Steel Magnolias, presented by Actors Repertory in association with Doxie 4 Production and Missing Piece Theatre, plays Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 5 and 8 pm (no performance July 4); through July 11. Tickets: $12-$18. Missing Piece Theatre, 2811 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; 800.838.3066; brownpapertickets.com/event/111688 or theactorsrepertory.com.
If you head out to The Missing Piece Theatre in Burbank you may be seeing double for the next few weeks. That is, if you’re lucky.
Robert Harling’s beloved tale Steel Magnolias, which has been produced previously at least twice this season at other theatres, is being presented with not one, but two casts at, coincidentally, this Magnolia Boulevard theatre. Director Penny L. Moore says the decision to do a Caucasian cast and an African American cast was a mixture of opportunity and curiosity. (On Fridays at 8 pm and Sundays at 5 pm, the following cast plays: Gwendolyn Edwards, Ann Hearn, Carol Mack, Julie Sanford, Teddy Vincent and Hayden Wyatt. On Saturdays and Sundays at 8 pm, the cast consists of: Robin Dionne, Michele Harrell, Christine Karis, Baadja-Lyne, Tarina Pouncy and Vivian Vanderwerd.)
“I always do issue-oriented plays and like to blind cast but in this play it was really hard to do that because race becomes one of the issues,” says Moore. “Also, I wanted to see how both went; I wanted to see the differences in the diverse casts working on the same play.”
At the end of the rehearsal process, Moore decreed, the fundamental differences skeptics might predict do not exist, only a difference in the energy distinguishes the two casts.
Vivian Vanderwerd, Tarina Pouncy, Baadja-Lyne, Christina Karis and Robin Dionne
According to Moore, the African American cast, many of whom had not seen the well-known movie that gained the story of Steel Magnolias its fame, has a more electric kinetic energy. “They are such strong female characters, and the energy tends to be lighter and higher in the African American cast. You can really tell they love it!” says Moore.
The Caucasian cast comes primarily from the South and therefore interprets the script with more of the original subdued Southern humor. “Southern humor is just different,” says Moore with her Kentucky accent. “These women have lived it, so they don’t over tell it; it’s a little more matter of fact. Jokes aren’t punched and singular lines are a little more serious.”
Moore says the casts adopted these energy styles from the writing of the show which possesses singularly brilliant one-liners that feed and inform the actresses’ interpretation. Of course interpretation is also fueled by the background. During rehearsals Moore tried to cater to the actresses’ specific cultural instincts. “The hair was the biggest learning curve for me.”
Set in a beauty salon in the 1980s, hair styling is a crucial element of the piece. Thus, each cast voiced particular concerns and ideas about washing and drying hair during the show. While the African American women solved the problem by donning multiple wigs as a form of cosmetic expression, the Caucasian actresses were concerned about their hair drying naturally in time and used wigs only to mask their own wet hair.
Another collaboration topic was costumes. Moore costumed everyone in the same clothes as their double except for the African American actress portraying Ouiser. “She came up to me and said Ouiser had to wear something different because she was a wealthy black woman,” says Moore. “I have worked with her before and trusted she knew what she was talking about; of course, after one of the performances people came up to me and said her costumes were what a rich black woman would wear.”
Ann Hearn, Julie Sanford, Hayden Wyatt, Gwendolyn Edwards, Carol Mack and Teddy Vincent
As Moore listened to the suggestions of both casts, which she rehearsed separately, she directed each group exactly the same, letting the differences in the story telling come out of the actresses themselves. “It has been a process but both are the same play; both casts are brilliant. I knew they would be different in some ways but really all I see are deep friendships that have formed on both ends.”
Half of Moore’s rehearsal process is not rehearsing. This more untraditional half usually happens during working hours but Moore makes sure to pencil in “getting to know you time” into the actual schedule. She brings coffee and snacks to the theater, encouraging people to sit around and chat, hopefully forming bonds offstage that will trickle into the relationships onstage. “This makes such a huge difference during the rehearsal process. It’s not the fluff in relationships that makes an audience think and feel; it’s the realness of a relationship.”
In a show with formidable female characters whose relationships run deep as the Louisiana mud, Moore’s experiment with two racially diverse casts has merged into one conclusion about the human condition: relationships are not based on race or culture; they are universally achieved in the same way. “It’s not about race at all, just how people interpret it,” says Moore.
As audiences have come in for the first shows they seem to be getting that message too. The majority expressed the desire and sometimes the need to see the other cast after watching one show. “Most people want to see the other show because they know, like I do, they will learn something new about the relationships and the play,” says Moore.
Although Moore hoped it would be a tandem piece, she knows whichever cast an audience sees, they are sure to be blessed with wit, humor and compassion when they take their seats.
Production photos by Penny L. Moore
Article by Greta McAnany
