There’s only two rules in Truvy’s Beauty Shop. There’s no such thing as natural beauty and nobody cries alone. And if you’re coming all the way up to Havre de Grace Parish to catch that charming little production of Steel Magnolias, you won’t be alone when you’re crying through the tough moments of that screen-stage iconic story of the six female friends in small town Louisiana. Directed by Bobby Mahoney, this production will bring you Truvy’s favorite emotion— laughter through tears, every step of the way. It’s a feel good, but also ‘bring-your-tissues’, kind of show and everyone could use a little laughter, with a little crying to help them appreciate those “30 minutes of wonderful” that help make up our lives.

It’s a static set; this is a good thing. No moving components to gum-up scene changes and Set Designer William A. Price III has done a fine job of giving that simplistic ‘southern comfort’ 1980’s aesthetic inside Truvy’s shop. The walls are spring yellow with pink wooden door frames and there’s floral wallpaper border running around them at the ceiling seams. The shop isn’t too crowded with excessive furnishings; it’s readily believable as someone’s ‘in-home’ beauty shop that she keeps open for small-town life like that in Chinquapin Parish. There’s big-hair 80’s posters on the wall, though they are sparse, which is a design choice that keeps the room from being too busy.

The show runs not one major issue during production and that’s the hefty scene changes between scenes one and two in the first act and scenes three and four in the second act. The technical hiccup of a mis-programmed lighting cue aside— (it’s very confusing as at the end of the first scene the full house lights come up, triggering the automatic response from the audience that ‘intermission has arrived.’ Same in the second act at the end of scene three but it has been reported that this is being corrected)— these scene changes take too long. I timed them; one is almost a full four minutes and the other is closer to three. It’s understood that the actors have to get off stage and do a quick change while stage hands have to change out a few minor set dressing pieces to indicate the passage of time, but something is falling short in this execution. Director Bobby Mahoney and Stage Manager Madai Chardon-Borrero have a couple of options that have either been overlooked or failed to land. Perhaps the actresses could over-dress/layer their costume choices, or even simplify them with blazers/jackets/wraps coming on and off for those who have to leave last but enter the next scene first; more backstage hands should be waiting in the wings to expedite whoever is first back on stage in the second scene; some other workable option has to be folded into this process because that lengthy pause— even with music once the lighting faux pas is corrected— kills the momentum and pacing of the show as a whole and disengages the audience from the beautiful story that Mahoney and the ladies have worked so hard to achieve.

That said, Mahoney’s pacing in the scenes is excellent, if at times even a little too fast. Some of the ladies on stage are rambling their words off so quickly with such excitement and enthusiasm, it’s like they forget they’re meant to be from Louisiana, where the language is meant to slide off the tongue with ease, like a gentle bayou breeze, and not typhoon forward out of the mouth like a hurricane slamming the gulf. But this is easily forgiven given the level of emotional fortitude, genuine camaraderie, and overall joy that these six women are sharing up on the stage. Mahoney fosters a nurturing environment on the stage for these six women to let their friendships thrive; even the dynamic between Ouiser and Clairee feels more firmly rooted in that ‘best-friends-for-life’ realm of existence because of nuanced approaches to these characters.

Though Price III may have a minor lighting mishap between scenes, the otherwise basic lighting of the show, particularly the ‘lack-o-lights’ at the top of scene two when ‘Truvy blew a fuse’ is very subtle but tastefully done. Dickson Teel (sound designer) also deserves a nod of praise for syncing up Shelby’s pink radio to sound like it’s playing right from wherever its place. The rotary phone has an authentic ring to it as well and Teel and Mahoney clap their brains together to give Shelby a great nod at the finale of the play when M’Lynn hits that radio and the theme from Hawaii Five-0 starts playing.

The six women— Shelby (Mackenzie Brockmeyer), M’Lynn (Jessica Brockmeyer), Clairee (Judy Scott), Ouiser (Barbara Snyder), Truvy (Sarah Elizabeth Sickels), and Annelle (Valeria Dodson) really do have this beautiful working conglomeration of friendship, almost sororal kinship shared between them. You immediately get the sense that these are six strong women who though they mercilessly rib and tease one another— particularly Clairee and Ouiser sniping and biting at one another or Shelby and M’Lynn snapping and scoffing at one another— that they love each other ferociously and there isn’t a thing any of them wouldn’t do for the other. The working harmony of their shared emotions and overall stage experience makes it such a thoroughly enjoyable emotional journey to take with them during the two hours’ stage traffic of the performance, even if it is bittersweet.

Mackenzie Brockmeyer has just that right balanced level of aloof sassiness. She’s not snotty or snooty just a little of her generation; it’s marked in the script that she’s the ‘younger’ of the bunch and Brockmeyer’s performance reads accordingly. Brockmeyer has good reactive responses— like in the third scene when she’s taking in her new hairdo for the first time or when she’s responding to M’Lynn at the top of the second scene with her outcries of frustration and irritation over her mother’s “lack of expected response” to the news she’s just unveiled.

Annelle (Valerie Dodson) has the potential to be a background character— as the ‘outsider’ moving in, she’s a plot-vessel utilized to showcase the welcoming nature of these ladies in Chinquapin Parish— and Dodson lets her simmer as such but in a way that services the overall performance well. Little moments, like when she’s constantly dropping to her knees to pray, which has the audience snickering, or the way she slowly builds up her character’s expressions, from timid and mousy to more ‘belonging as one of them.’ It’s a solid performance from Dodson and it gels nicely with the other ladies on the stage.

Grouchy, grumpy, and down right cantankerous, Barbara Snyder is the epitome of every bitter “get off my lawn” old southern lady in her portrayal of Ouiser. Pegged opposite against Judy Scott’s Clairee, it truly is this ying-yang of spirit and fustiness. Snyder has those deadpan moments that are just to die for, particularly when she storms into the Beauty Parlor. It’s some razor-edged, flat-sat one-liner that she just drops like a sack full of tomatoes, straight out of her mouth and it gets the audience rolling. Scott’s Clairee is a genuine posterchild of bayou Louisiana political perfection. Her accent is the strongest and most consistent in the bunch and her gleeful demeanor is just too twisted for color tv! Both Snyder and Scott play exceedingly well off of one another, especially during that moment during scene four (#IYKYK) and they’re both full of respective flavors of heart, with Snyder’s being more moldering and cranky and Scott’s being more lively and gentle.

Anyone who has seen or knows Steel Magnolias (film, play, etc.) is looking for one thing when it comes to M’Lynn Eatenton. And it’s the “Sally-Field-outburst moment.” Jessica Brockmeyer proves that she is more than capable to masterfully steer the character through that outburst with sublime emotional turmoil. When she hits her stride in that moment— waterworks across the board, on stage and in the house— Brockmeyer does an exceptional job of making that moment as visceral as it’s written to be, with raw, tempestuous feelings exploding up from her wellspring of maternal expressionism. It’s everything else that surrounds the character, leading up to that moment that Brockmeyer handles with deft sincerity that really makes the character dynamic and enjoyable. The little ‘clutch-the-pearls-abject-horror’ looks of shock on her face when certain things come out of Shelby’s mouth, or the way she sassily adds her own commentary to the running conversations in the beauty shop all fall into place to create a memorable character out of M’Lynn. It’s very impressive.

The biggest trapping when taking a well-known show, particularly that has Hollywood golden icons in its original screen version, is wanting to play into the way those icons made the roles. Sarah Elizabeth Sickels dodges that bullet with a mile-wide berth by making Truvy Jones her own vivacious creation. Sickels bathes the character of Truvy in this bubbly effervescence that’s just so excitable and airy you wonder if maybe she’s huffed a few bottles of hairspray along the way! There’s this undeniable youthful exuberance in Sickels’ performance that really makes her feel like the youngest lady in the room. (You can write off that she’s an older character who looks ‘young’ given that the character runs a beauty parlor and takes great pride in her appearance.) She’s not ditzy but she’s certainly fizzy— if you had to categorize each of the women in the beauty parlor as some sort of beverage, you’d get slow-brewed ultra-sweet tea as Clairee, bitter black day-old percolated coffee as Ouiser and a rocket-shaken can of sparkling San Pellegrino as Truvy. Sickels also brings a tremendous amount of heart to the role. She talks a little too fast at times but that’s just her chipper sprightliness getting in the way of her southern roots. And there’s just something so joyful about this approach to the character you forget for a moment who it was originated by in the film.

It’s a solid production, lots of feel good moments, and quite a few laughs too. Well worth enjoying during this wintery months. Pop on over to the Opera House for a trip to Truvy’s beauty shop and enjoy yourself (two hours) and 30 minutes of wonderful.

Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission

Steel Magnolias plays February 21^st 2025 through March 2^nd 2025 with Tidewater Players in residence at the Cultural Center at The Havre de Grace Opera House— 121 N. Union Street in historic downtown Havre de Grace, MD. For tickets call the box office at 667-225-8433 or purchase them online.

To read the interview with real-life mother-daughter team Jessica & McKenzie Brockmeyer, click here.