|
Regional Reviews: St. Louis Steel Magnolias Also see Richard's reviews of Dollhouse by Three Manufacturers and Madam
Margery A. Handy plays M'Lynn, and she and the rest of the multi-racial cast dole out their emotions from the center of their hearts. The limited run is only lightly adapted, with a sprinkling of references to 1980s Black culture. And yet it's entirely fresh to our ears, and our hearts. Truvy, the owner of the show's beauty parlor (in Chinquapin, Louisiana) is played by the Joana Dominguez, and Truvy's assistant Annelle is played by Lily Self-Miller. The whole show comes freshly alive thanks to all of them, under the laser-like focus of director Kathryn Bentley. It all runs about two hours and fifteen minutes with an intermission. And knowing Steel Magnolias in advance can help in a couple of ways. You'll see how director Bentley consciously highlights the liveliness of the wonderful Ms. Vallejo as Shelby, a vivacious bride-to-be, in act one (Harling is said to have used his own sister as the inspiration for the character). But her great joie de vivre also means that you really feel her absence in the show's final scene. Tammy O'Donnell's Ouiser brings a kind of "end of the world" finality to her great comic lines. Her speech about tending and harvesting tomatoes (when she doesn't even like them) becomes tract on owning one's own absurdity. Margery A. Handy is hypnotically kind as M'Lynn, elegantly broaching operatic heights of emotion in her final, pained scene. Lynett Vallejo as M'Lynn's daughter Shelby is fully equipped with her own version of perfect love, but it's an emotion that can kill or cure. When a curse first falls on M'Lynn and Shelby, alone in the dark after intermission, it subtly changes Ms. Handy's chemistry. And ultimately strengthens the relationships all across the stage. The splendid Victoria Pines is Clairee, a perfect foil for all of Ouiser's simmering disdain. Tthe lovely set is by Brittanie Gunn, in tones of turquoise and sandstone, with admirable set decoration. The perfect costumes and wigs are by Shevaré Perry, with immaculate light and sound cues by Cheyenne Grooms. Audiences seem to thrive, like Ouiser's tomatoes, on the great relationships that exist inside this famous show. It was made into a movie in 1989, and an all-Black Lifetime TV movie in 2012. Steel Magnolias, produced by Tesseract Theatre Company, continues through August 10, 2025, at the Marcelle Theatre, 3310 Samuel Shepard Dr., St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.tesseracttheatreco.org. Cast: Production Staff: |
