By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Steel Magnolias
Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?
With the production that is currently being featured at People’s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, peopleslight.org), it’s a little of both.
“Steel Magnolias,” which is running now through February 22 on the Steinbright Stage at the theater in Malvern,
“Steel Magnolias” is a hilarious and heart-wrenching American classic.
The reigning ladies of a small Louisiana parish spend Saturday mornings at Truvy Jones’ beauty parlor – a ritual that goes back decades.
The roster of actors features five friends who have been staples in each other’s lives for as long as they can remember along with a newcomer – a young hairdresser who has recently moved to Natchitoches and been hired by Truvy.
Janis Dardaris, who portrays Clairee, the widow of the town mayor, first appeared at Peoples Light in 1974.
Marcia Saunders, who plays the grumpy wisecracking Ouiser, has been a Company Artist since 1976.
Claire Inie-Richards, who plays Shelby, young nurse and newlywed, has been a Company Artist since 2015.
Susan McKey, who plays Shelby’s mother M’Lynn, has been a Company Artist since 1988.
Terri Lamm, who plays Truvy, has been a Company Artist since 2015.
In case you haven’t been counting, that’s five actresses and 162 years.
Then there is Brynn Gauthier, who like Annelle, is the “New Kid on the Block.”
Gauthier, who plays the role of the recently hired hairdresser, is making her People’s Light debut in this production.
“It’s the older group and the new girl,” said Gauthier, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “It’s like the story of the play. These actresses really work together well.
“With this cast, acting was a part of their vocabulary. People want to see ‘Steel Magnolias’ because they’re so attached to these characters.”
The show begins with Truvy and Annelle getting Shelby ready for her nuptials. Shelby and M’Lynn talk about preparing for the wedding.
Ouiser, as usual, is grumbling about things. Clairee comes in after attending a dedication ceremony honoring her late mayor husband.
Annelle has little to say about her past but eventually shares how her husband had taken off with her money, her car, and her jewelry.
“Truvy has a line that laughter through tears is her favorite emotion,” said Gauthier, who got an undergrad degree in drama at Vassar and an M.F.A. at New York University Tisch School of the Arts (also Aubrey Plaza’s alma mater).
“Audiences like to laugh and audiences like to cry. This show has that. It’s like watching your favorite episode of ‘Friends.’
“The women in this play form a community together – the way they hold each other – the way they cry and laugh together sharing themselves with each other.
“They are all so different and they all have fun together.”
Five of the six cast members in this show at Peoples Light have been acting for a long time. The sixth is just getting started after finishing her education.
“My mom was an actress, and she met my dad in New York,” said Gauthier. “I always wrote plays and performed then when I was a kid. I watched Shirley Temple movies and re-created them for my parents.
“I went to the Denver School of the Arts for middle school and high school. I was a theater major. We did plays every fall and spring.
“At Vassar, I spent my junior year abroad at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. We’d have classes from 10-6 and research from 6-10.
“After Vassar, I went to NYU’s Tisch School and then remained in New York after I graduated. I became part of the extended theater community in New York.
“I think I always knew I wanted to be an actor. When I went to the Royal Academy of the Arts, I became completely sure that I was meant to be an actor.”
Now, she is plying her trade with five other theater veterans who also were meant to be actors.”
Video link for People’s Light — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zICXuBNoPuY.
“Steel Magnolias” will run now through February 15 on the Steinbright Stage at People’s Light.
Ticket prices start at $59.
With bone-chilling weather set to be with us for a while yet, attending a theater production is a good way to spend an evening – but not so much at theaters in Philadelphia.
With shows at the Academy of Music, Miller Theater, Forrest Theater and Walnut Street Theater, parking can be a problem – a four or five block walk to the venue and parking fees that start around $25.
Fortunately, this is not a problem at two of the top theaters in the Brandywine Valley – People’s Light and the Candlelight Theatre. Both feature free parking and a short walk from the parking area to the theater.
The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is presenting “The Producers” now through February 22.
“The Producers” is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It is adapted from Brooks’ 1967 film of the same name.
The story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a Broadway musical designed to fail. Complications arise when the show is a surprise hit.
The humor of “The Producers” draws on exaggerated accents, caricatures of Jews, gay people and Nazis, and many show business in-jokes.
Tickets, which include dinner and show, are $77.50 for adults and $35 for children (ages 4-12). “Show Only” tickets, which have limited availability, cost $35.
