Players open Steel Magnolias this weekend
The Bigfork Community Players will present Steel Magnolias this weekend.
In the stage version of the Oscar-winning movie, the witty repartee that fills the air of Truvy’s
Beauty Shop in Chinquapin, Louisiana, provides a penetrating view into the lives of a few women who define the character of this small, southern town. With Truvy’s guidance Annelle, a lost soul, finds her way and is ultimately saved. Shelby, the girl with something special, willingly forfeits it all for something greater. Clairee, the recent widow of a powerful man, becomes a force in her own right. Ouiser, possessed of a sharp wit and “more money than God,” provides an ongoing social commentary. M’Lynn experiences and reconciles the loss of that held most dear. And we learn that, in both the best and worst of times, in both pain and pleasure, there is comedy. Wild hilarious comedy.
The play, written by Robert Harling and inspired by personal experience, explores relationships among a small group of southern women and how they deal with both the insignificant and the life-changing events they encounter. “I fell in love with the story when I saw the movie twentysome years ago,” says Director Michele Shapero, “and then I read the stage script and fell in love all over again. It skirts the boundary between comedy and drama, and that’s exactly the kind of play I like to do. One where the stakes are life and death and hilarious humor is used as a tool to explore those stakes. Everyone will laugh. Most will cry. And I hope everyone leaves feeling the better for it.”
Shapero has assembled a seasoned cast. Shannon Bagley, last seen in The Odd Couple, plays the initially naive Annelle. Stephanie Venrick, also an Odd Couple veteran, plays the bride’s mother, M’Lynn. Jodie Thole, in a number of Players productions including Drinking Habits and Prairie Heart, plays Truvy, the shop owner who holds it all together. Beth Kornick, best remembered as LillyBelle in Girls of the Garden Club, plays the recent widow, Clairee.
Maggie McGunagle, a cop in last season’s Rumors, plays the good-hearted curmudgeon, Ouiser. And Alice Finlay, fresh out of Exit Laughing with the Whitefish Theater Company, plays Shelby, the center of attention in this story.
Steel Magnolias will be presented at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on October 23 and 24 and at 2 p.m. on October 24 and 25. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $5 for children under 12. Tickets are available at Bigfork Drug, Pocketstone Cafe, Kalispell Grand Hotel, at the door, and online.