Steel Magnolias, May 11 at MAT-Great Falls

"Steel Magnolias" by MAT I feel has the right combination of what a good MAT show needs -- emotion, humor, a basic yet distinctive set and a varied cast of characters who work well together.

While I felt "Medea," lacked a certain few key elements to reach a large audience, "Steel Magnolias," for the most part delivers the goods.

"Steel Magnolias," is directed by Krystine Wendt and Jeff Scolley and stars Tiffany Staigmiller as Ouiser, Sarah Raines as M’Lynn, Ali Shildt as Annelle and Jean Hawkins as Clairee. Shelby is played by Casey Ayres and her understudy Sarah Meyers, who was featured Saturday night. Wendt also appeared as Truvy, although she was not on the original cast list. 

Like I said above, I felt the show hit the right notes and leaves audiences feeling for these women. 

"Steel Magnolias," if you're not familiar with the plot, is an adaptation of Robert Harling's play written in 1987. A movie by the same name was produced in 1989. 

The highlight performances for me were Staigmiller's brash, loud-talking Ouiser, Raines' ability to tug at your heartstrings toward the end when, without giving too much away, she is confronted by a great loss in her life.

She has a real presence on the stage in how she moves, the way she becomes M'Lynn and the conviction in her lines. 

I also particularly enjoyed Shildt's innocence portrayed in Annelle. She at times was funny, but never anything but gentle in a somewhat-naive sort of way. It doesn't take long before you start to see people you know like Annelle, who's very much the newcomer to the neighborhood.

Wendt, as well, gave a solid performance as Truvy. It's probably the best role I've seen her in recently, although like the last one it's one she didn't appear to plan to take. Nonetheless she played Truvy well, who is a linchpin character. 

The story spoke to me in a unique way in that Shelby, one of the central characters in the play, is diabetic and suffers through an episode during act one. It's one of the constant pieces of conflict throughout the play, and motivation for Harling to write the piece.  

As a fellow diabetic, I can sympathize what that is like entirely too well, but as such I noticed a few problems. 

Firstly, as any diabetic might tell you, you're never out and about without your blood testing machine. I didn't notice Shelby having it once, which made it a little less believable for me. Secondly , when a diabetic has a low-blood sugar attack, it takes a while for your body to return to normal. 

When Shelby goes into a hypoglycemic attack, however, after she has some orange juice, she almost instantaneously comes out of it. It doesn't QUITE work like that. It would have been nicer to see a little more time between her episode and her recovery. 

Also, Shelby appeared to have flubbed a few lines in the second and third act. It didn't take me out of the scene too much, but it was a slight distraction. 

This show being Meyers' first foray into acting, I might forgive these a little, but a random person who watched the play off the street who wouldn't know that might not. 

Still, she played the part well and there were moments where I got lost in her character. The down-to-earth dialogue, the witty humor and consistent character development all made it easy to forget you were watching a performance. 

While I felt the first act went on a little too long with banter not central to the story, the second act started with a real bang and I instantly got right back into feeling the characters personalities.  

By the end of the play you feel like you know these women and the type of people they are. To me that says something about the script and the women's performances. 

In conclusion, I recommend seeing "Steel Magnolias," which wraps up this weekend and next with shows on May 17, 18 and 25. 

This is a good show to see if you're looking for an emotional journey between six women all at different points in their lives. It has humor, drama, and a touching end. It's a solid piece of theater worth the price of admission despite the few minor issues.