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Steel Magnolias
AOL DIGITAL CITY Though many men would prefer to be boiled alive
in oil than sit through one of the ultimate "chick flicks," Steel Magnolias,
there is a reason so many woman have responded to it as strongly as they
have. The film was based on playwright Robert Harling's debut theatrical
piece, which the always-innovative Chance Theater is presenting under
veteran director Amanda DeMaio's sure hand. DeMaio, who previously directed
area productions of Unrelenting Relaxation and David Mamet's Sexual Perversity
in Chicago, tackles the tale of six southern woman who congregate at the
local beauty parlor to share sisterly wisdom through joyful and tragic
times. Considering football season is long done, guys have one less excuse
to avoid this, but those who get dragged along by their female friends
may painlessly learn a thing or two about the fairer sex.
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THEATER2K.com Go to any big city in America, and you'll find a strong theater scene. Every night, genres fight for your attention: Shakespeare, improv, domestic realism, musicals, absurdism, queer performance art ... it's a real salad bar. In the suburbs, it's meat and potatoes by comparison. In too much of suburban America, there's only one kind of theater on the menu: the theater of comfort. Comfortable theater is what community theaters across the country produce: drawing-room theater that affirms preconceptions about certain kinds of people, and about the way people should react and think in times of crisis. Comfortable theater is ruled by what playwright Mac Wellman calls "the tyranny of the already known." Suburbia's desire for comfortable theater explains the enduring appeal of Robert Harling's "Steel Magnolias". The huge 1987 hit is now at Anaheim Hills, CA's Chance Theater, a deeply suburban venue that proclaims its dedication to original works but also obviously needs to make money from time to time. Let the register ring. To most people, "Steel Magnolias" is a movie. Julia dies, Sally cries, let's go get a cream rinse. Well, the play isn't too far from the movie, though it's less maudlin. Mercifully, there are no hospital or funeral scenes; its two acts take place on a single set, which is indeed the carport-turned-hairstyling business of one Truvy in fictional Chinquapin, Louisiana. Here six women gather to get their hair done, gossip and trade opinions about everyday life. To most people, "Steel Magnolias" is familiar. Since its story is already widely known, it is thereupon comforting. And there is nothing as comfortable to people who secretly dislike theater as a known story. Several seasons ago, one large Southern California theater (I can't remember whether it was the one north of the 210 or at the end of the 133) advertised a holiday play with the eager claim, "You know the story!" Well, if we know the story, why don't we just rent it? At the Chance, this known story has attracted not only an audience (a capacity house on the night I attended) but also some fine thespians. One of Orange County's better young directors, Amanda DeMaio, applies herself to the task, and her cast includes several terrific actors (Patti Cumby, Mo Arii, Cynthia Ryanen, Tracy Perdue)... Love and heroism are at the essence of Harling's story. The play is a tribute to his sister Susan, who was also diabetic and who died at age 32 after a similarly discouraged pregnancy. He sat down to write a short story on the day after her death, and emerged with a play ten days later... Erika Ceporius plays Shelby with a cheery, confident,
even relaxed optimism that serves the part well. As M'Lynn, Cumby has
to carry about half of the play's drama, and she is splendid, pushing
the envelope of grief without shredding it. Perdue and Arii do quite well
in the more explicitly comic roles of Annelle and Truvy. The consistently
great Ryanen is perfect as the wealthy, yet never haughty, Clairee. Karen
Franson does what she can with Ouiser, and she plays one note well; Harling
basically just has the character show up and be angry in scene after scene.
DeMaio has clearly asked her actors to approach this material reasonably
and evenly, with no schmaltz, and they have. Unfortunately, it is still
the material it is -- tragedy and triumph that, even when well acted,
seems a proscenium removed from the intensity and immediacy of the best
theater.
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ANAHEIM HILLS NEWS Here is a Mother's Day treat not to be missed, "Steel Magnolias" at The Chance, directed by Amanda DeMaio who recently brought us the unforgettable "Unrelenting Relaxation" on the same stage and reunites three of that same play's cast in this original version of the hit movie. The action is set in Truvy's beauty salon in Louisiana backwaters, where the local women gather for the vapid and vacuous rituals of the beauty industry, where discussions center around the merits of blush and bashful pink, but which also serves as a support hub when the going gets tough. Salon owner Truvy brandishes her hairdryer with flourish, aided by her mousy assistant Annelle, a new kid in town with a mysterious story of her own which unravels during the course of the play. The events span just over two years, set a few months apart in four different scenes starting with the wedding of Southern belle Shelby, overshadowed by her formidable mother M'Lynn who frets about every detail of the upcoming do. Color schemes, floral designs and bridesmaids are paramount to orchestrating the Big Day. Shelby has snared a young lawyer from a neighboring city who is not afraid of her diabetic seizures and doctor's advice that she forego motherhood as a consequence. Clairee is the former Mayor's widow, a women of independent means with a good head on her shoulders. Rounding out the group is grouchy Ouiser, who has been in a bad mood for forty years and whose prickly ways hide a heart of gold. The other like to be on her to get her going. Against medical warning, Shelby gets pregnant, adoption agencies being leery of her health problems. M'Lynn is livid, even though her daughter is quick to remind her that all she ever wanted for her kids was for them to be happy. But the baby's birth, if it makes Mother and Grandmother ecstatic with joy, further damages Shelby's already weakened body, wrecking her kidneys. In the ultimate gift, her Mother donates a kidney for her daughter, symbolically giving her life twice only to see her die a few months later. Her circle of friends is there to help her cope with the blow. Life goes on for women. Idle men may be able to wallow in self-absorbed self-pity, but women need to continue to nourish bodies and souls, deal with hair, nails, cleaning and meals in endless therapeutical rounds of busyness. The cast is all excellent in their various roles, Tracy Perdue as insipid, born-again Christian Annelle, Mo Arii as in-your-face Truvy, Cynthia Ryanen as sagacious Clairee, Patti Cumby as the indomitable M'Lynn and Karen Franson as cantankerous Ouiser. Erika Ceporius is Shelby, and, perhaps not coincidentally, was married herself just four days prior to the play's opening, juggling rehearsals with the real thing. Cumby gives a great performance in the climactic scene of rage over the death of her baby girl. The play will make you laugh to tears and bring real
tears a minute later with its hilarious zingers followed by raw emotion.
It underscores women's webbed world of strong, empathetic connection,
be it male bashing or a hot cooked meal in time of need. There may be
no such thing as natural beauty, and women shell out vast amounts in the
elusive pursuit of external good looks, but real beauty is the inner strength
inherent to all women the world and ages over, and we are only kidding
ourselves when we value anything else.
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ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER The actresses shine individually and as a unit, in moments of comedy or drama. Robert Harling's modern classic "Steel Magnolias" is brought to the stage once again, this time by director Amanda DeMaio and the Chance Theatre - and it's the tightest production of the play that I've seen. Set in a beauty salon in the Southern town of Chinquapin, La., "Magnolias" is the quintessential "chick" play, filled with lots of gossip, tenderness and wise womanly advice, delivered by a bevy of rich female characters who epitomize the play's title - tough and beautiful. DeMaio's staging is proficient, but what makes this "Magnolias" shine is her discriminating casting of skilled actresses who know their characters and have their timing neatly pinned together. Patti Cumby (M'Lynn) is particularly good. While the rest of the cast's delivery of comedic zingers is no easy thing, it is Cumby's dramatic moments that really impress - there wasn't a dry eye in the house when she delivered her wailing attack on fate after her daughter's death. On the comedic flip side, Cynthia Ryanen (Clairee) is a knock-out; Karen Franson (Ouiser) is crabby perfection; and the always-pleasing Mo Arii (Truvy) once again delivers a heartfelt, eccentric performance. Big kudos to Tracy Perdue, who creates the first Annelle I have ever enjoyed, and the same goes for Erika Ceporius, who is arguably saddled with the least interesting and likable roll in the production, and yet manages to garner empathy and even fondness for the frail, idealistic Shelby. While the Chance is dedicated to producing cutting-edge
and original works, it does step into the mainstream now and again. Perhaps
too much. Yet, with adept stagings of commercial works such as this, why
split hairs?
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