Even as the weather is heating up in the wake of the oncoming summer season, so is the Quad Cities’ theatre scene and one of the exemplary offerings kicking off this warm up is Richmond Hill Players’ current production of Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling. This script is the result of the playwright’s attempt to process his sister’s death under similar circumstances. Many of you may be familiar with the 1989 film adaptation of this script. Trust me, the stage version is better. Making her noteworthy RHP directorial debut, is Megan McConville.
Per the director’s synopsis: The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in…[a small town in] Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle,…the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser,…an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee…and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby,…is about to marry a “good ole boy.
As it progresses we learn that Shelby is severely diabetic and has been cautioned by her doctor that pregnancy would seriously endanger her health and life. Nine months later, after Shelby’s and her husband’s unsuccessful attempts to adopt, Shelby announces she is pregnant; the over-protective M’Lynn reacts poorly. Eighteen months after that we learn Shelby is in kidney failure and scheduled the next day for a transplant from M’Lynn as the donor. Tragedy ensues.
McConville’s casting hits pay dirt. Jessica Moore as Truvy is big and bold, Megan Abell nails the shy and overly pious Annelle, Pam Kolbre as Miss Clairee is adorable, Leslie Day’s Shelby is yet another feather in her cap of the diverse roles she’s played and a testament to her acting range, Heidi Hamer’s Ouiser is volcanic, full of energy and hysterically funny; Suzanne Rakestraw’s M’Lynn is both tender as the “helicopter” mother and she absolutely explodes in emotion in her final scene that literally brought me to tears. The chemistry between these women is palpable and results in a 24-carat performance. And this, my friends, is what live theatre is all about.
Steel Magnolias continues at Richmond Hill Players Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Thursday through Saturday, June 5 through 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 8 at 3:00 p.m.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.