Foley High School presents "Steel Magnolias"

By Allison Marlow
Managing Editor
allisonm@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 10/19/22

FOLEY — Can you envision modern teens playing middle-aged, Southern women dealing with death and aging in the 80s?Foley High School's Theater Department has made the transformation seem …

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Foley High School presents "Steel Magnolias"

Foley High School's cast of "Steel Magnolias" is, left to right, Sara Beth Collins, Evelyn Chiribao, Abriana Garlandios, Kassey Merchant, Grace Stevens and Addyson Newkirk. The show runs this weekend at the Foley Civic Center.
Foley High School's cast of "Steel Magnolias" is, left to right, Sara Beth Collins, Evelyn Chiribao, Abriana Garlandios, Kassey Merchant, Grace Stevens and Addyson Newkirk. The show runs this weekend at the Foley Civic Center.
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FOLEY — Can you envision modern teens playing middle-aged, Southern women dealing with death and aging in the 80s?

Foley High School's Theater Department has made the transformation seem flawless.

The students there are tackling the much-adored story of "Steel Magnolias" this weekend.

Logan Lane, the department's director, said the opportunity to delve into complex characters written by Robert Harling and eventually portrayed by a who's who of Hollywood actresses in 1989 was an opportunity to really learn what it is to act.

"People think sometimes acting is just memorizing lines and getting on stage and saying them. They don't realize these characters are real human beings," Logan said. "The biggest challenge is getting us to honor those moments and remember the reason you're saying the lines. There is a thought process to creating the character."

The cast also spent time researching life in the 1980s to help them morph from high school girls in a technologically fused world to middle-aged women who relied on little more than gossip in the beauty parlor to know the latest news.

"We sat down and pulled apart all of those things that are the experiences they haven't had as teens and find a way to relate to those and make a connection," Lane said. "It's been really great for them to see that perspective."

At Foley many members of the cast have never previously performed on stage, making the single set production and small cast perfect for the budding department, Logan said.

He added that he has seen his students "come alive" on opening night.

"When we did "Godspell" I saw kids on opening night do stuff they have never done in rehearsal," he said. "It's that energy and the excitement and they realize, 'wow, I can actually do this'. It's really exciting."

The production can be seen this weekend downtown at the Foley Civic Center. For tickets visit bit.ly/steelmagnoliasfhs