Theatre Talk

The Steel Magnolias of Robidoux Resident Theatre

-By Louis Storm

Within the sacred walls of the Ruby Theatre, a small cast of some of the strongest women you could ever hope to see on stage have been rehearsing night after night for months to bring us a play that perfectly encapsulates the lessons of life, love, and loss: Steel Magnolias.

Taking place in a 1980s hair salon in Louisiana, the play follows the lives of six women as they share the highs and lows that come along with small town living. But, while we are all familiar with the classic Dolly Parton film, director Jennifer Schultz aims to bring St. Joseph her own telling of the tale.

I had the opportunity of sitting down with Schultz and a few Steel Magnolias cast members to get their perspective from the other side of the stage.

Now retired from Benton High School, where she grew the theatre program and guided eager, young thespians toward the spotlight, Schultz has joined forces with RRT, and is the captain at the helm of this production.

“I’m really drawn to character driven shows,” Schultz said, “and I love shows that are all about building strong characters and relationships between characters. I grew up in the era of the famous movie, but I didn’t want to imitate the movie, I wanted to make it our own thing, our own interpretation, and these actresses have done a wonderful job with that.”

Steel Magnolias has always been a bucket list show for Schultz, and between the true powerhouse of talent contained within the six actresses she has in her cast and her steadfast directorship, her bucket list show is finally being brought to life.

“All six of the actresses have blown me away with their talent and dedication,” she said. “They got off script super early, they work really hard, and their ability to connect with each other on stage, with their rawness of emotion, is beautiful. It’s just a beautiful show.”

When interviewing the actresses, I had the unique chance to speak with some of them on the set of the play, right there in Truvy’s Beauty Salon, and this really helped me immerse myself in their world, even for just a moment.

Sat in a salon chair center stage, hair rolled up in big ol’ curlers in prep to be larger than life, Janet Snider took a few minutes to speak with me before readying herself for rehearsal.

Snider is no stranger to Steel Magnolias, as this is now the fourth time she has reprised her role as Truvy. Playing the same role every 7-10 years is certainly a triumph, and I just had to know what keeps bringing her back to the play.

“It’s small town comradery, community, the relationships, the friendships that are built that can withstand anything,” she said. “It’s like those friends that you have that you might not see for ten years, but you come back, and you pick up right from where you left off, like there is no time that has left you at all.”

This kind of kinship is definitely a driving force in the play, and to see it reflected in the cast makes it even more special.

When asked why Truvy kept calling her back to the play, Snider said:

“Oh, I love her. I just love her personality. She’s fun, she’s a peacemaker, she’s kind of the glue to the whole beauty shop… I’m also kind of a caregiver, and I think that’s what I love about her. Also, side note, I love Dolly Parton.”

Snider shared with me the quote she adores most from the show: “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

Another Magnolias veteran, now doing the show for her third time around, Carol Myers, gave some insight into what keeps drawing in her to the play.

“I’ve done this show before,” Myers said, “and the script is fabulous. And true. And real. It’s a story that is easy, and hard, to tell, but it’s a lovely, beautiful story.”

Myers plays M’Lynn, the matriarchal role and the mother of Shelby.

“It’s interesting because, way back, I played Shelby, and the next time, I played the mother, and that’s who I am again, and I realize now that the first time I played the mother, I had not had enough life experience. And now I’ve had a little life experience, some deaths, and so on, so it has a totally different feel to it.”

It’s worth noting that at this point in the interviews, the cast and crew were assembling in the theater in preparation for rehearsal and I noticed something: this production is almost entirely female-led, which I thought spoke volumes since the play revolves around female empowerment and community, which I wholeheartedly believe we need more of these days.

“This time,” Myers responded to my realization, “we have a female director. The other times, while I respected them, they were male directors, so I’ve been working with a female director, which has been fun.

“It’s interesting, too,” she continued, “because she’s a mother as well, and a wife, which brings a lot of knowledge to it that I’ve not had in the other two productions. But, they weren’t bad productions, just different.”

There was no shortage of strong women in the Ruby Theatre that night, I tell ya what.

Sat once again in the salon chair, I had the chance to speak with Mary Jo Laupp, who plays Ouiser Boudreaux, about how she connects with the show.

“Interestingly enough, the movie came out the year I got married, so I watched it through very different lenses. I didn’t watch it again until my oldest child was probably a teenager, so then I was looking at it as the mother of someone who might someday become a mother.

“The first time I watched it, I identified more with Shelby, and the next time I watched it, I definitely identified with M’Lynn, and now, I’m a grandmother, so playing Ouiser… everytime I encounter [Steel Magnolias], I learn something different. There’s always a different life lesson to find, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’ve encountered it, both as a viewer and a performer, through three major stages of life.”

When asked about how she connects with her character, Laupp was concise and sharp in her response:

“It would be so easy to play [Ouiser] like this two-dimensional, comedic character, and not really dig into who she is, but, after looking carefully at the script, I think she’s someone who has had some really rough patches in life, and she is the way she is out of a sense of having to protect herself.

“There have been times in my life where I have been that sarcastic, bitchy persona as a way of saying, ‘if I let you too close, I could get hurt, so I’d rather just avoid the closeness and avoid the hurt, too.’ I think anyone who has ever had painful experiences and wanted to throw up walls to protect themselves can identify with Ouiser.”

The ladies of Steel Magnolias could not have been more gracious, nor could they have been more cemented and sure in their roles, as it truly felt like I was sitting in the local beauty shop, just gabbing with the girls.

Once my interviews were concluded, Schultz & Company graciously allowed me to stick around for the first act.

The production is currently in the middle of tech week, or Hell Week™️, as thespians lovingly refer to it as. Putting lights, sound, costumes, and props into action is known to yield at least a few hiccups during rehearsal.

Ladies and gentlemen: There were no hiccups to be had.

Once the stage lit up with Snider and Lexie Owens (playing the nervous Annelle Dupoy-Desoto) front and center, they were off to the races. Melissa Gasper (Clairee Belcher) snapped with wit, and Natalie Davison shined bright as the young bride, Shelby. Myers stood strong in her role as M’Lynn, and Laupp brought sharp snark as Ouiser. You could smell the AquaNet in the air as they teased and did up each other’s hair.

Lines flowed like fresh spring water and were delivered with so much sincerity, I felt as though I was still up on stage with the cast, sitting in that salon chair, watching the beauty shop ladies chat away the day. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a cast fit together and embody the roles with both tenacity and care the way this one does.

This show is a must-see for any individual who has loved and lost, who has faith in their community, who sees strength in feminine power, or for anyone who just really wants to see a show that is clearly deeply loved by its cast & crew.

This cast, every single one of them, are Steel Magnolias.


Robidoux Resident Theatre presents STEEL MAGNOLIAS at the Ruby Theatre this weekend, May 2-4. Tickets are available online at rrtstjoe.org, or by calling the box office at 816-232-1778.