Written by 10:43 pm Newport Beach, Newport Theatre Arts Center, Review

Strong & Tender : Steel Magnolias @ Newport Theatre Arts Center – Review

Written by Patrick Chavis 

Steel Magnolias sounds like the perfect name for either a Guns N’ Roses cover band or a post-punk, feminist rock group. It turns out to be neither (at least I don’t think so). Steel Magnolias is mainly known for the 1989 film with the all-star cast: Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, and more. I could continue because this movie was pumped with as much talent as Ocean’s 11. Before it hit the big screen, Steel Magnolias was a successful play because of its unique take on women, southern life, and death. Newport Theatre Arts Center’s talented cast gracefully pulls you into their southern Louisiana world. There’s no acting here, just six unique women baring their souls on stage. On the surface, it’s a show about a sad event that changes these women’s lives in a beauty parlor. Once you go deeper, the show is about a bunch of Chatty Cathys that love to bicker about anything and everything and have the strength to do it.

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Yara Wilde (Shelby)

The play is set in a shop in Chinquapin, Louisiana, and centers around a lot of different conversations that occur while the women are getting their hair done. The dialogue in this play is funny but not over the top. It’s the everyday humor that pops out at you, and you can’t help but chuckle a little bit. The things that make this show enjoyable are the relationships between the characters and how each one of them interacts with one another. This play is truly an actor’s piece. Just fifteen minutes in, you already have a good idea of where the plot is going, and you know it will be sad. Still, that inevitable sadness takes a backseat to the often funny and whimsical conversations and gossip the characters have.

David Motroni’s direction in this play is fantastic. The conversations happen so organically, and the set was so spot on. It was almost impossible not to become entranced in their gossip.

Leading us into their world, we meet Truvy (Michelle M. Pedersen), the beauty shop owner. Michelle’s Truvy was full of life and created a great foil for all of the other characters to play off of. No one stands out because Yara Wilde (Shelby), Megan Cherry(M’Lynn), Andrea LaVeia (Clairee), Michelle Skinner (Annelle), and Kip Hogan (Ouiser) all equally bring a unique spark to their characters. When I break down the characters, especially Truvy’s character, they don’t evolve much during the story, if at all. It would be easy to say this was a misstep, but I don’t think so. I believe the writer is saying something quite profound about these women. Though they experience quite a few serious issues-a loved one experiencing Type 1 Diabetes, for instance- the gossip is not unlike a shield of armor around the characters that helps them to cope with an unfair world. This thought rings the truest in the scene where M’Lynn loses all hope after hearing the incredibly devastating news. She yells, “I just wanna hit somebody until they feel as bad as I do.” One of the friends, Clairee, quickly recommends Ouiser serve as a human punching bag for M’Lynn to release her aggression, and the tense, sad moment becomes funny again in an instant.   

The play mimics life and sort of rolls over the sad parts of life with comedy. This show doesn’t leave you with a new message or lesson, but there are real moments that will touch your heart enough to make you laugh, and that’s enough. 

January 22, 2016, to February 21, 2016

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My Review
8.2 Overall
Users 9.8 (1 vote)
Story7
Acting7.5
Set & Design9
Costumes10
Entertainment7.5
What people say... 1 Leave your rating
Steel Magnolias
I saw this play last Sunday and it got a well deserved standing ovation. the costumes, the set, the acting by all the ladies and the direction by Mr. Motroni were spot on. this is community theater at it's very best. I would recommend it to all.
January 28, 2016, 8:09 pm
Story9
Acting10
Set & Design10
Costumes10
Entertainment10
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2
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