By Cindy Whitehair
What do a successful career woman, her 20-something daughter, the widow of the former mayor and a curmudgeonly retiree have in common? They all have the same stylist at the neighborhood beauty salon. A slice of their lives, joys and sorrows are the subject of Steel Magnolias, presented by the LaForge Encorce Theatre Company in Tooele. The play takes place in Truvy’s Beauty Salon in Chinquapin Parrish Louisiana and follows the lives of Truvy (Pamela Giles), her newly hired employee Annelle (Jessenia Dustin), Clairee (Kimberly Wicker), M’Lynn (Emma Thomas) and her daughter Shelby (Sara Weber) and M’Lynn’s neighbor Ouiser (Carol LaForge.) Steel Magnolias started out as a short story based on the real-life experiences of playwright Robert Harling as a way to cope with the death of a family member.
I went with a friend of mine for a girl’s night out. We ended up getting there a little late due to road construction and not knowing where the auditorium was at the Tooele High School. However, as soon as we sat down, we were struck by the set. The set designer was not credited in the program, which is a pity, because that person deserves high praise for such a well-designed set. It truly had the look and feel of a small store front beauty salon. We were drawn in instantly. The lighting and sound were without many of the glitches and dead spots that you find in most community theatre – which is an accomplishment in and of itself. The ’80s music at intermission (and on the radio in the salon) helped keep the carefully crafted mood of the show in place. Technically, this is a beautiful show.
Co-directors Glen Carpenter and Carol LaForge did a fantastic job getting their actors to become as close as the people they were playing. You really felt like these ladies WERE best friends and confidants – not just playing the parts on stage. Everything about their actors movements on stage felt “real” and not staged.
There are simply not enough superlatives to describe the ladies in this cast. Their Southern accents were pretty spot on (I have friends in Lo-z-ana and from other parts of the South enough to know). Pamela Giles’ Truvy was the perfect mother hen to her clientele and new employee, sharing in their joys and sorrows as if they were her own. It was a treat watching Jessenia Dustin’s Annelle grow from an unsure girl who “may or may not be married because my marriage may or may not be legal” to a woman who has control of her life. Kimberly Wicker’s “Clairee” (if you can’t say anything nice….come sit next to me) transition from newly widowed to woman in her own right (remember that this was the ’80s and women of a certain age were taken care of by men their whole lives) was something I witnessed in my own mother after she and my father divorced. Carol LaForge’s Ouiser had me in stitches every time she was on stage – in part because I can almost see myself being her in fewer years than I care to admit. Opinionated, not willing to take from from anyone, and still willing and able to laugh at herself, Miss Ouiser was a scene stealer.
However, it was M’Lynn and Shelby that the story revolved around. Emma Thomas’ M’Lynn could be my friend that I attended the show with. My friend is the mother of a daughter with Type 1 diabetes and is as hyper-protective of her diabetic daughter as M’Lynn is of Shelby. The most tender moment of the show for us was in the first act where Shelby, while getting ready for what should be the happiest day of her life (and the most stressful) crashes. My friend has seen that daily and I have seen it often enough to know that Sara Weber nailed it. It was literally like watching it happen in real life – and watching the ladies in the salon scramble to get juice and candy to bring her blood sugar back up….yeah – been there, done that.
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Steel Magnolias is performing at the Tooele High School (the auditorium is at the back of the school by the football field). Performance dates are June 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22 and 23. Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office and are $10.00 each.
LaForge Encore Theatre Company
Tooele High School
301 W. Vine Street
Tooele, UT.
http://laforgeencore.org/
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