CORNWALL, Ontario – Upper Canada Playhouse audiences are in for an entertaining visit when they drop into Truvy’s Beauty Shop, in the upcoming hit show, Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling, opening this week.
“The popular play has been a favourite with audiences at theatres around the world, chiefly because it’s a show that entertains on almost every level,” said director, Donnie Bowes.
“It’s comedy with a bite. A show that’s filled with colourful characters, plenty of laughs and an engaging story about real people and the challenges they face. Audiences are treated to a well-rounded experience that will entertain them and stay with them long after the final curtain.”
The play centres around a group of sharp-witted ladies who regularly meet at Truvy’s Beauty Shop. But they visit for much more than a cut and curl. They come for the friendship they all share and the support they give each other as they live through the joys and challenges of life in a small Louisiana town.
The play opens on a busy day at the salon – the wedding day of one of Truvy’s clients – and progresses through the two years following that occasion when the young bride faces some challenges that affect not only her but the entire group.
Bowes offered no spoilers to the plot but has no trouble revealing that the story will be a memorable one, with a blue chip cast to bring this dynamite play to life on the Playhouse stage.
Truvy is played by AnnaMarie Lea, who has entertained Playhouse audiences for every one of the last sixteen years. She brings a wealth of talent to the role and, as a side story, is also an accomplished hair-dresser to boot. The bride, Shelby, is played by Erin MacKinnon who wowed audiences last summer as the ‘daughter’ in Norm Foster’s Hilda’s Yard. Local actress Kathleen Egan Veinotte returns after several years to play M’Lynn, mother of the bride. Egan Veinotte has also appeared in several Playhouse productions and performed at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival last season. Another local actress, Brenda Quesnel, returns to play Clairee, wife of the former Mayor of the town where the play is set. Linda Goranson plays Ouiser, an eccentric member of the group whose acerbic wit livens the place on a continual basis. Rounding out the cast is new-comer Alison MacKay as Annelle, a stranger to town who Truvy hires as an apprentice.
Hot on the heels of their opener, the riotous There’s A Burglar in My Bed, The Playhouse is excited to entertain audiences with this switch-up from farce to sitcom with Steel Magnolias as their 2016 season keeps packing them in with the wide variety of entertaining shows the audience has come to expect. Visit www.uppercanadaplayhouse.com, for further details.
