Reviewer: Lisa Purchase
Venue: Midland Center for the Arts
At the intersection of Southern charm and soulful sisterhood sits Truvy’s hair salon in the heart of Chinquapin Parish. The solid interior and exterior of the salon are beautifully built on the turntable stage at Midland Center for the Arts little theater, and rotates through the seasons of six women’s lives in Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias, directed by Adam Gardner-Northrop.
Truvy (played by Brooke M. Gomez) hosts, comforts, chides, and generally mothers the motley crew of clients, from the earnest young folks trying to figure out their lives – jittery Annelle (Grace Lutenske) and vibrant Shelby (Amy Delaney) – to the twin terrors that are Claree Belcher and Ouiser Boudreaux (played hilariously by Susie Polito and Ann Russell-Lutenske) … two elderly wealthy matrons of the town who feel free to speak their minds at all times. In the middle of it all sits solid M’Lynn (Ashley Potts), mother to Shelby and as level-headed as they come.
Each of these actresses comes to this show with a wealth of experience and talent, and it is an absolute treat to see these six women on the stage together. Amy Delaney’s Shelby is bright eyed and earnest as she sets out to build her perfect pink-clad life of independence, despite her mother’s best efforts to mother her. Grace Lutenske played anxious, fervent Annelle to cringe-worthy perfection, breathlessly fussing over goofy hairdos and falling on her knees to pray at the drop of a hat. Brooke Gomez’s Truvy was equally quick with a kind word or a good natured jibe, and Ashley Potts was heartbreakingly calm and controlled until she was hysterical with grief at the things she couldn’t control. Susie Polio and Ann Russell-Lutenske are especially wonderful together as Claree and Ouiser, with perfect timing for their petty dramas and catty comebacks (and the occasional middle-finger).
As a long-time fan of the Great Lakes Bay regional community theater scene, it was especially fun for me to see Ann Russell-Lutenske and her daughter, Grace Lutenske, onstage together, While they technically appeared together when Grace was in the ensemble for Mamma Mia!, this is the first real turn they’ve had to interact, trade lines, and have scenes together, and they clearly had some fun with it. Annelle sends Ouiser for a spin in the salon chair with particular glee, and Ouiser rolls her eyes extra at Annelie’s bible-thumping tangents. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s been worth the wait to see these two perform together.
It may surprise viewers who know only the movie version that the salon is the only set and the women in the salon are the only characters. In the original stage version of the play there are no husbands or boyfriends, and no town appears outside the salon. As it turns out, no others are needed. This story is centered on the connection and deep support between these six women – a connection that reaches across age and social class, and goes right to the heart of women’s wisdom, wit, sacrifice, and knowing support for each other.
Full of honesty and humor, heartbreak and Aquanet, this production draws the audience in completely. The house was full of laughter throughout the show, but you could have heard a pin (or tear) drop as we all rode out the grief together in the second act. Which then immediately dissolved back into laughter … “Laughter through tears; my favorite emotion.”
Steel Magnolias runs October 10, 11, & 12, and October 17, 18, 19, & 20, (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, and Sundays at 2:00). The show runs about 2 1/2 hours including intermission. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.midlandcenter.org/shows-tickets/ or by calling the MCFTA box office at (989) 631-8250.