Six Southern women with deceptively delicate exteriors give six Actors Co-op treasures the chance to strut their comedic-dramatic stuff like the L.A. theater stars they are in Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias.

There’s big-haired hair stylist extraordinaire Truvy (Nan McNamara), joined in her mission to beautify the women of Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana by quirky 19-year-old new-on-the-job assistant Annelle (Heidi Palomino).

Tops among Truvy’s list of loyal clients is M’Lynn (Treva Tegtmeier), a small-town career woman whose daughter Shelby (Ivy Beech) is getting married today, leaving them both in dire need of wedding dos as only Truvy can do.

Local grande dame Clairee’s (Lori Berg) recent widowhood has her living life on her own for the first time in five decades and not yet sure what to do about this unsolicited freedom.

Last but not least is lovable grouch Ouiser (Deborah Marlowe), “in a very bad mood for forty years” and ever on the rampage against something or someone, most recently M’Lynn’s rifle-toting husband.

Not an awful lot happens over the course of Haling’s 1987 play’s two acts (with one major exception), just a heapin’ helpin’ of wit, wisdom, and one-liners like Truvy’s much quoted “There is no such thing as natural beauty.”

On the other hand, let one of them suffer a personal tragedy and she will be surrounded with oceans of love and support to ease the pain.

Actors Co-op blesses Steel Magnolias with a director (the inestimable Cameron Watson) whose Tennessee roots make him an ideal choice to guide six crackerjack leading ladies in shaping authentic, caricature-defying women.

Tegtmeier is maternal warmth personified as salt-of-the earth M’Lynn, and if her eleventh-hour emotional meltdown is as devastating as eleventh-hour emotional meltdowns get, leave it to Harling to follow it with Steel Magnolia’s laugh-gettingest surprise.

The exquisite Beech invests onetime Homecoming Queen Shelby with a well of warmth and humanity as deep as her love for her signature colors “bashful” and “blush.”

The redoubtable Marlowe adds crotchety curmudgeon Ouiser to her long list of Co-op gems, whether philosophizing, throwing out insults, or letting us know that her heart is every bit as big as those of her sister Magnolias.

Recent company addition Palomino is an absolute delight as geeky, gawky Annelle, whether in cute-and-clueless mode or born again like nobody’s business when the spirit moves her.

The always marvelous Berg, who played Truvy when the Co-op first staged Steel Magnolias back in 1996, graduates Chinquapin’s most prominent female citizen Clairee, who’s not about to let a little thing like widowhood come in the way of her zest for living.

(Clairee scores bonus points for championing of LGBT acceptance back when the idea of gay marriage was pretty darned unthinkable.)

Perhaps most remarkable of all is Actors Co-op drama queen McNamara (whose star turns Wit and 33 Variations provoked as many chills as they scored awards), clearly relishing the chance to be as sassy and sexy and funny as only Truvy can be.

Stephen Gifford has designed a carport-turned-beauty salon down to its tiniest detail including upstairs waiting area and functional sink (kudos shared with properties designer Abe Rodriguez).

Terri A. Lewis’s 1980s costumes are as luscious as they are character-perfect, Jessica Mills’ hair and wig designs are terrific too save Shelby’s unkempt short do, and Andrew Schmedake makes set, props, costumes, and hair look even more fabulous under his vivid lighting.

Sound designer Cameron Combe underscores the action with Ellen Mandel’s subtly mood-setting original melodies, just-right C&W tunes, and some wild-and-crazy gunshots, while dialect coach Adam Michael Rose has all six actresses sounding like they just got off Greyhound from Northern Louisiana.

Steel Magnolias is produced by Lauren Thompson. Selah Victor is producton manager. Shawna Voragen is stage manager, Jaime Mills is assistant stage manager, and Joanna Reyes is second assistant stage manager.

Guaranteeing audiences the kind of “laughter through tears” that Truvy has been declaring her favorite emotion these past thirty-two years, Actors Co-op does Steel Magnolias proud.

Actors Co-op, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood.
www.actorsco-op.org

–Steven Stanley
March 31, 2019
Photos: Matthew Gilmore

Tags: Actors Co-op, Los Angeles Theater Review, Robert Harling