Stage Coach's 'Steel Magnolias' opens July 9

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Stage Coach Players announces the next play of its 2009 summer season, “Steel Magnolias.” The whow will be performed July 9-19, at Stage Coach Theatre, 126 S. Fifth St. in DeKalb. Jan Kuntz of Sycamore is directing the play.

At times hilarious, and at other times tragic, “Steel Magnolias” was written by Robert Harling. Inspired to write the play because of the death of his younger sister, “Steel Magnolias” has become a popular play since its first performance at the WPA Theatre in New York in 1987. It wasn’t until its popularity had been solidified through off-Broadway performances, hundreds of community theater productions and a feature film before it made its Broadway debut in 2005 and ran for four months.

The play is set in a beauty parlor in Chinquapin, La. Truvy is the proprietor, where all the ladies “who are anybody” come to have their hair done. As the play opens, the beauty parlor is the scene where some of the usual patrons have gathered on the morning of Shelby Eatenton’s wedding to Jackson, a local “good-’ole boy.” Shelby’s mother, M’Lynn, is one of the community’s social leaders

Filled with funny and often sharp-witted repartee, the play covers events of the unlikely friendships of the strong women over the following three years. The story line includes Truvy giving advice to the local curmudgeon, Ouiser, eccentric millionaire Clairee, the transformation of Annelle, a shy newcomer in town and Shelby’s decision to have a child even though she has type 1 diabetes.

Stage Coach Players’ production of “Steel Magnolias,” sponsored by Dolce Vita of DeKalb, opens July 9 and runs for two weekends. For tickets or show information, call the Stage Coach box office at 815-758-1940 or visit www.stagecoachers.com.