SHOW PREVIEW
“Steel Magnolias”
Oct. 22-Nov. 9. 7:30 p.m Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m Fridays; 2:30 and 8 p.m Saturdays; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. (Note: There will be no 2:30 p.m. performance on Oct. 25.)
Tickets start at $25. The Alliance Theatre (located at the Woodruff Arts Center). 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta (at the corner of Peachtree and 15th streets). 404-733-5000, www.alliancetheatre.org/steelmagnolias. (Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 404-733-4690. Discounted rates are also available for members of the military, seniors and students.)
“Steel Magnolias,” a funny and poignant Southern classic centering around the remarkable friendship of six women, opens at the Alliance Theatre later this month.
Two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey directs a stellar cast of veteran TV and Broadway actresses, including: Becky Ann Baker (“Girls,” “Freaks and Geeks”) as Clairee; Mary Pat Gleason (“The Guiding Light”) as Ouiser; Deirdre Lovejoy (“The Wire”) as Truvy; Sarah Stiles as Annelle and Zoe Winters as Shelby. Beth Broderick (“Lost” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”) as M’Lynn replaces Annie Potts.
Opening at the Alliance on Oct. 22, Steel Magnolias, which is based on a true story, will run through Nov. 9.
Robert Harling wrote the play “Steel Magnolias” shortly after the death of his sister Susan Robinson at just 33 years of age in 1985. Robinson left behind her husband and their son after years of battling diabetes. At the urging of friends, Harling wrote it all down, creating characters based on his sister, mother and other women in his Louisiana hometown. What began as a short story, a cathartic memoir and a way to provide his nephew (and his namesake) with a sense of his past grew into a beloved play and 1989 film.
Over the years, the play has become an enduring story, a story about life, love and loss, performed countless times — as full productions, as well as readings at theaters across the country.
Ivey, who helmed “Carapace” a few seasons ago at the Alliance, has won Tony Awards for her roles in “Steaming” and “Hurlyburly.” She is perhaps best known for playing B.J. Poteet on TV’s “Designing Women.”
She also directed “Steel Magnolias” as a full production 11 years ago at the Alley Theatre in Houston and more recently directed sold-out readings of “Steel Magnolias” in New York and Los Angeles, benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (Harling was so impressed with Ivey’s Houston production, he suggested she direct the benefit.)
The playwright is quite candid about his respect for Ivey.
“As one of the best actresses we have, Judy is incapable of an unreal moment,” Harling said in an email. “As a director, she brings that same essence of truthfulness to her work on the play. The humor is honest, the characters’ emotions are real. She creates a sense of life onstage that is remarkable.”
Wearing jeans and a long-sleeved pink shirt on a recent morning, Ivey beamed with enthusiasm as she sat down for an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Q: Why do you love this show?
A: Because it's a great American classic. Even though it's set in 1985, and moves into 1987, and we might giggle at some of the hair and clothes, this is such a universal story when it comes to human relationships that never changes. It's about a group of women who care about each other and who live together in this small town, and help each other, tease each other, laugh with each other. It's very real. … These six incredible actresses are incredible artists and I love to watch their creativity.
Q: What is the rehearsal schedule like?
A: It's not too long. It's 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a 30-minute break for lunch. We rehearse in a large room on the third floor.
It works well because it allows time for wig fittings, costume fittings, and hair appointments.
Q: Talk about the work and research you’ve done to get this story right.
A: We brought in a diabetes doctor to make sure diabetes was portrayed properly. … We had (Shelby's character) dealing with being tired, listless during a low blood sugar episode. And the doctor explained she would not be tired. He said she would be agitated, sweating, her heart pounding, so we changed our approach.
We also went to beauty salons, and the stylists were extremely helpful. They helped us with all kinds of things like learning how to put on a salon cape properly to how much hairspray to use. And two of the actresses had to learn to roll curlers on wet hair and how to tease hair to that 1980s big hair look.
Q: For those people who have seen the movie but not the play, is it similar or quite different?
A: It's somewhat dissimilar. There are all kinds of things you can do in the movie, you can't do on stage. We can't put mayonnaise in the hair. You don't get to edit in live theater. The technical aspects will be quite different, and every actress brings a different interpretation. When we think of Ouiser, we think of the cantankerous one. But our actress brings more colors.
Q: Annie Potts dropping out of the show was a big blow. How have you moved forward?
A: That was difficult. It was four days into rehearsal and Annie had had knee surgery and it wasn't healing properly. Beth (Broderick) stepped up and caught up and memorized the show in one week. She saved the day. Also she is 5 inches taller than Annie, so we had to redo costumes and wigs. We were all a bit challenged by this, but it was good that it happened early enough that we had time to adjust.
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