Steel Magnolias at the Midvale Performing Arts Center

I wish more community theaters would do straight plays. I mean, sure, everybody loves a musical (except for this guy), but not everyone can pull off a production of Into the Woods without looking foolish. The tiniest of imperfections - a cracked voice, a faulty microphone, one misstep in the choreography - and the whole thing looks like... well, like a community theater musical.

I'm not going to say that straight plays are easier. In many ways, they're harder. You have to work really hard to keep the audience's attention without breaking out the high-kicking girls every five minutes. It's just that, while I've seen a lot of community theater productions that are "good," I haven't seen many that are "great." And, of that small percentage, a lot of them are straight plays.

Last night I caught a production of Steel Magnolias put on by the Midvale Arts Council (and starring my foxy and fabulous friend). It's been a while since I've been able to make it out to a show (considering I've missed three productions I've got friends in recently), so I was glad to finally make one of them. And I'm pretty glad it was this one.

I'd never seen Steel Magnolias before, which surprised my friend. "Of course I've never seen it!" I said. "It's a bit of a chick flick." And it really is... ish. SM is the story of a group of women who meet up in a hair salon to talk about life and love and all that jazz. However, while it's a very woman-centric play, its characters are never just "women." You've got mothers, daughters, and a crazy lady with a dog. Feisty old sports fanatics and curling-iron monarchs. Each character has feelings and motivations and a whole lot of heart.

The central conflict revolves around Shelby, a young diabetic woman, and her mother, who can be a bit overprotective. Shelby's mother demands that her daughter take care of herself at the cost of missing out on certain experiences. Shelby retorts, "I'd rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special." Their conflict leads to some of the most inspiring moments of the show, as well as some of the most tragic.

Now, a good story can often be derailed by a so-so cast, but I must say that I couldn't spot a weak link in the show's lineup. Everyone in the cast is stellar. They really get into their roles, and they have a lot of fun with the delivery of their lines. I laughed good and hard that night - and I wasn't the only one.

Steel Magnolias wraps up its run this week. If you get the inclination, it's well worth checking out.