The Garden Theatre Presents STEEL MAGNOLIAS

The Garden Theatre, one of Houston's newest theatre companies, has announced its plans to bring Robert Harling's beloved play, Steel Magnolias, to life at MATCH. Featuring the well-known story of family and resilience, the production will run April 21-30, 2023 at Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (3400 Main St.) in the heart of midtown.

"Steel Magnolias has been on the slate since the day The Garden Theatre opened," says Founding Artistic Director Logan Vaden. "As is true for most Americans, it is one of my favorite films and stage plays. I think we all can see our mothers, our sisters, or even ourselves in at least one of these strong characters. While it's a familiar story that most of us have seen, it's one that you just never get sick of. I'm also thrilled to have RaMina Mirmortazavi back in the director's chair for this one. RaMina directed our incredible, all-female cast of School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play last season, and I know she will strike gold once again with Steel Magnolias and this amazing cast of women."

In Steel Magnolias, Truvy Jones runs a successful beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies in the neighborhood have a standing Saturday appointment. Along with her anxious and eager assistant, Annelle, Truvy styles the hair of many of the women about town: wealthy widow and former first lady of Chinquapin, Clairee Belcher, local curmudgeon Ouiser Boudreaux, intelligent and compassionate career woman M'Lynn, and her daughter Shelby, the prettiest girl in the parish. Shelby's engagement is the talk of the town, but the joy and excitement of her wedding quickly turn to concern as she faces a risky pregnancy and myriad health complications. As the women of Chinquapin make their way through life's many hurdles together, they find comfort (and a fair amount of verbal ribbing) in one another.

Steel Magnolias is written by playwright Robert Harling. Harling based the play on his own family's experience of the death of his sister from diabetic complications after the birth of her child. The play opened Off-Broadway in 1987 and ran for over 1,100 performances. The well-known movie adaptation starring Julia Roberts, Sally Field, and Dolly Parton was released in 1989. Since then, Steel Magnolias has been produced all over the world in several different languages.

Leading the cast of Steel Magnolias are all local professionals including Emily Buesing as Shelby, Lauren Hainley as M'Lynn, Ansonia Jones as Truvy, Kat Blake as Annelle, Nora Hahn as Clairee, and Teresa Ragland as Ouiser. Catherine deBlieux, Joan Hodges and Rachel Omotoso serve as swings for the production. The production team consists of RaMina Mirmortazavi as director, Elizabeth Grant as stage manager, Nicholas White as lighting and set designer, Julianne McBride as costume designer, and Austin Colburn as wig and hair designer.

Steel Magnolias will run for ten performances only from April 21-30, 2023 at MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston; 3400 Main St. Houston, TX 77002). Adult tickets are $25. Student and senior tickets are $20. Tickets are available on the theatre's website at www.thegardentheatre.org or by calling the MATCH box office at 713-521-4533.

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