STEEL MAGNOLIAS playing at Hanover Tavern
A sold out opening night audience was transported from the Hanover Tavern in Powhatan to Chinquapin, Louisiana – to Truvy’s Beauty Shop, 1989.
One of the most recognized plays in American Theatre, Steel Magnolias was made into a film starring Academy Award winners Sally Field and Julia Roberts, which this reviewer has seen more than a dozen times. Well, the Virginia Repertory Theatre’s production more than stood its ground against that worthy comparison.
This company of actresses set up and delivered their lines with better timing, intonation, and enthusiasm than the film. There it is. Not a hint of pretense or over-acting; just superior writing brought to life by six talented, seasoned professionals. The audience was hit so many times with one-liners bringing on gales of laughter that the performers needed to find places to insert dialogue we laughed right through, not even hearing the first time.
Well worth an early arrival at Hanover Tavern, the restaurant served up some of the plumpest, sweetest fried oysters this side of Chincoteague with a spicy remoulade sauce and the flavored martinis are tops.
We left feeling good that there were people in our lives who cherished us as much as those six women cared for one another through death and new life. A sure feel-good evening’s entertainment.
