Steps To The Stage
Steps To The Stage
'Steel Magnolias': Friendship & Resilience in a Southern Salon
What happens when the joys and sorrows of life unfold in a Southern salon filled with laughter and tears? Join us on Steps to the Stage as we welcome director Dona Rice and cast members Stephanie and Jessie, who bring "Steel Magnolias" to life with remarkable warmth and depth. Dona shares a heartfelt synopsis, highlighting the resilience of Southern women against the backdrop of this beloved classic. Stephanie and Jessie, who portray Ouiser and M'Lynn, offer a peek into their characters’ journeys, navigating the complexities of friendship, love, and the ever-evolving mother-daughter bond. Together, we explore the layers of humor and drama that make this story timeless and distinct from its famous film adaptation.
Set against the comforting embrace of a salon in Chickapin Parish, our conversation celebrates the enduring spirit of female friendships weathering life's unpredictable storms. We discuss the importance of crafting more roles for women in theater, especially for older actresses, while reflecting on the personal connections we all share with these characters. With insights into the creative set design that captures an authentic 1980s vibe, we reveal the collaborative magic behind the scenes. Don't miss this episode brimming with heartfelt insights and the inspiring determination of unforgettable characters.
Steel Magnolias runs weekends Jan. 10-25th
Purchase tickets at: https://chinocommunitytheatre.seatyourself.biz
or call 909-590-1149
$15 Student/Senior/Child
$18 General Admission
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Welcome to Steps to the Stage. A 7th Street Community Theater podcast.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to Steps to the Stage, the community theater podcast, where we talk to the professionals you know and love. I'm your host, marci, and today we are talking about Steel Magnolias. I have three of my friends here Donna, stephanie and Jesse. Welcome to the show, all three of you. If you would like to introduce yourself a little bit further, please go ahead.
Speaker 3:Sure, I'm Donna Rice. I'm directing Steel Magnolia. So excited to be doing that.
Speaker 4:I'm Stephanie. I will be playing Louisa.
Speaker 5:And I am Jessie Pyle. I'll be playing Malin Eatonton.
Speaker 2:Welcome all three of you to the show. Thank you. How are you today? Great, and you, yes, I'm doing wonderful. Thank you for asking so. For people who are somehow unfamiliar with Steel Magnolias, donna, would you mind giving a brief synopsis or introduction to the show?
Speaker 3:You bet it's just a lovely story that comes out of the author's lived experience. He had lost his sister to the effects of diabetes after she had a child, and he grew up in the South among a group of very resilient, resourceful, bright and alive women, and so he wrote this play, a sort of cathartic through his own grief journey, but also in celebration of all of these women, including his sister. And so the story is of these six women in this small southern town, of various ages, but they all center in the beauty salon, truvy's Beauty Salon, sometimes called Truvy's Beauty Spot, where they all gather to have their hair and their nails done and to talk about their life's journey and passages. It crosses about two years in time and centers around young Shelby Edenton, who was getting married at the start of the show, and her mother, malin, played by Jesse, who's here with us today, and then their friends and whatnot in this little community.
Speaker 2:Stephanie Jesse, would you mind each talking about your characters a little bit?
Speaker 4:Okay, weezer is probably the more the comic relief. She is an older Southern woman and has a lot of opinions about things and has been through a lot of things and like most Southern women she's got that Southern mentality. She grows vegetables. She's kind of a Serbic and, you know, will give zingers here and there and kind of maybe seem a little grumpy at times but she's got a heart of gold and loves her friends and you know and will do anything for them. And of course Shelby is almost like a granddaughter in some ways, so it's a lot of fun playing her.
Speaker 2:Jessie.
Speaker 5:Sure, malin is the glue that holds not only her family together but tries to hold so much together in her life, and so one of her greatest challenges is as her daughter, who she has really nurtured from the get-go, starts to have her own life and her own experiences and wants to live out her own dreams, her own experiences. And wants to live out her own dreams not having the control that she so dearly wants to have. And I can very much identify with some aspects of that personality and also the alternative the dreams and the desires and the wants, and so it's a beautiful balance to be able to bring this character to life, who really wants what's best for everyone and yet can never seem to get exactly what she wants, because control is not something you actually have in life.
Speaker 2:True, so these are very strong characters. Yes, what is that like sort of as an actor, sort of tackling a denser story like this and sort of working in sort of the characterization of these people?
Speaker 3:Great question.
Speaker 5:Well, I think when we got together on this, we naturally kind of found our own give and take on the stage and we're still finding moments, obviously because it's a very short rehearsal process that we've had. But what is beautiful is that we have definitely hit on the kernel of friendship early on and the amount of love that we share for each other I think is palpable in every rehearsal room, in every meeting that we've had. And if you cultivate that, as Donna has, in the rehearsal process, and you have talented people at every role as we do, people at every role as we do, myself included. No, very true, and I'm glad you said it, but if you have that, then you really can't go wrong with such a beautifully written story. I mean, I get choked up immediately thinking about this story as it winds its way through dreams and hopes and loss. So I look forward to bringing that to the stage and I know that our cast is going to deliver a very powerful play. Yes, definitely.
Speaker 4:And I know a lot of people are familiar with the movie version and I've talked to a few people who have never seen the movie version and personally I had never seen the stage version until after I saw the movie and I encourage people to go see the stage version first, if they have not seen the movie, because the movie obviously has a lot of star power and the characters we're playing are somewhat different, because we're reinterpreting them in a different way, because our group is a different dynamic, we have, you know, different age ranges and we have different personalities, and so I think the way we're I'm seeing the characters interpreted is very different than the movie, yes, which is great.
Speaker 4:And it's still got that, that, that center of being friendship and love and the mother daughter relationship which is, you know, for me personally that's a big one too, because I have a daughter. But it's it's a very unique interpretation and I hope everyone sees it and doesn't try and compare, but sees it as something new and wonderful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's really something that's so important about this show is that each of these six players are fully realized characters. They are full and rich. Nobody is a caricature or just an add-on. Everyone is central to the story and the collective is central. So how I knew that in casting the show it was so important to get the dynamic right, to get these six players right, so that we could create something so alive and real and present, and that's exactly what they're doing. Jesse's exactly right. We have had a very short rehearsal process because we've been rehearsing through the holiday season with a lot of different demands, so there has also been a high demand on each of these beautiful women. And also we have a seventh player. We have also one man who is part of our show. He's prerecorded as our radio DJ. There's a radio DJ who appears throughout the show.
Speaker 3:Very handsome and very handsome fellow whose name also happens to be Pyle. That's Aaron Pyle, jesse's husband, who is our seventh Steel Magnolia.
Speaker 2:Yes, I called the show dense earlier and I feel like that was a poor term. Rich is, I think, a more accurate, but I knew what you meant. Yes, it is, but I feel like that had a negative connotation. I didn't want to carry that through.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, it's text heavy, it's emotion heavy, it's humor heavy, it's experience heavy. All of that is. It is so potent like a deep, rich, red velvet cake.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, right, yes.
Speaker 3:It's that come to life, it's just. And when we talk about that, though, let's not forget the glorious humor in this. This is a very funny show. All the heart and all the humor.
Speaker 5:Yeah, you can, sorry, but you can forget that it is a humorous show if you just focus on the text and fall into a certain pattern with it. But I I find this show so fun and so uplifting and, yes, I'm exhausted after every rehearsal because there is so much to this specific character's journey, yeah, mm-hmm, but at the end of the day I find so much joy in the connection, in the love, in the humor that my friend Steph, and also Clary, who's played by Kathy Brule, debrule, debrule why did I say Brule? Delicious, but not right Holiday season. The humor that Stephanie and that Kathy bring to Weezer and Clary especially are delicious. And Alison Sano, who plays our amazing Truby, really holds us together with that same little Southern spice.
Speaker 3:Yes, and let's talk a little bit about Allie Riley too, and her delivery of Vanell, who is so timid and unsure of herself. And yet there are those moments, those lines that are so gloriously humorous and warm and rich, and she delivers all of that just masterfully.
Speaker 4:She has a journey in the show as well, and you can see it follow through the whole show and she comes into her own. It's a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 2:I feel like Allie is such a good sort of conduit for that story especially.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, Absolutely. So three, three, six, I can do my math. Six exceptional talents really, who are pulling the show together.
Speaker 2:So the two of you sort of just talked about this, but would you mind a question for all three of you. Would you mind expanding more about balancing sort of the comedy and sort of the darker, more dramatic elements of this show, because those are, I think, very hand in hand with a production like this.
Speaker 5:Well, the first thing I'll say is that these are all very intelligent women and they come from such different life experiences. You have a woman who has been unhappily married twice and has challenging children. You have a woman currently in a somewhat unhappy marriage, again with some challenging children. You have a woman who's holding everything together with her dynamic family. And you have these youngsters as well, who are teetering on the edge of womanhood in an amazing way, where they are discovering the newness of faith, the newness of family, the newness of relationship, and so to be able to live all of those lives at once, I think that really helps, because you're never at a loss for some added dimension to the equation and it just it mixes up really nicely.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And the humor saves it too. I mean there's, you know, extra dramatic portions at the, an extra dramatic portion at the end, and then there's a bit of comedy relief, but it's not to forget about the drama, it's more to kind of take a breath, yeah, Taking everything in stride. And then let the audience know okay, they're going to be okay.
Speaker 4:You know, life goes on and these women are going to be, they're going to stay strong and their friendship is going to continue. So I love the comedy part of it too because it, like I said it, lightens it a little and gives some hope. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And this is life.
Speaker 3:Right, life is filled with light and shade. This is a daily occurrence, and I think sometimes we, in our human experiences, we think we're working toward some achievement of something where everything, all the ducks, are in a row, everything is in alignment, everything is going well, and then, oh no, this such and such happened. Well, that is life, that is the nature of life. It is oh no, this such and such happened. Well, that is life. That is the nature of life. It is the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and it's what we do to weather it. And that's at the heart of this show, this story as well, is that these women have found a way through their own resilience, determination, hope and humor, and also their, more than anything, their shared experience and reliance on one another and connection with one another. This is how they weather this, in ways that really celebrate all aspects of life and have then, in the end, have a very rich lived experience, although it is also filled with heartache and tragedy that they all work together, and I think that's the point.
Speaker 2:That is the nature of life, a life well lived, yes, and these are very well lived in characters.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:As you said, this is based on the playwright's real experiences to an almost autobiographical degree.
Speaker 3:to a certain extent, Very much so, and a true homage to these glorious people. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So talk a little bit about sort of creating the setting of this, the salon, and Chickapin Am I saying that right, chickapin?
Speaker 3:Chickapin, parish, exactly, yeah, so that's the thing that people who, to Stephanie's point, have only seen the film and think there we're going to all of these different locales and settings and we have these different characters.
Speaker 3:No, the entirety of it, the entirety of our story is within Truffy's Salon, and so we needed to create a set that has some various levels and places to move and be alive, and also a place that feels very warm and welcoming to each of these women so that they walk in the room. Well, and here's my chair, here's where I put my stuff. I'm very comfortable to get up and grab a cup of coffee, or to move over this way, or to take the smock that I like, or whatever it is that they have an ease and a comfort. It is a home away from home for them, and like a living room, almost where they just happen to get their hair done. Yeah, so that's the space that we work to create, and we're still creating, as we are deep in our rehearsals still.
Speaker 2:Who is your set designer, if I may?
Speaker 3:ask. So I designed the set itself stylistically, the look of it. I'm working with my often fabulous partner, marlee Lane, who we're then directing Schoolhouse Rock together. She has such a glorious vision for creating a time period and a colorscape and just all the flavors that make a very rich world, and she delights in bringing all those details. We are sticking to the 1980s timeframe that the story takes place. And boy she's on it. Wait till you see this Christmas tree she's created for the second scene, the star atop the tree.
Speaker 3:I'm just going to say everybody, come see this show, because you need to see this star and how it was created to honor the salon life.
Speaker 2:So what drew each of you personally to this show, as actors or as directors?
Speaker 3:Let me start with that, and then I want to turn it over to you because I just want to start.
Speaker 3:I actually pitched the show to Chino Community Theater and one of the big reasons aside from the fact that it's just an exceptional script and the words are just glorious, the characters are glorious that we as women in theater especially women as we get a little older discover fewer and fewer available parts and that we have an audience that is largely women. We have performers who are the major percentage women and yet the number of roles available to women are so much fewer than the roles available to men, and I want men to have many great and wonderful experiences as well, but I want it for women. So it was a big impetus for me let's bring a show for and about women that speaks to them, and that was really my passion and why I was also just. I really put a hard pitch to I need to direct this show.
Speaker 3:Of course, I want to act in every role as well, but I'm so delighted to be directing this show, so now I turn it over to these lovelies.
Speaker 4:Well, as I've said, I've I saw the movie as a teen and I connected with it mostly Shelby, because I myself, as a type one diabetic, and when I saw it I kind of got nervous. I'm like, oh, she dies because of her diabetes. But as I grew, as I got older and I'm like you know, I take care of myself and I realize, oh, she's different, she has a different type of diabetes. But I've auditioned for this show a couple of times in my career I'm quoting, I'm putting my quotes and at one point I was a Shelby and at this point in my life I thought, oh, I'm more of a true V Malin. You know the age range varies in this show and you know I didn't think, oh, I could play a Weezer because she's too old.
Speaker 3:No, no, and you are much younger than Weezer is written, and I am much younger than written.
Speaker 4:However, I thought that really shouldn't matter at this point. It's like it's the character, it's how it's portrayed and you know, I would audition for this show a hundred times more, and if I could play every role, in it.
Speaker 4:I would love to, because they are such. Each character is so uniquely written and there's just a soul to each one, and so I was drawn to it, not only because of the script and because of the show, and I had seen the show on stage. One of my good friends actually played Malin in Rialto, michelle Reinhart, yay and so I knew I wanted to try, and I knew Donna from many, many, many years and I said I know she would take this show and make it a celebration of friendship and women. And, lo and behold, I got to be a part of it. So I'm very happy, very happy, to be part of it If I could speak for a second.
Speaker 2:I adored what you just said sort of about whether the age is right or not. This character still has those experiences and that sort of plays into what you said about how life has ups and downs and life does not necessarily pick an age for you to experience certain things or hardships or anything, and so I actually really like that idea of playing with age and sort of how that works into the dynamics and Stephanie was the right person for this role.
Speaker 3:It was undeniable in the audition room.
Speaker 4:You just got Weezer. So fully, yes, yeah, and I can feel her character. There's things in her character, in her past that she mentions and I go yes, I can relate to that. I can relate to that and even if I'm not that age, I still have had experiences that I can bring to this character, so it's been a lot of fun. Yeah, jessie, if you would?
Speaker 5:Yes.
Speaker 5:So when I was first auditioning for this role, I actually helped Donna with the season reveal and I looked at the part of Truvy during that scene and I had such a blast.
Speaker 5:And when I walked into that audition room, what originally drew me was really just this idea of being able to work with Donna and whatever beautiful team she could bring together and getting the opportunity, after a little bit of an absence from being on stage, to re-enter the scene.
Speaker 5:And stepping into that audition room, I got to see some beautiful reads from my friends and they just tore my heart out and I felt like in that moment something dropped into me, where I was able to access some trauma and some real moments that I've recently experienced as a mother. And I opened up in a way that I haven't in a long time for the stage and since having that door unlocked, I will say that I have zero problem with connecting to emotion, to love, to this story, even as not a mother of a 25-year-old although in the South at that time certainly I could have been. I am so honored to be able to be the conduit, this body packaging, for this role, for this production, and it is a great delight to get the chance to share the stage with these talented women.
Speaker 3:I want to just add on there and I'm so, so grateful for both of these women stepping into and wanting to be a part of this show. I spoke of Stephanie in the audition and I want to talk about Jessie because, yes, I had asked Jessie to do the season reveal scene, where she played Truby fabulously it was such a delight. And I stepped in and I played Cleary and we actually had our Allie Riley play Annelle and she's Annelle in the show as well, because I can't imagine anybody else delivering anything more exquisite than her Annelle. But Jessie in that audition room immediately stepped into a space for Malin. That was undeniable, it filled the room, it was palpable and there was no way I could shift from that casting and that positioning.
Speaker 3:And I will tell you very truthfully, the entire show then became cast around Jessie as Malin. I had to start there. That was the anchor that I had to work with, because it was so profound and so real and, as a mother who has lost a child, meaning that to be delivered authentically and wholly and also filled with all of the love and hope that I knew she would and she is. Everyone must see these performances. They must. You will regret deeply if you don't, I promise you, because it is just so glorious.
Speaker 2:I for one cannot wait to see each of you in this show. We must cry.
Speaker 5:The podcast can't see that we're crying right now.
Speaker 2:And I thank all three of you for joining me here today to talk about this and to share a little bit of each of your souls in relation to this show and to our show. So again, thank you to all three of you. Thank you this show opens January 10th. Yes 7.30 pm.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, opens January 10th 7.30pm you can get tickets at chinocommunitytheatrecom org.
Speaker 2:I believe my apologies, chinocommunitytheatreorg. Go see it please. And again, thank you all three of you so much for being here thank you thanks for listening to Steps to the Stage, a 7th Street Community Theatre podcast.
Speaker 1:Follow us on your favourite podcast platform and leave us a review and a 5-star rating. You can also follow us on Instagram or Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Special thanks to Chino Community Theatre and Chino Community Children's Theatre for their generous support. Steps to the Stage was created by Joey Rice and Kirk Lane. Logo created by Marlee Lane. Original music by Devon, your host and producer, Marci Pinedo. Engineer and producer Joey Rice. Engineer and executive producer Kirk Lane.
