Review: North Carolina Theatre's STEEL MAGNOLIAS

Set in Chinquapin, Louisiana during the late 1980s, Steel Magnolias takes place in Truvy's beauty salon 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 several of her friends. Among them are the town's rich curmudgeon, Ouiser; 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."

The play is based on author Robert Harling's own family experience, which involved the death of his sister from diabetic complications after the birth of her son and the failure of a family-donated kidney. So he originally wrote about it as a short story to come to terms with the experience. It later evolved into a stage play that premiered at Off-Broadway's WPA Theatre on March 28th, 1987. Since then, Steel Magnolias has been produced all over the world, spawned a 1989 Academy Award nominated film adaptation as well as a 2012 Emmy nominated Lifetime TV movie version.

A beauty salon (which in this production, looks well detailed through the set designed by Benedict Fancy) proves to be a perfect setting for a stage play. After all, employees often do a lot of chit chatting with their customers there for long periods of time. While a good deal of the dialogue is basically exposition, everyone in the cast does a great job of making them feel livelier than they easily could've. Robert Harling also balances out the comedy and the drama in the plot perfectly. Director Lauren Kennedy guides the whole cast through all the emotions running through the characters in such a poignant way.

Steel Magnolias is very much an ensemble piece. All six actresses work so well as a team, that their chemistry together feels so incredibly lived in. Felicia Finley gives a humble performance as Turvy Jones, the glamour technician and owner of the beauty salon. Alison Fraser does some elegant work as the town's former first lady, Clairee Belcher. Kathleen Garrett is tough as nails as curmudgeon Ouiser Boudreaux, who does show a softer side later on. Carly Grissom has a great arc as Turvy's apprentice, Annelle Dupuy-DeSoto. She starts out perfectly naive as she's learning her way around the job. Though later on, she grows more comfortable at work. Meadow Nguy is so lovable as Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, who especially shares such believable moments with her mother, M'Lynn Eatenton, who is played wonderfully by Angela Pierce.

Overall, Steel Magnolias may essentially be a women's story. However, the themes on display are very much relatable to any gender in the world. I think even straight men should easily resonate with this work. North Carolina Theatre's production is currently running at A.J. Fletcher Opera Theatre inside Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts through November 13th.

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