Students ready to perform ‘Steel Magnolias’
A scene in the hair salon features many of the main cast members of Wauzeka-Steuben’s rendition of Steel Magnolias. Students’ roles are in parentheses. Standing: Sophia Walz (Ouiser), Elyse Sims (Annelle), Violet Mitchell (Clairee), Sitting: Brooke Mitchell (Truvy), Olivia Colson (Shelby), Molli Hooker (M’Lynn). (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
By Steve Van Kooten
“I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.”
That quote is one of the most famous lines from Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias. Later this month, the ambitious students at Wauzeka-Steuben plan to give the community a lot more than a half-hour of wonderful with their version of the 1987 play.
“I really love this play. It’s really different from our last one, The Crucible, which was darker and scarier,” Brooke Mitchell said. “This one is a bit more light-hearted. It is sad at times, but it’s really about people coming together to support one another, and I really love that aspect of it.”
Mitchell, who plays Truvy Jones, the town gossip, said the story is well known thanks to the 1989 film version starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts. The film grossed nearly $100 million against a $15 million budget.
“I think people might have seen the movie, and that will draw them in. Mr. Zeeh does a great job of putting on a lot of plays, so people already know that it’s going to be something great. Our community members are amazing; they always come and support us no matter what,” she said.
The story, which chronicles a group of women in a southern town, gives students the chance to show their comedic skills along with the melodrama, according to Sophia Walz, who plays Louise Boudreaux, the town curmudgeon.
“There’s a lot more comedy, I would say,” she said. “Although this play has a lot of tragedy, they also have each other to console them, and it’s not necessarily sad. The way they deal with it and move on is really kind of beautiful. You have all of these friends who are so close and yet different in all of these certain ways.”
“It’s funny, it’s sad, it shows kindness, and it shows support and love. It’s just a mix of a bunch of different aspects of life,” Mitchell added.
Steel Magnolias will be Walz’s third school production, after The Crucible and The Sound of Music this past year. She said Boudreaux is a mix of familiar and new challenges for her.
“I always play an old lady,” she said. “I like that she’s very mean and always snobby and kind of in a bad mood. But you can tell in certain moments that she really does love her friends. In past plays, I’ve always had to be all compassionate and kind, and in this one, I can really be big and act big.”
Wauzeka-Steuben’s production of Steel Magnolias will take the stage in the Doll Gym on April 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. and on April 27 at 2 p.m. for a matinee show.
Admission is $5 for attendees five years old and older.
