Review: STEEL MAGNOLIAS at Manor Club Theatre Is No Shrinking Violet

Nestled amidst the smartly-manicured bedroom community of Pelham Manor in Westchester County (N.Y.), The Manor Club Theatre is a stately structure with a rich history. After a men’s organization that occupied the space disbanded, local women took over the club and its building in 1913, and 20 years later erected an entirely new edifice. 

What better homage to that legacy of female fortitude than a production of the crowd-pleasing comedy Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, featuring a cast of five ladies, which had a limited run Oct. 4-6, 2024. (For good measure, the nine members of the theatre’s board of directors also are all women.) 

For this perennially popular, bittersweet stage piece, plot really isn’t the point any more than it is on the daytime TV soaps.  It’s all about relationships, and plot points have to elbow their way into the sharp-tongued conversations that reveal who these people are and why we should care about them. 

It’s 1987-1988 and we’re eavesdropping on five spirited and opinionated residents of Chinquapin, Louisiana, who are gathered at a beauty salon (converted from a carport) owned by Truvy Jones (Elizabeth Paldino). Her new intern is Annelle Dupuy-DeSoto (Annemarie Josephson). Clients include Clairee Belcher, widow of the mayor; Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie (Penelope Golden), a newlywed; M’Lynn Eatenton (Leslie Ann Lopez), Shelby’s mother; and Ouiser Boudreaux (Tina D’Amato), the rambunctious town crank.    

As we become familiar with each of the characters, it becomes increasingly clear why Mr. Harling didn’t title his play Shrinking Violets, although Annemarie Josephson’s Annelle starts off that way in Act I and later Ms. Josephson shows us a bolder, more confident Annelle as she finds her voice, along with her zeal for religion. 

Gossip may be these ladies’ oxygen, but it’s not toxic. It’s more like idle conversation because what else would they talk about other than anyone who doesn’t happen to be in the salon at the moment. And even being present doesn’t mean you’re immune to good-natured poking by the others. Reflective references to life’s twists and turns are served up tastefully and in entertaining, easily digestible morsels.

Using the characters as vessels for wry commentary on the regional culture of the rural South – notably Louisiana – the playwright covers a lot of territory without being heavy-handed. “An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure,” says one character, in a twist on the maxim, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Mr. Harling uses gentle humor like that to fire zingers about the foibles of human behavior. Even intimations of sexual activity come out sounding somehow wholesome. Nothing licentious to see here, folks.   

If someone in the audience walked in without knowing squat about the lifestyles of that corner of America, they’d learn a lot -- and laugh a lot. Topping it all, of course, is the obsession with hair -- big hair in that era. For communities like Chinquapin, football, of course, is king; the Hawaii Five-0 theme is secularly sacred; hunting is a birthright; Wayne Newton is the annual parade’s grand marshal; beauty contests are excuses to juggle fire batons in the talent category; and anyone who isn’t proficient at baking could be suspected of hailing from another planet. 

The struggles of workaday existence are addressed as well, as are familial troubles and challenges of motherhood, matrimony, illness, death.

The cast draws out the colorful personalities that Mr. Harling has put on the page. As Truvy, Elizabeth Paldino is the protective mother hen. Carmela Sirico’s Clairee is a sensible, dignified and somewhat mischevious woman who misses her late husband. 

An interesting pairing is Shelby and her mother M’Lynn. Penelope Golden as Shelby is rather impetuous but full of life, and a cockeyed optimist. As her mother M’Lynn, Leslie Ann Lopez is contained, soft-spoken, resolute and measured. The contrasting combination produces an interesting chemistry. 

As the irrepressible Ouiser, Tina D’Amato doesn’t so much make an entrance as bulldoze her way on stage. This woman is a force of nature -- they could name a hurricane after her. Ms, D’Amato energizes the stage, adding a whole other dynamic to the interaction. 

Through Ouiser, as with the others, Mr. Harling finds humor and humanity in the nuances of daily life, like Ouiser alleging that her neighbor has made off with the blooms on her magnolia try and added buckshot to injury when, she claims, he fired what she describes as a “cannon” toward her house, which required her dog to be sedated. (Turns out what the neighbor shot were blanks from a rifle.)

Community theater presents its own set of challenges that the Manor Club braintrust deserves kudos for striving to meet head-on. Chief among them might be the use of microphones for all the actors. In a 300-plus seat auditorium – with excellent sightlines anywhere you sit – and an older audience, hearing all the dialogue clearly is not to be taken for granted. Other local theaters would be wise to follow suit, given what at times could be varying vocal projection by actors, especially those with limited stage experience. (Although in my recent experience – specifically the play Appropriate with Sarah Paulson-- projection can be an issue even in Broadway productions.) 

The pastel color scheme for both the set (constructed by what amounts to a “cast” of a dozen people) and the costumes (Kate Marino) were nicely coordinated. The scenic flats were simple yet effective enough to convey the optics of a beauty salon. The magnolia pattern on an upstage scrim behind the walls of the salon proved a really nice touch.

Steel Magnolias was directed by Chris Manetakis and produced by Donna Bellone and Mauro Contrastano. 

With its previous production of The Heiress, followed by Steel Magnolias, The Manor Club Theatre is off to an ambitious start of mounting stage classics. Next on its calendar in April 2025 is the one and only A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, directed by Donna Bellone. When we’re talking about the Broadway vehicle that made one Marlon Brando a transcendent star, that promises to be quite an event you can rest assured the Manor Club faithful will not want to miss.  

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