At People’s Light in Malvern, a group of women who have been working together for decades are bringing the characters and strong relationships from Steel Magnolias to the stage, writes Brooke Schultz for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“You don’t have to worry about if that familiarity is there,” said Janis Dardaris, who portrays Clairee, the mayor’s widow. “You just sit on the stage and it’s there. There’s no working at it. I sometimes wonder, what would it be like doing this play with completely different people that I didn’t know?”
Their own connections helped the women portray lifelong friendships bring genuine depth and heart to the roles.
Several have known each other for five decades, and different pairings and groupings of the cast have appeared together in at least a dozen shows in recent years.
The all-women ensemble believe that today’s audiences will connect with the vulnerability expressed by the women in the play, the unyielding support for each other even with their personal differences, and the strength they find in shared moments.
The show, which opened on Sunday, will run through Feb. 15 at People’s Light.
Read more about the relationships from Steel Magnolias on and off the stage in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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The movie Steel Magnolias, with Julia Roberts, Sally Field, and Dolly Parton, came out in 1989.
