Review: Steel Magnolias at Sacramento Theatre Company

Sacramento Theatre Company’s production of Steel Magnolias is like comfort food with top-notch ingredients.

This 1980s play by Robert Harling is a sweet, sentimental story of Southern women who gather and gossip in a small-town Louisiana beauty shop. But it’s the talented cast members in this STC show that really elevate this production—a lineup of top-notch local Drama Divas that includes Janis Stevens, Jamie Jones, Janet Motenko, Natasha Hause, Carissa Meagher and Kayla K. Johnston.

The cast delivers both impressive individual performances as well as a synchronized sisterhood bond that’s a treat to witness, all choreographed by director Casey McClellan.

The characters, defined as “delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel,” include beauty shop owner Truvy, her new apprentice Annelle and a bevy of beauty shop regulars who bring with them their individual and neighborhood dramas, traumas and group support. Each character’s story is slowly leaked out to provide the audience both laughter and tears.

The staging is in STC’s smaller venue, Pollock Stage, a wise choice since it’s the same size as small beauty salons and provides an intimacy that’s needed. There’s nothing groundbreaking in Steel Magnolias, rather it’s the simple stories of women who have found friendship and family in each other.