By SUE SUCHYTA
Truvy’s Beauty Spot serves as the center of small town life in Southgate Community Players’ production of Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias.” The underlying friendships of the six women in the cast drive the dramatic comedy over three years, in the 1980s, from wedding day preparations to loss.
While the plot centers on Shelby, a Type 1 diabetic with challenging health issues, the play follows the other characters, from Clairee’s friendship with the curmudgeonly Ouiser, to Annelle’s transformation from a shy newcomer, to party girl and then a born-again Christian.
Show times are 8 p.m. Feb. 6, 7, 13 and 14 at Davidson Middle School, 15800 Trenton Road. For tickets or more information, call 734-282-4727 or go to scponstage.com.
The cast includes Southgate resident Lara Keathley as Shelby Eatenton; Trenton residents Jema McCardell as Truvy Jones and Kelly Lomas as M’Lynn Eatenton; Wyandotte residents Lonnie Curri as Clairee Belcher and Marie Olsen as Ouiser Boudreaux; and Luci Metzger of Brownstown Township as Annelle Dupuy.
Director Rian MacDonald of Southgate said he applied to direct “Steel Magnolias” because he wanted to work on a show with dramatic and comedic elements.
“It’s more about real life to me, more about serious subjects, but it is also light-hearted, just like life can be,” he said. “I know a lot of people who are just like the women in the show. It struck home to me and I thought it was something I would like to do.
“It’s a good story, it will get (audiences) involved, draw them in within the first scene, and just carry it throughout. Yes, there are sad moments, but a lot of it is still very light-hearted. There is a lot of closeness that really bring the spirit of the show back up.”
He said finding the beauty parlor set pieces was probably the show’s biggest challenge.
Metzger said she tells friends that the show will make one laugh and cry.
She said her character, Annelle, Truvy’s new employee in the salon, is a loving but naïve person.
“She cares about everyone, but she doesn’t always know how to express that,” Metzger said. “She loves being accepted by this group of women after she has had such a horrible past with her husband.”
Olsen, who plays Ouiser, said she loves playing character roles.
“She gets all the funny lines, she gets to be completely goofy and silly, make everyone laugh, and yet she is horrible, awful and endearing at the same time,” Olsen said.
Keathley said she loves playing Shelby, one of the leads, and the role has been on her bucket list for many years.
She said she did some online research about the symptoms a Type 1 diabetic might encounter when their glucose (blood sugar) drops too low, and portraying her character in that situation has presented her biggest challenge. She said she wants to make the character empathetic as well.
Lomas, who plays Shelby’s mother, M’Lynn, brings a unique perspective to the role, having played Shelby with SCP in 1991 in the same auditorium. She also has a 9-year-old daughter, so is familiar with the challenges of parenting.
“So now I am here playing M’Lynn, so that gives me the other side of the coin, and I am really enjoying it a lot,” Lomas said. “But I definitely use my own experiences as a mom to help me get through some of the more difficult moments of the show.”
She said she uses the emotions she feels with her own daughter to get through her intense scenes with Keathley.
“My real daughter often reminds me when I get over-protective, ‘Mom, I am older. I can handle this. I will be OK,’” Lomas said. “I really do think about those conversations so that when I am with Lara, and we are in our mother-daughter scenes, I feel that same tug, that ‘mother knows best,’ but you got to let your baby go and fly out of the nest and go make some mistakes.”
Curri, who plays Clairee, said her character is fun and complex, and a recent widow, with some good one-liners.
“She’s accustomed to being a pillar of the community, and being listened to, and having her opinions valued,” Curri said. “At the same time she’s got this acerbic best friend in Ouiser, and they have a banter going back and forth.”
McCardell said her character, Truvy, who runs the salon, is in some ways a mother to the circle of women.
“She kind of holds everybody together, keeps the peace between everybody, and makes sure everybody is OK,” McCardell said. “It brings the shop in as a character. This is the place where they all are safe, where they feel comfortable, where they feel welcome, where they feel loved.”
She said Truvy brings in some humor and calms things down whenever a situation gets too tense.
“‘Steel Magnolias’ is a perennial favorite,” she said. “Be ready for a good time. The cast is amazing. It is going to be a lot of fun. It is going to be a good night.”
AWARDING-WINNING ‘FENCES’ AT WSU’S BONSTELLE
Guest director Lynch Travis brings August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play “Fences” to Wayne State University’s Bonstelle stage, 3424 Woodward.
Show times are 8 p.m. Feb. 13, 14, 20 and 21, 2 p.m. Feb. 14 and 21, and 3 p.m. Feb. 15 and 22. School performances are at 10 a.m. Feb. 18 and 19.
Tickets are $15 to $20, with $10 student tickets available the day of the performance. For tickets, call 313-577-2960, or go to theatre.wayne.edu.
“It is certainly a privilege to direct August Wilson’s ‘Fences,’” Travis said. “It is without question one of the best plays written in my lifetime, by a playwright that was able to tell stories from the African American experience that resonates with audiences no matter their background or ethnicity. We look forward to bringing you the story of a family caught in the dynamics of a changing world.”