'Steel Magnolias': Laughter through tears

Step into Truvy's beauty parlor, meet the ladies of Chiquapin Parish, La., and learn a lot about life, love and loss.

Yuma Community Theater is giving playgoers the opportunity starting this weekend when the curtain rises on “Steel Magnolias.”

Producer Mike Finch said the two-act play — a familiar story, adapted by the hit 1989 movie and its star-studded cast — puts no men on stage, but it is appealing for all.

“You will laugh and you will cry,” Finch said. “That's coming from me, a guy.”

Women young and middle-aged gather at Truvy's and grow together. As Truvy says, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

“There's wise-cracking and just wise Truvy and her new assistant Annelle, eccentric, widowed millionaire Clairee, surly Ouiser (‘Weezer'), social leader M'Lynn and her sweet and spunky but doomed daughter Shelby, who sacrifices her life to have a baby.

“They're tough as steel and as precious as a flower, as a magnolia,” Finch said.

It's a dramedy, simultaneously full of zingers and emotion (the producer's favorite one-liner: “You are too twisted for color TV!”). Finch said the scene after Shelby's passing that fans of the film will recognize as Sally Field's climactic meltdown at the cemetery is both the funniest and most touching.

All of the action in the play takes place inside Truvy's salon. The set includes loaned salon chairs for added authenticity.

Finch said his cast is ready, and ready to make an impact. He was watching one climactic scene in rehearsal when M'Lynn grieves Shelby and got choked up. At another rehearsal, director Pat Quinn, whom Finch described as “precise,” had no critique notes for the actors.

Friday was opening night at the Gila Ridge High School Auditorium. The play runs weekends through March 17.

Hillary Davis can be reached at hdavis@yumasun.com or 539-6857. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSHillaryDavis or on Twitter at @YSHillaryDavis.