{"id":85782,"date":"2025-05-15T09:19:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T16:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85782"},"modified":"2025-05-15T09:19:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T16:19:37","slug":"steel-magnolias-long-beach-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/steel-magnolias-long-beach-playhouse","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: \u2018Steel Magnolias\u2019 set to grace the Long Beach Playhouse stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After playwright Robert Harling\u2019s sister died in 1985, he wrote a comedy-drama called \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d that was first produced in 1987 and would be adapted into a popular film in 1989. Like Harling\u2019s sister, the character of Shelby in the play has Type 1 diabetes, which begins in childhood and affects her ability to have children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the play, Shelby is about to get married and having her hair done at a beauty shop surrounded by a group of women who share both heartbreak and humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening this weekend at Long Beach Playhouse, \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d features six actresses, some returning and some new to the Playhouse, all steeped in Southern accents reflecting the play\u2019s small-town Louisiana setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gioia Moen plays nurse Shelby, the newlywed; Sarah Green is her counselor mother M\u2019Lynn; Andrea Stradling is recent widow Clairee; Phyllis M. Nofts plays wealthy curmudgeon Ouiser; Roxy Payne is quiet outsider Annelle, who may or may not have a shady past; and Katrina D. Richard plays Truvy, owner of the beauty shop where the women\u2019s life stories play out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Despite their personality differences and squabbles, \u201cthey are best friends, Southern to the core; they are beautiful and strong, like steel magnolias,\u201d according to the Playhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted a play that centers on women and highlights their strengths,\u201d noted Sean Gray, the theater\u2019s artistic director. \u201cThis show explores the ways women experience life as a cycle of birth, death, rebirth and ultimately victory over circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play is also directed by a woman, Phyllis Gitlin, who previously directed \u201cThe Diary of Anne Frank\u201d at the Playhouse in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGitlin took a heart-wrenching and difficult story and found the humanity in the characters,\u201d Gray said. \u201cIt was one of the best shows of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theater\u2019s resident costume designer, Christina Bayer, said she took a cue from Gitlin\u2019s own mother\u2019s beauty shop and its sense of community when researching how to dress the actors, including the practical aspect of how they could make quick costume or hair changes between scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the same time, they are all very different people, and it was a lot of fun going through all of our vintage \u201980s clothing to find the right pieces to show their different personalities,\u201d Bayer said. \u201cThere was definitely a sense of nostalgia in the costume shop. I had several people say the clothing reminded them of their aunts or their mothers, or it was something they might have worn at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since each scene takes place months after the prior scene, Bayer said she also had to show the passage of time and how the women\u2019s journeys reflect in their clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope I\u2019ve helped bring these characters to life for audiences,\u201d Bayer said. \u201cI hope they feel a little bit of that nostalgia, too, when they see the show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to its regular run, the Playhouse is offering two lower-priced previews \u2014 pay-what-you-can on Thursday, May 15, and $10 tickets on Friday, May 16. Saturday\u2019s opening night performance on May 17 will feature a champagne reception with the cast sponsored by the Port of Long Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive Director Madison Mooney said \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d is the kind of play that will make you both laugh and cry and \u201chave your heart singing and breaking\u201d \u2014 and make you want to come back again for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d performs at Long Beach Playhouse\u2019s Mainstage Theater, 5021 E. Anaheim St., from May 17 to June 14, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $30. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit <\/i>LBPlayhouse.org<\/i><\/a>. Free parking is available in the lot behind the theater and on surrounding streets. Reasonably priced concessions are available in the lobby.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI wanted a play that centers on women and highlights their strengths,\u201d the theater\u2019s artistic director, Sean Gray, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":85783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32337],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-85782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-theater-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85782"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85785,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85782\/revisions\/85785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85782"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=85782"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=85782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}