The Lyric Performing Arts Company kicks off their annual stage production this week with a presentation of Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias.
Performances will be held Thursday through Saturday, June 9-11th at 7:30pm each night and matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm. All shows will be held at the Dorothy McIntosh Fine Arts Center at Brownwood High School. Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce office or online at BrownwoodLyricTheatre.com.
The play is about the bond between six women from a parish in the Natchitoches, Louisiana, area. Harling’s play was made into a well known movie in 1989.
The show takes place in Truvy’s Beauty Salon, where all the ladies meet and spill the latest or the greatest in their lives. Truvy is played by Priscilla Monson, a Lyric board member who comes from a long background of musical theatre. This is her first straight play, but she is a natural Truvy, even sharing stories during rehearsal just like her character would.
M’Lynn is the over-protective mother of strong-willed, fun-loving Shelby; these characters are played by Dr. Nancy Jo Humfeld and Caitlyn Tidwell. Dr. Humfeld is basically Brownwood’s embodiment of theatre; she’s been a theatre professor at Howard Payne for years and is actively involved in the Lyric, directing and choreographing the summer musicals since they began doing them. Tidwell is a home-making mother of two, has taught theatre and speech for several years, and has been in countless Lyric and HPU musicals and plays; she is directing the children’s theatre camp this summer as well.
Annelle, the new girl at the salon, is played by Sara Musgrove. She said that it has been a while since she acted in a major stage production, but when she heard who the rest of the cast was, she couldn’t wait for rehearsal to begin.
The other two core women are Ouiser and Clairee, old friends that make the shop come alive with their colorful and quirky personalities. Jill Evans and Jill Underwood light the stage in these roles, and while Jill Evans says she’s become almost as cranky as her character while rehearsing lines in her car en route to her home healthcare clients, her snarkiness on stage will entertain even the most lackluster audience member.
Larry Mathis has accepted the undertaking of directing Steel Magnolias. He is the theatre director for Brownwood High School and is known for his years of knowledge and experience in stage and musical productions.
See photo gallery below of for a preview of the show from a recent dress rehearsal.
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Cast and production schedule:
Truvy – Priscilla Monson
Annelle – Sara Musgrove
Clairee – Jill Underwood
Shelby – Caity Tidwell
M’Lynn – Nancy Jo Humfeld
Ouiser – Jill Evans
Show dates and times are:
Thursday, June 9 at 7:30
Friday, June 10 at 7:30
Saturday, June 11 at 2:30 and 7:30
Sunday, June 12 at 2:30
