Strong women center stage

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake High School senior Llayleni Fuentes has dreamed of staging “Steel Magnolias,” and now she has her chance. 

“I've been wanting to do the show for the last two years,” Fuentes said. “I asked (MLHS drama teacher Sharon Winningham), what's a really good play for all girls? Because what I've noticed is, there's a lot of men-heavy plays.” 

“Steel Magnolias” certainly fits that bill. The cast consists of six women; male characters are mentioned but never actually appear. The action takes place entirely in that most female of environments, a beauty parlor, situated in a small town in northern Louisiana in the late 1980s. 

Fuentes directs the play as well as playing the role of M’Lynn, the doting and highly protective mother of Shelby (Penny Cochrun), who is not always pleased to be highly protected. Marilyn Massart is Truvy, the beauty shop’s owner, and Calissa Dalton is Annelle, Truvy’s quiet, mousy assistant. Winningham is the elderly well-to-do widow Clairee, and Emily Duvall is the ornery old battleax Ouiser (pronounced “Weezer”). The play opened Off-Broadway in 1987 and was adapted for the big screen in 1989 with an all-star cast. 

“Steel Magnolias” opens as Shelby and M’Lynn are having their hair done for Shelby’s wedding and Truvy has just hired Annelle. Shelby, who lives with type 1 diabetes, is looking forward to having children but M’Lynn reveals that Shelby’s doctor has advised against it. The rest of the play takes place over the next two years as the women’s lives intersect through unexpected turns both comical and heart-wrenching. 

“I really like emotional characters,” Fuentes said. “I like comedy, but I really like where it feels like you're connected to the people … We've done (rehearsals) for a month or two, and I'm still crying like if I’d first read it.” 

“Steel Magnolias” isn’t actually a Moses Lake High School production as such; it uses the MLHS stage, but Fuentes took on the play as her senior project. That was why, in addition to three students, Fuentes was able to cast Duvall and Winningham. 

“Emily was my first director when I joined the theater in ‘Oklahoma!'” Fuentes said. “Then Ms. Winningham was my director for all four years (of high school). So I thought it was about time I like acted with them, to see how they are on stage rather than directing us.” 

The beauty shop setting is a personal touch for Fuentes, she said, because her mother owns a beauty academy. The chairs and props were all borrowed from her, Fuentes said, and so was the atmosphere. 

“All these characters low-key remind me of my mom in some way,” she said. “My mom's also a cosmetologist, and (she says) a hairstylist is like a therapist, almost; she loves the aspect of being able to do hair, but also meeting all these different people at the same time. Shelby's character, I just love the fact that her character loves to live life every day, and she doesn't take anything for granted … Ouizer’s just funny. I just love all her dialogue.” 

Duvall has loved the movie adaptation of “Steel Magnolias” since she was a child, she said. She had the chance to see the play at the now-defunct Chapel Theater in Moses Lake and saw a different side of Ouiser from the portrayal in the movie. 

“(The actress) played it a whole different way than I expected, and I didn't like it at the time,” Duvall said. “But the more that I think about it, the more I’m like, no, actually, she made some really cool choices. She took the character and made it her own. I keep thinking about her and thinking I was really wrong to judge her.” 

Winningham has played Truvy in the past, but this time around wanted to play Clairee, Ouiser’s breezy, free-spirited foil. 

“I have found myself connecting with her more than I ever connected with Truvy,” Winningham said. “She's a (smartypants). She'll break the tension with humor. She's a terrible gossip, but she's very loving and very aware of her people and what they're going through, and wants to take care of them.” 

Massart said this is her first big role and only the third play she’s been in at the high school. Her character, Truvy, is sort of the hub around which the other ladies revolve and she takes them personally. 

“This is my shop,” Massart said. “This is where women come to feel safe with me and to talk about their experiences. It's an experience that not a lot of people get to have, having a safe place. And I feel like Truvy is a beacon.” 

Because “Steel Magnolias” isn’t an MLHS production, the cast and crew had to make some adjustments, Winningham said. Ordinarily, it takes her eight to 10 weeks to put a show together, but Fuentes had only six weeks.  

“Usually, when we do plays, we get to have the stage for as much time as we need,” Fuentes said. “(Basin Community Theatre) was also using the stage, so we had to practice in Miss Winningham's room most of the time. And then we only had about three days to build the set.” 

“We got everything up in about five hours,” said Trenton Busching, the play’s technical director. “And then getting all the details in and making it look good took about another day and a half.” 

Busching, a senior, stepped up as tech director because the Moses Lake School District doesn’t have an adult available, even a sub, Winningham said. Busching has experience with drama both on stage and off, performing in musicals and serving as tech lead in other plays. His work on “Clue: on Stage” earned him a high score for sound design at a state competition this year, he said. 

Busching rounded up some underclassmen and put them to work, he said.  

“It's a small show, there's less than usual, so I'm having to make sure that they're getting what they need done and that all of my techies up there are learning and doing good,” he said. “Making sure they're able to project their own ideas into the show instead of being told and puppeteered by someone else, I think that’s really important.” 

Fuentes credits her mother not only for donating the props but for support. 

“Beauty shops have always been in my background,” she said. “So like a little snippet to my mom, saying thank you for all she's done … She's always supported me during my theater activities, so this is just another big step for her. Since she loves coming to all our shows, I know she can't wait to see all the stuff that's usually in her salon be on the stage.”

Steel Magnolias  
May 2: 7 p.m.
May 3: 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. 

Moses Lake High School Theater
803 E. Sharon Ave.
Tickets $15 at our.show/mlhsmagnolias 

    From left: M’Lynn (Llayleni Fuentes), Annelle (Calissa Dalton), Shelby (Penny Cochrun) and Truvy (Marilyn Massart) get an earful from Ouizer (Emily Duvall) about the effect M’Lynn’s husband’s frequent gunfire is having on Ouizer’s dog in “Steel Magnolias.”
  

    M’Lynn (Llayleni Fuentes, left), and Clairee (Sharon Winningham, right) care for Shelby, who has type one diabetes, through a hypoglycemic episode in “Steel Magnolias.”
  

    Truvy (Marilyn Massart, left) pretties up Shelby (Penny Cochrun) for her wedding while Ouizer (Emily Duvall, right) quizzes Annelle (Calissa Dalton) about her past in “Steel Magnolias,” opening Friday at the Moses Lake High School Theater.