Steel Magnolias 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.
I talk with Lindsey Roberts, who plays Shelby, and GCT Executive Producer Brent Davis.
Ostrander nominated Director Amy Hanford has guided such memorable shows as Chicago: The Musical at Theatre Memphis and 13 the Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Harrell Theatre.
Hanford has assembled a stellar cast of women to bring Steel Magnolias to life including Ostrander award recipients/nominees Emily Peckham and Tamara Wright along with stage favorites Louis Levin, Janie Paris, Jeanne Sill and Lindsey Roberts.
Through the support of show sponsors McVean Trading and Investments, LLC, and Gould’s Day Spa and Salon, the theatre is partnering with the American Diabetes Association to raise awareness for the prevention and treatment of diabetes in the Mid-south in addition to the performances.
The cast and crew of Steel Magnolias is participating in the American Diabetes STEPOUT WALK to STOP DIABETES as “Team Steel Magnolias” in the fundraising event being held on Saturday, September 15, in Germantown, TN.
For more information about the walk, visit http://www.diabetes.org/stepoutmemphis.
Steel Magnolias
September 14-30, 2012
By Robert Harling Directed by Amy Hanford
Germantown Community Theatre
3037 Forest Hill Irene Rd, Germantown, TN 38138
Show Dates: September 14 – 30, 2012 Show Times: 7:30 pm Wednesays/Thursdays, 8:00 pm Fridays/ Saturdays, and Sundays at 2:30pm
Tickets: $21.00 Adults, $15.00 Senior & Students, $10 Kids 12 and under
Box Office: 901.937.3023