchs are. Not so subtle but just as entertaining was Porter’s 80s-era grumpy Karen-figure, Ouiser. She didn’t even make an entrance until halfway through the first scene, and she still stole it.
Stage Door has made the play feel just as intimate and homey as Truvy’s in-home salon in their 125-seat mainstage theater, and it’s apropos that the production would be helmed by an all-woman team. Jenni Baldwin’s set is impeccable, and viewers quickly forget they’re not in a remodeled carport turned salon thanks to her and props designer Caroline Cook’s painstaking details (the hair magazines! The ugly capes! The little crystal container for nail polish removing pads!). The costumes, expertly chosen by Nicole Clockel, also were spot-on eighties fashion, from Annelle’s chunky glasses and sweater vests to Clairee’s shoulder pads and block heels. Credit should definitely go to Karen Spicer, the wig designer who also helped to train the women in hair care as only a beautician could, and both Minniweather and Penny were effortless with their rattail combs and sets of hot rollers.
It’s strange to think that with only four weeks of prep work, this team of creatives and cast could come together to create such a work that speaks to the soul of southern femininity. It is a piece about sisterhood and connection in times both good and bad, a message that is relevant in almost every time and place but is so needed today. Stage Door has given Atlantans a gift with this production. As Truvy says, “Laughing through tears is my favorite emotion,” and audiences will leave this show with tears on their cheeks but a smile in their hearts.
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