{"id":56397,"date":"2026-02-06T07:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T12:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=56397"},"modified":"2026-02-06T08:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:03:08","slug":"on-stage-extra-steel-magnolias-at-peoples-light-features-mix-of-new-veteran-perfoemrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=56397","title":{"rendered":"On Stage (Extra): Steel Magnolias at Peoples Light features mix of new & veteran performers"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/div>\n
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Steel Magnolias<\/p><\/div>\n

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With the production that is currently being featured at People\u2019s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern,\u00a0peopleslight.org<\/a>), it\u2019s a little of both.<\/div>\n
\u201cSteel Magnolias,\u201d which is running now through February 22 on the Steinbright Stage at the theater in Malvern,<\/div>\n
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\u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d is a hilarious and heart-wrenching American classic.<\/div>\n
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The reigning ladies of a small Louisiana parish spend Saturday mornings at Truvy Jones\u2019 beauty parlor \u2013 a ritual that goes back decades.<\/div>\n
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The roster of actors features five friends who have been staples in each other\u2019s lives for as long as they can remember along with a newcomer \u2013 a young hairdresser who has recently moved to Natchitoches and been hired by Truvy.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Janis Dardaris, who por\u00adtrays Clairee, the widow of the town mayor, first appeared at Peoples Light in 1974.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mar\u00adcia Saun\u00adders, who plays the grumpy wisecracking Ouiser, has been a Company Artist since 1976.<\/div>\n
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Claire Inie-Richards, who plays Shelby, young nurse and new\u00adly\u00adwed, has been a Company Artist since 2015.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Susan McKey, who plays Shelby\u2019s mother M\u2019Lynn, has been a Company Artist since 1988.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Terri Lamm, who plays Truvy, has been a Company Artist since 2015.<\/div>\n
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In case you haven\u2019t been counting, that\u2019s five actresses and 162 years.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then there is Brynn Gau\u00adth\u00adier, who like Annelle, is the \u201cNew Kid on the Block.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Gauthier, who plays the role of the recently hired hairdresser, is making her People\u2019s Light debut in this production.<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the older group and the new girl,\u201d said Gauthier, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. \u201cIt\u2019s like the story of the play. These actresses really work together well.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWith this cast, acting was a part of their vocabulary. People want to see \u2018Steel Magnolias\u2019 because they\u2019re so attached to these characters.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The show begins with Truvy and Annelle getting Shelby ready for her nuptials. Shelby and M\u2019Lynn talk about preparing for the wedding.<\/div>\n
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Ouiser, as usual, is grumbling about things. Clairee comes in after attending a ded\u00adic\u00ada\u00adtion cere\u00admony hon\u00ador\u00ading her late mayor hus\u00adband.<\/div>\n
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Annelle has little to say about her past but eventually shares how her hus\u00adband had taken off with her money, her car, and her jew\u00adelry.<\/div>\n
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\u201cTruvy has a line that laughter through tears is her favorite emotion,\u201d said Gauthier, who got an undergrad degree in drama at Vassar and an M.F.A. at New York University Tisch School of the Arts (also Aubrey Plaza\u2019s alma mater).<\/div>\n
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\u201cAudiences like to laugh and audiences like to cry. This show has that. It\u2019s like watching your favorite episode of \u2018Friends.\u2019<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe women in this play form a community together \u2013 the way they hold each other \u2013 the way they cry and laugh together sharing themselves with each other.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThey are all so different and they all have fun together.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Five of the six cast members in this show at Peoples Light have been acting for a long time. The sixth is just getting started after finishing her education.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy mom was an actress, and she met my dad in New York,\u201d said Gauthier. \u201cI always wrote plays and performed then when I was a kid. I watched Shirley Temple movies and re-created them for my parents.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI went to the Denver School of the Arts for middle school and high school. I was a theater major. We did plays every fall and spring.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAt Vassar, I spent my junior year abroad at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. We\u2019d have classes from 10-6 and research from 6-10.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cAfter Vassar, I went to NYU\u2019s Tisch School and then remained in New York after I graduated. I became part of the extended theater community in New York.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI think I always knew I wanted to be an actor. When I went to the Royal Academy of the Arts, I became completely sure that I was meant to be an actor.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, she is plying her trade with five other theater veterans who also were meant to be actors.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Video link for People\u2019s Light — https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zICXuBNoPuY<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d will run now through February 15 on the Steinbright Stage at People\u2019s Light.<\/div>\n
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Ticket prices start at $59.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
With bone-chilling weather set to be with us for a while yet, attending a theater production is a good way to spend an evening \u2013 but not so much at theaters in Philadelphia.<\/div>\n
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With shows at the Academy of Music, Miller Theater, Forrest Theater and Walnut Street Theater, parking can be a problem \u2013 a four or five block walk to the venue and parking fees that start around $25.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Fortunately, this is not a problem at two of the top theaters in the Brandywine Valley \u2013 People\u2019s Light and the Candlelight Theatre. Both feature free parking and a short walk from the parking area to the theater.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org<\/a>) is presenting \u201cThe Producers\u201d now through February 22.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe Producers\u201d\u00a0is a\u00a0musical comedy\u00a0with music and lyrics by\u00a0Mel Brooks\u00a0and a book by Brooks and\u00a0Thomas Meehan. It is adapted from Brooks\u2019 1967 film of the same name.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a\u00a0Broadway\u00a0musical designed to fail. Complications arise when the show is a surprise hit.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The humor of\u00a0\u201cThe Producers\u201d\u00a0draws on exaggerated accents, caricatures of\u00a0Jews,\u00a0gay\u00a0people and\u00a0Nazis, and many\u00a0show business\u00a0in-jokes.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tickets, which include dinner and show, are $77.50 for adults and $35 for children (ages 4-12). \u201cShow Only\u201d tickets, which have limited availability, cost $35.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? With the production that is currently being featured at People\u2019s Light (39 Conestoga Road, Malvern,\u00a0peopleslight.org), it\u2019s a little of both. \u201cSteel Magnolias,\u201d which is running now through February 22 on the Steinbright Stage at the theater in Malvern, \u201cSteel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[287],"tags":[7426,7825,16241],"class_list":["post-56397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-featured","tag-peoples-light","tag-steel-magnolias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56397"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56405,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56397\/revisions\/56405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}