Photo Flash: Inside Look at the Alliance's STEEL MAGNOLIAS First Rehearsals

Rehearsals kicked off this week at the Alliance Theatre for its upcoming production of Robert Harling's STEEL MAGNOLIAS. The quintessential story of family and friendship, this moving Southern classic tells the story of six complex women sharing life's ups and downs in the safe-haven created in a home beauty salon.

The STEEL MAGNOLIAS creative team is led by Director Judith Ivey. Ivey, a two-time Tony Award® winning actress, in 2012 directed sold-out staged readings of STEEL MAGNOLIAS in New York and Los Angeles to celebrate its 25th anniversary, benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The six dynamic women in STEEL MAGNOLIAS will be depicted by Becky Ann Baker (Broadway: Good People, TV: Girls) playing the cheerful, straightforward Clairee, Mary Pat Gleason (TV: The Guiding Light) playing the delightfully cantankerous Ouiser, Deirdre Lovejoy (Broadway: Lucky Guy, TV: The Wire) playing salon owner Truvy, Annie Potts (Broadway: Pippin, TV: Designing Women) playing the steady M'Lynn, Sarah Stiles (Broadway: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) playing Truvy's newest beautician and new girl in town Annelle, and Zoe Winters (Off-Broadway: 4000 Miles, Much Ado About Nothing) playing the glowing newlywed Shelby, M'Lynn's daughter. Stiles and Potts were both part of Ivey's 2012 New York STEEL MAGNOLIAS benefit, with Stiles reading as Annelle and Potts reading as Truvy.

Performances for STEEL MAGNOLIAS are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm, October 22 - November 9, 2014. Opening Night is October 29, 2014, at 7:30 pm. There will be no 2:30 pm performance on October 25.

Tickets start at $25 and are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office in person or by calling 404.733.5000. Tickets are also available online at www.alliancetheatre.org/steelmagnolias. Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling404.733.4690. Discounted rates are also available for members of the military, seniors, and students. The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, at the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street.

Photo credit: Kathleen Covington