Margaret Sebens, Regi Johanos, Annette Smith and Carolyn Goolsby rehearse Smith’s character’s entrance in Steel Magnolias.
“Steel Magnolias” opens at the Chilkat Center on Friday with Lorrie Dudzik and Judith McDermaid, two first-time directors, at the helm.
The play, set in small-town Louisiana in the ’80s, centers on the close bonds between six female protagonists, connected by a shared hair salon. The cast includes Haines residents Margaret Sebens, Marie Boisvert, Carolyn Goolsby, Regi Johanos, Cheryl Mullins and Annette Smith.
Dudzik said she had the idea to put on the production because she had originally wanted to act in it. However, she quickly realized that would be impossible given the workload of directing.
In the 20 minutes of downtime before Monday’s rehearsal began, cast and crew members kept approaching Dudzik to ask for last-minute opinions on hair, wardrobe, sound and set design.
“What do you think about the crimping?” McDermaid said, asking Dudzik about a character’s hairstyle. “I gave her a French twist. It was very popular then with Princess Grace,” she said of character Truvy Jones’ hair.
“Thank God for Judith because she owns the Hair Shop and knows about hair shops, and I do not,” Dudzik said.
Dudzik said she knew she wanted McDermaid as her co-director from the moment she decided to do the play.
McDermaid, who has acted in many plays in the past, was less sure about signing on. “Directing scares the crap out of me, and I understand why now more than ever,” she said.
McDermaid described herself as “more of an acting coach.” She said she provides “the hair expertise and a knowledge of what people are like in (a hair salon) venue. People who have nothing in common but have had their hair done together for years, they become family.”
McDermaid has operated a salon in Haines for 25 years. “I had a gentleman come in and ask me, ‘how long have you been doing my hair?’ And I said, ‘I was doing your hair when your first wife passed away. I was doing your hair the day you were diagnosed with skin cancer. I was doing your hair the day you married your second wife, and I was doing your hair when you had your first heart attack.”
After sharing the best and worst moments in someone’s life, you’re so connected to them, you might as well be family, McDermaid said. “I wanted to get that across.” People in the audience who have had that experience know the feeling, she said. “They’ll spot it if it’s bull.”
Dudzik said she’s been surprised by the way the play has touched the cast and crew on a personal level. The play is full of humor and drama alike, she said. “You’re guaranteed to laugh and guaranteed to cry. And then you’ll laugh again.”
The humor in the play is important given the time of year, Dudzik said. “It’s dark; it’s cold; it’s rainy; it’s snowing. Laughter is the best medicine.”
Dudzik said she’s been encouraging people who’ve never been to a production at the Chilkat Center to attend. “They’ll be glad they did because the Chilkat Center is a wonderful place.” Dudzik said the theater was a big draw when she was looking for a place to move after retiring from teaching in Southern California. The chance to attend and participate in productions like “Steel Magnolias” has enhanced her time in Haines, she said.
While directing can be stressful and there’s some sadness that comes from not being able to perform on stage, “I think I would (direct) again,” Dudzik said. “Watching the whole thing come together, knowing it was your vision is worth it.”
“The (‘Steel Magnolias’ film adaptation) set the bar high,” Dudzik said. “But the play is just as good if not better. In the play, all the extraneous stuff-the men, the scenes outside the hair salon-is eliminated. The best parts of the movie are all from the play.”
“Steel Magnolias,” presented by Lynn Canal Community Players, runs Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 8, including two 7 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Admission is $12.