It’s the return of the Southern sisterhood
Steel Magnolias is a stage and cinema classic that’s full of joy and heartbreak, fuelled by six strong female leads – and we’re about to see a slick new Australian production.
Big hair, big heart and big laughs define Brisbane’s latest cultural coup featuring a powerhouse female ensemble in the Australian premiere of a beloved classic’s stage revival.
The play is comedy-drama of love and loss Steel Magnolias. It spawned the seminal 1989 Hollywood blockbuster that showcased six unforgettable Southern women and performances. Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis were already stars. The film made Julia Roberts one.
Much of the dialogue is shared in both versions written by Robert Harlin and based on his own family’s story. This production, which opens at QPAC’s Playhouse on April 30 and afterwards will tour nationally until August, promises to replicate the film’s alchemy and wide-reaching appeal.
Its line-up of leading ladies features faces and names known to multiple generations of Aussies beyond the theatre-going public, through hit TV shows Blue Heelers and Home and Away: Lisa McCune, Mandy Bishop, Belinda Giblin, Debra Lawrance and Jessica Redmayne. They’re joined by emerging talent Lotte Beckett (seen onstage here in Julia last August).
Chemistry is key, affirms McCune, and it built quickly when the cast of “glorious women” began rehearsals with director Lee Lewis (who recently helmed the all-male success ART).
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“Even the first day on the floor you could see these light bulb (moments) of beautiful performances coming and that was really special,” McCune recalls.
Although the perennially popular actress had seen the film when it came out, she chose not to rewatch it once she’d been cast, to ensure she “didn’t absorb too much of Sally” – the “remarkable” Sally Field in her Golden Globe-nominated performance as matriarch M’Lynn.
As the mother of 21-year-old daughter Remy, McCune has more than enough to draw on in creating the relationship between M’Lynn and daughter Shelby that is at the heart of the story’s two-and-a-half-year journey spanning joy and heartbreak.
‘I love the fact that the show (depicts) how a human life can leave a trace’
“It’s Shelby’s wedding day when we first meet them, which is a glorious place to start because it’s full of craziness – everybody just trying to get ready and dealing with a few little hiccups along the way and personalities and tensions,” she says. “They’re almost each a different season, and we see the progression of these people – what happens to them, and the influence of Shelby – how she imprinted and then left.
“I love the fact that the show (depicts) how a human life can leave a trace. They’re almost little clues that were left behind that they talk about later. You know how that happens when people pass away, and there’s just something that lingers and it reminds you of them – it’s like they’re leaving you a message.”
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For mother-of-three McCune, the process of aligning the commonalities forged within the same household between M’Lynn and Shelby and building the bond with actor Jess Redmayne, as Shelby, is special.
“My daughter is 21 and Shelby’s a couple of years older, but seeing that glorious mother-daughter relationship where the daughter is blooming like a magnolia does – there’s so much beauty wrapped up in that notion of a young woman who is just at the beginning of this beautiful time in her life.
“I’ll cry when I say this – when my daughter knew I was doing this, she must have gone and watched the movie, and she said, ‘Oh, Mum, you’re not going to be thinking about me when you do this, are you?’
“And I said, ‘Oh, no, Remy, I probably wouldn’t be able to speak if I did that’.”
It’s a matter of using what you can, without getting overwhelmed and losing focus, she explains. The 55-year-old loves that the play also reflects the other side of the coin through the generations of women on the stage.
“They’ve each had their time and seeing that movement through lives, it’s beautiful. You always find shows and characters teach you things. I love reading autobiographies and biographies because I feel like that’s how I learn. And there’s already so much about this play that I think about.”
That includes the women’s sense of community and resilience.
“They always just say they’re fine. And then maybe they’re not, but they just try to get on with it. They do the best they can. And that’s all any of us can do.”
The perfect setting to illuminate all of this is Truvy’s Beauty Salon in Louisiana, the play’s sole location.
“There will be lots of laughter and lots of rollers,” McCune declares. “Tell everybody that they should come wearing their shoulder pads and best ’80s outfit if they still have it, and maybe even perm their hair!
“I hope people have a bit of a giggle and a bit of a think and walk out of there having had a good time and thinking life is nice. Life is okay.”
Steel Magnolias plays the Playhouse, QPAC, April 30 to May 10.
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