Monday, February 28, 2011

Steel Magnolias, credits and favorite lines

The Opera House (circa 1890) in sleepy Monticello, Florida.

I wrote it about it once before here. On Saturday evening, it was the scene of a play, Steel Magnolias. And six women who could be considered steel magnolias themselves attended the play and the dinner before it. The dinner was delightfully southern: smothered fried chicken, mashed potatoes and pole beans, with Mississippi Mud Cake for dessert. The caterer provided the food for my niece's wedding reception and I took the time to tell her that it was the best food I've ever had at a wedding.

- The play was set entirely in Truvy's Beauty Shop. I loved the credits in the back of the program thanking local Monticello beauty shops: Maggie from Maggie's Beauty Shoppe for the loan of the beauty shop equipment, special thanks to Jessi at The Dogwood House salon for helping Truvy and Annelle learn to "act" like hair stylists and thanks to Amber Waves for the loan of Truvy's styling chair. Jessi also colored the actress who played Truvy's hair red for the part. My niece was disappointed she didn't look more like Dolly Parton.

The Meeting Oak, next to the Opera House.

- We had a discussion about our favorite lines from the play during dinner: My sister's favorite, when Shelby says tearfully, "Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" My favorite, when Annelle says, "I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair." My niece's favorite, when Clairee says, "Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!"

13 comments:

Fireblossom said...

I've heard that last line attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth. I have never seen it on stage, but I just love the movie Steel Magnolias, and just watched it for the umpteenth time recently. My favorite line is when Weeza says she's just been in a very bad mood for forty years.

Jannie Funster said...

"come sit by me," so naughty!

Weddings are always such a great time.

That name Amber Waves is neat, multi meanings in it, well 3 that I can think of.

Welcome back!

xoxo

LL Cool Joe said...

I think I've been in a bad mood most of my life too. :D

Glad you had such a lovely time! The Opera house looks beautiful.

Granny Annie said...

Clairee says: "Hit this! Go ahead M'Lynn, slap her! We'll sell t-shirts sayin' "I SLAPPED OUISER BOUDREAUX!" Hit her!"

desk49 said...

And me I LOL and cryed through out.
Okay I'm just a big baby.

Louvregirl said...

Lynn~ I like that movie too. I will have to ponder my favorite line. Wish I could have attended that; it sounds super FUN! I really liked the scene when Annelle (Daryl Hannah) dropped to her knees to pray on the porch by the drier saying "I think we should pray..." after her husband cursed with anger!

Lynn said...

FB -

It's my older sister's favorite movie - I wish she could have been with us. She and her daughters can quote just about every line.

One of them sent her an email with a favorite line that Shelby said to M'Lynn: "I never worry because I know you're worrying enough for the both of us."

I like that bad mood quote, too. :)

Jannie -

Isn't that the greatest name for a beauty salon? Amber Waves. I agree - such a multi-layered name.

Joe -

You should see the beautiful floors in the opera house. All original wood floors. We had to go up and reserve our own seats prior to dinner. So funny.

AND dinner and the play was only $35.

Granny Annie -

That scene was a highlight of the play Saturday night? So funny!

Ellis -

I like that you liked it enough to have that reaction. :)

lg -

The play featured Annelle praying off to the side quite a bit. :)

I saw that my home town had the play at the Campus Theatre a few months ago. I think it can be a little theater production of sorts.

Cookie said...

I like the line "if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody come sit by me" too. That made me laugh. Sounds like a nice night.
I think you would really enjoy geocaching. The crativity that people have to hide their caches always amazes me!

Maude Lynn said...

I just want that food!

TALON said...

What a perfect match - southern food and a southern play. Perfection!

That Opera House is lovely!

Ileana said...

Now I MUST watch that movie. My friends have been talking about it for years and I've yet to see it.

I'd love to catch the play if/when it comes to Miami. I'll look into it.

Snaggle Tooth said...

Never heard of that play! (Just the film). Thanks for the details of the setting n the quotes- You've made a great ad for it! Good for you getting down to visit FL again, sounds like so much fun, n alot of good eats, n folks.

Lynn said...

Cookie -

I'm glad I could give you an chance to laugh! :)

And I did sign on to that geocaching site to check it out. I haven't quite wrapped my head around how you do it yet.

Mama Zen -

It was delicious and totally not weight watchers friendly. :) (Several people around me are doing WW and they had a discussion about the points on the plate.)

Talon -

It was a perfect venue for that - a large hall on the first floor where tables were set up for dining and then the auditorium space on the second floor for the play. My niece and her friends are holding their 10 year high school reunion there in May.

Lulu -

Yes - watch the movie for sure. It is delightful. Funny and kind of a tearjerker, too.

Snaggle -

I guess I did make kind of an ad for it at that. They do these dinner theater things there every so often. I hope we can go again soon.

I am getting down to see mom about once a month, so it is good to see my family on a more regular basis. My niece Amanda's birthday is at the end of March, so I'll go see mom and go to the birthday party, too.