'Steel Magnolias' still shines despite opening-night jitters
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
| • | 'Steel Magnolias'
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through April 15. Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapu'u. $10-$40; discounts for seniors, students, military. 734-0274. |
This is the play's second production at Diamond Head Theatre where, 10 years ago, JoAnne Worley headed a local cast. Sean O'Malley directs and, despite some hesitancy, gives it fair treatment.
The show gets its comic footing from vivid characters and zingy one-liners.
The place belongs to Truvy Jones, played by Stefanie Anderson in a spectacular character transformation from her last role as a crude Irish teenager in ACT's reading of "The Cripple of Inishiman." Truvy's sluggish husband got up off the couch long enough to enclose the carport and make her into a businesswoman. Now she insists there's no such thing as "natural beauty" and takes pride in giving her customers their best alternative.
She also unofficially adopts Annelle (Rebecca Phillips) a gawky young woman with a past, as her assistant. Together they deal with the Saturday-morning regulars: mother and daughter M'Lynn and Shelby (Amber Nicholson and Lisa Young) and a pair of tough old-timers Clairee (Wisa D'Orso) and Ouiser (Sharon Adair).
Laugh lines pile up faster than on late-night television.
"She's so dumb she thought Sherlock Holmes was a subdivision."
"She's playing hard to get, but at her age it ought to be Beat the Clock."
"So a strange car is parked in my garage once a week. My secret's out. I'm having an affair with a Mercedes Benz."
O'Malley also adds scene-stealing visual comedy when Clairee is wound into a thick turban of plastic wrap and Ouiser practices leg exercises on the corner sofa.
But the show's depth comes from the stoic way these southern women cope with life tragedies: failed marriages, uncaring husbands and precarious health. In its final scenes, the play takes a significantly serious turn as old friends lock arms to face real tragedy.
It takes a firm hand to manage all these ingredients, and the staging on opening night was a mite shaky. There were some awkward pauses, lost lines, misplaced focus and general talkiness that undercut the script. Still, enough dramatic value came through to demonstrate why "Steel Magnolias" continues to survive in regional theaters.
Patrick Kelly designs a bold set, and Kathleen Kamakaiwi's hair design gives each character a distinct new look for each scene.
Joseph T. Rozmiarek is The Advertiser's drama critic.
