BWW Reviews: Imaginary Theatre Company's STEEL MAGNOLIAS

It's been 26 years since I first saw Steel Magnolias onstage - at Chicago's Royal George Theatre - which means I have seen an estimated 2,308 productions of Robert Harling's iconic comedy about six strong Southern women whose smart quips and disarming manner have ingratiated themselves to theater-goers and movie viewers everywhere.

Filled with memorable lines, remarkably real-life situations and events distilled for maximum theatrical impact, and characters who seem more like family than the script-bound creations of a playwright, Steel Magnolias has become the favorite of theater companies from here to Constantinople and every place in between. And, despite all my efforts to convince producers, directors and the rest of their ilk to declare a moratorium on new productions for the time being, they continue to mount the show.

Steel Magnolias is currently onstage in Nashville, thanks to a well-acted production from director Robert Coles' Imaginary Theatre Company, featuring some of Music City's best known actresses, led by Kate Adams as M'Lynn and Britt Byrd as Shelby, Heather Vaughn Alexander as Truvy, Angela Gimlin as Annelle, Beth Woodruff as Clairee and Ann Street Kavanaugh as Ouiser.

Adams and Byrd, longtime friends offstage, share the spotlight for the first time ever and, in the process, give extraordinarily moving performances as mother and daughter. Imbuing their characters with warmth and feeling that is refreshingly free of mawkish sentimentality, Adams and Byrd give the relationship of their characters a contemporary update while remaining faithful to Harling's script. Adams plays M'Lynn with a focused reserve that makes her second-act monologue all the more affecting and impactful. Byrd, who has never looked lovelier onstage, somehow creates a Shelby unlike the thousands of other pink-loving diabetics about to preside over a bashful and blush wedding who have come before her. She delivers her lines with naturalistic charm, creating a portrayal that is somewhat unexpected.

Gimlin plays Annelle with a wide-eyed innocence that suits her character, while Alexander gives us a Truvy who is understated and, frankly, underwhelming...resulting in a small-town hairdresser who's just not as funny as we've come to expect over the past few decades. Woodruff, although too young to be playing the town matriarch, is convincingly gracious in the way all Southern ladies are meant to be, according to literature and travel brochures.

Street Kavanaugh, although 20 or 30 years shy of the right age to be Ouiser (and why the decision was made to do nothing to age her in the traditional theatrical manner with makeup, hair color and all the other stuff in an actor's bag o' tricks is beyond me), nonetheless plays the role with delightful vigor, delivering her lines with a knowing way that belies her youthful demeanor.

The show's opening night performance was beset with enough technical flubs (sound cues were all over the place, curtains came unfastened, lighting seemed an afterthought) to prove a distraction, but Coles' cast soldiered on and, in doing so, showed us what happens when a script is entrusted to a veteran cast: they do their jobs well, overcoming those distractions with overall stellar performances.

Coles' staging is appropriate for the intimate confines of the production's venue and he wisely focuses on the performances of the six women, creating a sense of camaraderie that's essential to maintaining the integrity of Harling's heartfelt, if timeworn, script.

Performed in the fellowship hall of Eastland Baptist Church, which is accessed by a passageway that will make you feel as if you're boarding an airplane or going into an underground bunker, the production must overcome the limitations of its venue. (Perhaps, like me, you'll be reminded of the Fisher and Sons Funeral Home from HBO's Six Feet Under.) And while I saw photographs from the second night's performance which indicated the set, at least, had been fancied up a bit in the aftermath, it is unfortunate the show wasn't quite ready for its opening night audience.

It's easy to understand why Steel Magnolias continues to be produced - Harling's script is still slap-your-knee funny and the show will always attract amazingly talented women to audition for the six roles - but after those 2,308 productions I've already seen (and reviewed), there's not a lot of new ground to be covered. Harling ain't Shakespeare and his tale of Louisiana life plucked from the pages of Cajun Bride magazine needs some time off so that it can be revived as a contemporary classic.

• Steel Magnolias. Directed by Robert Coles. Presented by Imaginary Theatre Company at Eastland Baptist Church, Nashville. Through May 10. For further information, go to www.imaginarytheaterecompany.com. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (with a 15-minute intermission).

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