SEQUIM — In a prime example of art imitating life, the cast of Olympic Theatre Arts’ new production of “Steel Magnolias” is fast becoming a tight-knit group as they prep for the stage a familiar and beloved story of the bonds between six women.
“The relationships is what the show is about,” said playhouse veteran Tim Thorn, who leads the production both from the director’s chair and as its set designer.
“One of the big things about this show is finding humor in awkward and awful situations,” he said, noting the women find in each other the support they need but aren’t getting at home.
Olympic Theatre Arts’ “Steel Magnolias” begins this weekend, with 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday showings and 2 p.m. matinees through March 24, with a Free Preview Night slated for 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Fittingly, the show opens on International Women’s Day (March 8).
Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and are available at olympictheatrearts.org or by calling the box office (360-683-7326) between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.
Written by Robert Harding in 1987, the play tells the story of Truvy, Ouiser, Shelby, M’Lynn, Annelle and Clairee, as they explore morality and the theme of “chosen family” within the confines of Truvy’s 1980s-era hair salon in Chinquapin, La.
The play was famously brought to the silver screen in 1989 with a cavalcade of stars (Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah).
And while it’s a film Thorn said he enjoys immensely, he wanted to make sure this cast wasn’t influencing their own takes on the characters by what is on the big screen.
“When I was casting, I told them, ‘We all know the movie. It’s wonderful, but you all need to bring something to it; you can’t play an actor playing a character.’”
With a background steeped in Southern culture — both sides of his family are from the South — Thorn recently directed the Port Angeles Community Players’ production of “Savannah Sipping Society.”
An Olympic Peninsula resident for three years, Thorn is making his directorial debut at OTA; he designed the set for “The Nerd” in June 2023.
“I just keep directing these shows with strong women,” he said.
“I’ve watched my share of ‘Steel Magnolias’ all my life.”
Truvy and Clairee
Jennifer Saul portrays the wise-cracking Truvy, a beauty salon owner where the one-set play is staged.
“It’s been a favorite of mine,” said Saul, pointing to the play’s bonds between strong female leads.
“I like the connection between the women; they’re fairly realistic. They’re so comfortable with each other. They’ve got complete vulnerability around each other.”
The role is a bit of a challenge for Saul, whose Truvy is on stage for the vast majority of the play, doing hair while dispensing her lines.
“I don’t do my own hair, and I think I’ve done daughter’s hair twice in 21 years,” Saul said.
Like the others in the play, Saul has to affect a Southern accent — something she looks to Thorn for: “He envisioned it’s his aunt — the way she laughs and jokes — [so] I have that to aspire to.”
No stranger to the beauty salon milieu, Rebecca Gilbert opened her own hair and nail salon in Port Angeles in August 2023.
“When this play came up, I had a friend tell me I had to play this [part of Truvy],” Gilbert said, but Thorn had her in mind instead for Clairee, an eccentric millionaire.
Gilbert said the shop is like many small-town salons. In polite conversation, three main topics should never get brought up: sex, politics and religion. And what gets talked about? Take a wild guess.
“It [this play] has got it all,” Gilbert said. “Just sayin’.”
Mother, daughter
Sunshine Petersen portrays Shelby, who’s engaged to be married, while Anna Anderson plays M’Lynn, Shelby’s mother and the town’s social leader.
The bitter and sweet tension between the two really makes their relationship click, Petersen said. The two can say terrible, hurtful things at times, but at the end of the day can honestly say they love each other.
“[Shelby] wants her mom’s approval but also wants her independence,” Petersen said.
“I love the story; it’s the theme of found family,” she said. “It’s so integral in each other’s lives.”
A key part of the story revolves around a sickness Shelby reveals partway through the play.
“She wants to live life like there’s nothing is wrong with her; I definitely get that,” Petersen said.
“I love that she wants to make the most of every single moment.”
The role of Shelby’s mother is a full-circle moment for Anderson, who said she played Shelby in a production 30 years prior.
“I’ve been entranced ever since,” she said.
“My character is such a mixture of qualities: she wants to guide her daughter, sometimes somewhat forcefully,” Anderson said.
“[This play] is funny, it is quick, it is charming … and devastating, all at the same time.”
Youngster and trickster
Emily Loucks, who portrays the youngest character in Truvy’s new assistant Annelle, said she had not seen the movie but finds the story both “inspiring” and “heartbreaking.”
“She [Annelle] is a young adult trying to find her place in this world — and she does.”
Rounding out the cast is the acerbic Ouiser, the town’s rich curmudgeon played by Kristin Ulsund.
“She’s ridiculous; she’s the funny one,” she said. “She snarky, crotchety. [But] there’s a big heart under that.”
Ulsund said it’s easy to play the so-called villain, as they tend to have more fun — and oftentimes the best lines. “Steel Magnolias” is no exception.
Among the more popular, she said, are, “I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood 40 years” and “You are a pig from hell!”
Aware of the story since seeing the film at age 13, Ulsund said the play has always been on her radar.
“[There’s] friendship at the heart of it; they are supportive and hilarious,” she said of the characters. “Most of the women in my life can relate.”
Laughs, tears, challenges
As the cast and crew, which includes stage manager Dave McInnes, were prepping “Steel Magnolias,” a spate of illnesses ran roughshod and made some of the rehearsals quite a challenge, Thorn noted.
The production didn’t have a full, in-person crew for a month, he noted, so they did some read-throughs and scenes on Zoom and even had some cast members read their lines in other rooms to keep a healthy distance.
And yet, Thorn noted, the first full in-person rehearsal was sharp.
“That’s a testament to them,” he said.
The play’s director has strategically placed tissue holders across the set — and joked he’d put them in within grasp of the audience — just in case tears fly. And he suspects they will.
“The show will pack an emotional wallop,” Thorn said. “Now, I’m not pushing them in any way [emotionally]. I just know it’s going to happen.”
He said that, per tradition, OTA was offering up selection for its Member’s Choice, and that it came down to three:
“The Importance of Being Ernest,” “The Miracle Worker” and this production.
“I would have been fine with any of them, ” Thorn said. “This is the one I wanted.”
For more about Olympic Theatre Arts, visit olympic theatrearts.com.
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Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.
