Portland Phoenix Theater Review

The Theater Project's fab Steel Magnolias

By: MEGAN GRUMBLING

The Louisiana salon run by Truvy (Wendy Poole) is packed with the stuff of 1980s comfort and beauty: Tab, trolls, and a whole slew of blow dryers. But more than a hair salon, her bright little shop is a hub in the emotional lives of six strong women, in Robert Harling’s much-produced tear-jerker Steel Magnolias. Christopher Price directs a crackerjack cast in a production at the Theater Project.

Over the course of a little more than two years, we track the women’s evolving lives, attitudes, and hair-dos: When we first meet Shelby (Elizabeth Chambers), she’s about to be married; she and her mom M’Lynn (Heather Weafer) talk out the jitters as they get primped by Truvy and her quirky new employee Annelle (Reba Short). About a generation above M’Lynn are the former mayor’s widow Clairee (Kate O’Neill) and the crabby, rich Ouiser (Michele Livermore Wigton), whose name is pronounced “Wheezer.” Together, the inter-generational friends talk their way through women’s perspectives on marriage, empty-nest syndrome, golden-years dating, pregnancy, spousal abandonment, religious conversion, and death — all the while being trimmed, teased, and polished.

Yes, it’s fair to call the script chick-lit for the stage, especially as tragedy works its way in. But in the hands of Price’s virtuoso cast, it’s more immediately an entertaining series of entwined regional character studies, rife with repartee. A quick scan of the cast list is enough to suggest the vitality, intelligence, and hilarity of this production. Chambers, Short, Poole, Weafer, and Wigton have a mighty rapport, won over numerous Theater Project shows together; and O’Neill, who’s acted with Portland Stage and Portland Players, has gracefully become part of the gang. This show’s small-town Louisiana kith and kin are savvy and tart, beautifully convey the passage of time, and never overstate the women’s emotions.

Weafer and Chambers have a great mother-daughter riff, at once teasing and exasperated (Shelby’s Blush and Bashful wedding colors look like Pepto-Bismol to M’Lynne) and deeply affectionate, with much communicated in gazes. O’Neill's Clairee has a nice balance of rarefied and provincial, and Wigton is — as always — a delight in the curmudgeonly character role of Ouiser. Short gives the abruptly born-again stylist Annelle both ingénue qualities and convincingly wacky ones (I particularly love her enthusiasm for her Christmas tree decorations — “white lights, Jesuses, and spoolies!”). And Poole’s Truvy, whose cozy business holds everybody together, is both sassy and nurturing. She and Short also get props for having either consulted with a real beautician or possessing some natural styling abilities, because much of their stage time is spent doing graceful and intricate things to wigs with scissors, curlers, and picks.

Price’s set is absolute eye-candy, and he sure didn’t scrimp on the hair product, curling irons, dryers, and even combs and brushes in that weird blue sterilizing fluid. He’s also rigged up a real shampooing sink, with water, and one of those dryers that your whole head goes into. Such luxury! JP Gagnon, on lights, does characteristically lush work: Outside Truvy’s salon, the blue of the world is in Technicolor.

And there’s a lot of blue in the world of these fierce, coiffed ladies. But luckily, laughs temper much of it. Playwright Harling’s writing is best when it keeps to the wry side of things, particularly as it plumbs the comedic potential of their culture’s minutiae. The women rap about everything from recipes (Clairee’s “cuppa” recipe — a cuppa flour, a cuppa sugar, and a cuppa fruit cocktail — is so rich she has to cut the sweet with ice cream) to the Louisiana Man (whose general repertoire includes shooting, stuffing, and/or marrying).

They do also delve into the sadder stuff, and audience sniffles abounded on the weekend I attended. It’s to the credit of Price’s cast that even the sob parts are accompanied by these ladies’ tough, fetching wit. “The only thing that distinguishes us from the animals,” as Truvy remarks, “is our ability to accessorize.”

Review on Portland Phoenix Site

Coastal Journal Theater Review

Theatre Review - 'Steel Magnolias'

by Marilyn Taylor, Coastal Journal contributor

BRUNSWICK - It isn’t the usual scheme of things when something is perfect.  But that’s the word that best describes the current production of Steel Magnolias at the Theater Project in Brunswick.

The play is impeccably cast, performed and directed. It’s a pleasure to watch from beginning to end, even though the subject matter is not exactly upbeat all the time.

The action centers around Truvy's beauty parlor in Chinquapin, Louisisana and the women who regularly meet and bond there. The drama begins on the morning of young Shelby's wedding and covers events over the next three years. These events include Shelby's decision to have a child despite having Type 1 diabetes and the complications that result from that decision.

Despite the dramatic nature of this underlying theme, Steel Magnolias is a delightful comedy, peppered with colorful and idisyncratic characters. We get a glimpse of the unlikely friendship between millionaire Clairee and curmudgeon Ouiser. We watch as Annelle transforms from a shy, anxious newcomer to a religious fundamentalist. And guiding the ship is the ever stalwart Truvy, dispensing equal amounts of shamppo and advice.  Although the main storyline involves Shelby, her mother M’Lynn, and Shelby's medical battles, the underlying group-friendship among all six women is the glue throughout.

Steel Magnolias began as a 1987 off-Broadway play by Robert Harling based on the author's experience with the death of his best friend, his diabetic sister.  Harling found it difficult to cope with his loss and followed the advice of friends to write about his feelings.  He wisely has his characters utilize humor and light hearted conversations to cope with the seriousness of the underlying situations.

This is a quintessential story of friendship, served up as a slice of life in Louisiana that's as comforting as a mint julep.  In the safe haven of Truvy's beauty salon, six very different women come together to share their secrets and bare their souls. From weddings to divorces, babies to funerals, new beginnings to happy endings, they weather every event in their lives en masse with grace, determination, and perfectly coifed hair. This enduring comedy is a heartfelt celebration of love, loyalty, and the bonds of sisterhood.

Key characters, in some sense, are foils to the main action -- they're witnesses, commentators -- and thus the actors face the challenge of creating enough character to keep us intrigued and yet not distract us. All succeed and it's difficult to pick the strongest.

Michele Livermore Wigton’s Ousier is tough, quirky and funny, and she plays the town harridan with a superb sense of timing. Wendy Poole’s Truvy acts as the hostess, anchor and storehouse of town gossip with absolutely stunning swagger.

The butt of much of the humor is Truvy’s assistant, Annelle, expertly played by Reba Short.  Kate O’Neill provides Clairee with just the right amount of fluffy appeal.

The charms, innocence and naivete of central character Shelby are brought believably to life by Elizabeth Chambers. And Heather Weafer shines as Shelby’s mother M’Lynn.

This is not a production that depends on individual performances as much as on the ensemble working together. Director Christopher Price does a stellar job with this production, proving that the whole is definitely the sum of all its parts.

Review on Coastal Journal Site