Community Theatre of Emporia

Steel Magnolias

Community Theatre of Emporia’s production of Robert Harling’s ‘Steel Magnolias‘ directed by Nancy Boyce will be presented at 2705 W Highway 50 next to Price Chopper in Emporia May 6th, 7th, 8th & 20th, 21st, 22nd at 7:30pm with matinee performances at 2:00pm May 9th & 23rd.

Starring – Stacey Hoover, Myrna Stephens, Tonya Starr, Jan Borst, Gayle Whitsitt, Pat Sutton, Jim Stukey, and Dan Leach.

The Story

The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.