Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias
Written by:
Robert Harling

Written by:

Robert Harling

Directed by:

Matthew Tiritilli

Performance Dates:

Jan. 25, 26, 27, and Feb. 1, 2, 3, 2024
7:30 p.m.

Matinees:
Jan. 27, 28, and Feb. 3, 2024
3:00 p.m.

Tickets CLOSED

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. 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.

Audition SOON

Auditions

Auditions CLOSED

Reviews Of Previous Productions

What makes this play so entertaining is that the script is filled with clever, country-fried witticisms and hilarious, rapid-fire one-liners amidst all the heartbreak.

Bob AbelmanThe Austin Chronicle

You’ve got a sympathetic portrait of a rural Southern town, a comedy entirely populated by female characters and yet gently penned by a man…

Chris JonesChicago Tribune

Harling’s well-paced script is toasty like a Sunday evening by the log-burning fire. It invites the audience into the salon as if they themselves are waiting for an appointment.

Jacob NewburyBritish Theatre Guide

Robert Harling
Author:

Harling never used his legal education: skipping the bar exam, he instead moved to New York City to become an actor, auditioning for bit parts in plays and television commercials, and working as a ticket seller for Broadway shows.

After the death of his younger sister, Susan, in 1985 due to diabetes, Harling wrote a short story and adapted it into a play, Steel Magnolias, which was produced off-Broadway in 1987 to great acclaim and was subsequently translated into seventeen languages.

Harling also wrote the screenplay for the film version of the play that was produced in 1989, starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts. He played a small role in the film as a minister.

Harling went on to write more screenplays: Soapdish (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and Laws of Attraction (2004); he also worked as an uncredited script doctor on a number of films. Harling also wrote and directed the sequel to Terms of Endearment titled The Evening Star (1996).

In the spring of 2012, he served as writer and producer of the TV show GCB, which aired briefly on ABC-TV. In the same year, it was reported that Harling was adapting Soapdish into a musical.