By Chip Chandler — Producer
The six leading ladies of Chinquapin Parish are in a rush.
Not to make it to the church on time, where Shelby Eatenton has decreed that everything standing be decked out in blush and bashful, two shades of her "signature color," pink. ("One is much deeper than the other," she says.)
Nor are they rushing (SPOILER) Shelby to the grave.
No, they're just rushing to get the show staged. The Merely Players actors will have had only 13 rehearsals under their belt when Steel Magnolias opens Friday for four performances.
"Now, don't tell him all that," scolds Lynae Jacob, who plays town doyenne Clairee Belcher, when castmate Stacy Clopton Yates (Truvy) mentions the rush.
Not to worry: The cast is stacked with three generations of the most experienced and well-regarded actresses in Amarillo.
"There are very young women to much older women — it's like a lifetime in a play," Clopton Yates said.
They're starring in a the beloved Southern drama, written by playwright Robert Harling in honor of his late sister who, like Shelby in the play, dies from diabetic complications, as well as to pay tribute to the powerful female friendships that helped his mother and family survive their grief. A hit on stage in the 1980s and in the iconic 1989 film, the drama will be staged again in February and March by Amarillo Little Theatre.
The Merely Players acting troupe generally stages one or two shows per summer (up next is a revival of Cotton Patch Gospel in August), and though several of them have been friends for decades, Steel Magnolias will mark the first time some of them have worked together.
"I've gotten to work with everyone in the cast before except for Lynae, and it's such an honor," Clopton Yates said.
"How did we get to the age we are and not work together?" asked Robin Downs (M'Lynn) of Jacob, a former high school classmate. "It blows my mind."
Still, a roundtable interview with the cast members and director Monty Downs proves that the bonds between the actresses are very nearly as deep as those between the characters they play.
"When (Jacob's son) Conner died, Robin was my Clairee. She would walk me around the park and cry with me. Now, our roles are reversed," Jacob said. "And when we cry on stage, we're really crying."
"All of us," Clopton Yates said.
"Even if we're off stage," said Jackie Llewellyn, who plays the doomed Shelby.
"It's very emotional," agreed Sandra Pelfrey, who plays town harridan Ouiser Boudreaux.
But, as Truvy says, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion," and there are plenty of guffaws to go along with the sobbing.
"It's such a genuine show," Clopton Yates said. "It has everything in it. It has all of the humor that comes from friendship between women, plus all of the joy and the grief and the love."
"It's fun, it really is," Pelfrey said. "And we all like each other."
"I've worked in female-heavy casts before, and there's always some tension. This hasn't been that way," Robin Downs said.
"Well, we trust each other," Jacob said. "It's easy to do that."
"I'm used to being in male-heavy shows," added L'Hannah Pedigo, the youngest cast member, who plays newcomer Annelle Dupuy. "This is a good change."
Steel Magnolias will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and June 22 and 23 in the Amarillo College Experimental Theatre on the Washington Street campus.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.
Call 806-371-5359.
Chip Chandler is a producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
