by Ten Bottemiller, Ben Pursel, and Kameron Heft

November 15-18, Bellbrook High School’s theater students brought an entirely new performance style to the stage with their stage adaptation of the Herbert Ross 1983 hit film Steel Magnolias.

Steel Magnolias is about a group of women and one of their daughters, the drama they discuss in a beauty parlor, and the heartbreak they experience due to a character’s diabetes.

“They basically sit around and gossip all the time,” senior Sophia Falzerano, who plays the sassy Clairee Belcher, said. “One of the ladies’ kids has an announcement that’s pretty exciting until you think about it hard enough. It’s a show that proves how strong women can be and shows a true connection between people.”

Due to a large cast and only six main roles in the production, the actors split into two casts, Blush and Bashful, in reference to main character Shelby’s wedding colors.

“This show was such a great opportunity for the students to really challenge themselves and do something they may not necessarily get the chance to do again,” BHS Theater Director Alexis Breese said. “I wanted to be able to give as many kids that chance as I could.”

The Blush cast performed Thursday, the Bashful cast performed on Friday, and at the two shows Saturday, each cast performed their final run. 

Steel Magnolias is more dialogue-heavy than most productions done at Bellbrook in the past and relies on the emotions of the actors and the audience.

“Usually I don’t have to look at my script outside of theater,” junior Cecelia Dyer, actress who portrayed the grumpy Ouiser Boudreaux, said. “This time I did. It was pretty intense. I have 127 lines, which is a lot, and some of them are randomly placed.”

“Normally I don’t struggle much with the memorization,” senior Ella Glover said. “But with such a small cast and long show, it is a beast. I play Truvy. I just try to picture my inner Dolly Parton when I act and remember my lines since she played Truvy in the movie adaptation.”

“I think people should look forward to the difference between this show and others,” senior Reagan Morrow said. She played M’Lynn, Shelby’s mother. “It’s really out of my comfort zone, but it’s a really powerful show if done right.”

Each actor has to display a range of emotions, some of which are difficult to express on stage, and since it’s such a well known show, they’ve all worked very hard to finalize Steel Magnolias. 

“I always say that Steel Magnolias is a play about love,” Breese said. “It follows the story of a group of women who love hard and confront life’s hardships the only way they know how: through gossip and laughter while making sure there’s not a hair out of place.”