“Steel Magnolias” has been performed all over the United States, England, Australia, and Canada; however, most folks remember the 1989 movie featuring Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, and Sally Fields. Professor Emeritus Rex Stephenson, founder of BRDT, is directing the Ferrum production.
The dinner theatre cast features veteran performers Emily Blankenship-Tucker, Rebecca Crocker, Kristina Stump, and Lana Whited. Newcomer Heather Jefferson will enact the delightful role of Annelle, a clumsy but good-hearted new worker at Trudy’s beauty shop. Student TJ Baker will perform as Shelby, the young woman whose health problems cause many worries for her mother and their small-town Southern neighbors.
The performance will be staged in Sale Theatre, Scholfield Hall with luncheon and dinner options served in Franklin Hall. The show opens Thursday, August 24, with a luncheon at 12:15 and curtain at 2 p.m. Additional show dates are Saturday, August 26, with dinner beginning at 6:15 p.m. and curtain at 8 p.m., and the final performance on Sunday, August 27, with a luncheon beginning at 12:15 p.m. and the play starting at 2 p.m.
The crew for the show includes Rachel Blankenship-Tucker as stage manager, Susan Blankenship as her assistant, Debra Smith as technical advisor, and Sara Bier and Ferrum College Theatre Arts students as backstage crew. Rachel Blankenship-Tucker first came to the BRDT as a performer from Patrick County in summer 2010, and in her first mainstage role in Ferrum she played Shelby in this play.
Call (540) 365-4336 or visit www.ferrum.edu/play-tickets for tickets and information.
