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| Sweet smell of friendship pervades 'Steel Magnolias' By Stacy Trevenon [ stacy@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 11:38 AM PDT In-depth and real characters, skilled writing filled with witty repartee, outrageous humor and devastating loss, regional flavor and universal themes, all make the stage and Broadway classic “Steel Magnolias” come alive in Half Moon Bay through Coastal Repertory Theatre. The production opens Friday for a four-weekend Coastside run, directed by Susan Hopkins and performed by six well-cast and largely experienced actresses. “Steel Magnolias” takes place inside Truvy’s (Hillsborough resident and CRT newcomer Gigi Anthony) beauty salon in 1980s Chinquapin, La. The story, both microcosm and mirror, presents each of six women at different life stages and situations, and examines the nature of friendship and interdependence that unfold under the hairdryers. “It’s not about perfect relationships, it’s about real relationships,” said Hopkins. “Spending an evening with these ladies reminds us of what’s important in life, and helps put our world in perspective.” A spacious set filled with shelves of hair products and salon stations where the “fourth wall” facing the audience is a long mirror into which salon customers peer, is the small-community salon owned by Truvy. Actress Anthony says Truvy strives to be classy while she “cares about her clients’ lives as she does their hair.” Having acted in high school and occasionally in community theater, Anthony applies her thespian instincts to Truvy, who gets emotional support from the ladies at her salon in a town where knowing what’s going on with your neighbor “is just kind of your business.” As the story opens, she is touching up a romantic hairdo for young Shelby (Katherine Hontalas) who, despite the fact it’s her wedding day, is trading barbs with her overly protective socialite mother M’Lynn (Roxane Ashe.) Their relationship, based on love despite their differences in the context of Shelby’s medical condition, underlines the story. “That’s how I talk to my mother sometimes ... but it’s only because they love each other so much,” said Hontalas, who at 22 is as youthful as Shelby. Having appeared with CRT in “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Rocky Horror Show” and aspiring to a professional thespian career, she is tackling her largest role with the local theater. For veteran actress Ashe, playing M’Lynn, on an emotional rollercoaster as mother of the ailing Shelby, “puts me through my paces,” though she admits that the role of Blanche in “Streetcar Named Desire” might be more emotionally complex. To portray what M’Lynn goes through, “I just imagine similar situations that happened to me” though “it’s so lovely to have the opportunity to do this wonderful play.” Humor comes through acid-tongued town curmudgeon Ouiser, whom actress Gail Erwin describes as “out there and funny and very acerbic” but adds that “I don’t want her to be the comic relief — she’s a person and that’s the way she needs to be played.” Erwin added that playing Ouiser is challenging too. “She reminds me of the stand-up comic who has gone through a tragic life. Humor and grouchiness is her way of getting through life and protecting herself.” Another dimension comes with “Miss Clairee,” the millionaire with the sweet tooth played by Charlotte Jacobs, an oncologist also making her debut with CRT. “Medicine and theater are my two loves,” she said, but added that she enjoys playing Clairee, who is starting over after the death of her husband of 50 years. The play’s “issues of life and death and choices and friendship are all universal,” she said. Salon regulars are unsure at first about shy new hairdresser Annelle (Amy Cowan) until they learn she has a story. Annelle too is on a personal journey, moving through phases until she finds balance. It’s a role the actress understands: “I identify with a time when I was in my early 20s, going through extremes to figure out how I felt about things.” She added that the story reflects the Coastside: “That kind of sharing takes place on the same level,” she said. The actresses were assisted by Half Moon Bay licensed hairdresser Anna Aboud, who during rehearsals and in one-on-one meetings showed them the way to do hair “so they would know from experience how to do it onstage.” “Steel Magnolias,” written by Robert Harling, went through its own theatrical journey. It was originally staged off-Broadway, opening in New York in 1987 and in London two years later, and reached Broadway in 2005. In late 1989 it was released by Tri-Star Pictures, adapted by Harling to include the male characters and starring Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts, to whom it brought an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. In 1990 it was commissioned briefly by CBS as a television pilot. For information and ticket reservations, call 569-3266. |