Arts & Entertainment
Belles and beauticians
Feisty but flawed, Keegan’s ‘Magnolias’ production revives classic ‘80s dramedy
‘Steel Magnolias’
Through Aug. 21
Keegan Theatre at Church Street
1742 Church Street, N.W.
$30-$35
703-892-0202
From left, Sheri Herren, Larissa Gallagher, Jane Petkofsky and Brianna Letourneau in Keegan Theatre’s production of ‘Steel Magnolias.’ (Photo by Jim Coates; courtesy of Keegan)
Before it was a hit film, “Steel Magnolias” won kudos and enjoyed a long and successful run as an off-Broadway play. Written by Robert Harling in response to his younger sister’s death, this drama wrapped in comedy explores solidarity in adversity and the resilience of women, particularly southern women. Keegan Theatre is now offering its own take on the popular work.
The story unfolds entirely in Truvy’s hair salon, a small town Louisiana beauty bastion inhabited exclusively by females, and while both stylists and clients frequently refer to their men who have names like Drum and Spud, the audience never actually meets them. At Truvy’s, women are able to let their hair down. In between shampoos and comb outs, they not only gossip but also share hopes and disappointments.
“Steel Magnolias’” more serious side concerns regular clients M’Lynn and daughter Shelby. The mother is justly worried about her diabetic offspring who marries young and proceeds to get pregnant against doctors’ advice. It’s a lot like a very long episode of the Atlanta-set sitcom “Designing Women” (fittingly Delta Burke was featured in Steel Magnolia’s all-star Broadway 2005 revival) with glib Southern white women dishing, bitching and commiserating. Only here someone dies.
Directed by Mark Rhea, the ensemble cast includes Sheri Herren and real life daughter Laura Herren as M’Lynn and Shelby. Linda High and Jane Petkofsky play cranky spitfire Ouiser and rich widow Clairee, respectively. As Truvy, Larissa Gallagher chats and does hair (in fact, she successfully tortures the big blonde wig that Herrin’s Shelby wears in act one into a respectable wedding up do); and Brianna Letourneau’s Annelle — Truvy’s anxious assistant — evolves markedly throughout the play’s four scenes but regrettably retains her questionable sartorial taste. She trades a frumpy polyester dress for a cowgirl getup.
There are some problems: The cast’s Louisiana accents are all over the place and the pacing of the show is inexplicably uneven. And while some of the actors have chosen to underplay their parts, others are going at it full throttle. Admirably, some of the cast are struggling to portray real characters and not simply caricatures, but given the material it’s not easy.
The play’s intimate setting is well-suited for the cozy Church Street Theater. Trena Weiss-Null’s set design isn’t the tacky beauty box one might expect, but rather a typical modest ‘80s salon with mint-green marbleized walls and black and gray stations. Similarly, costume designer Erin Nugent dresses the ladies in leggings, boxy power suits and other items totally redolent of the era.
A bona fide chick flick, the 1989 film version starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts as mother and daughter is also beloved by a lot of gay men, some of whom can irritatingly rattle off chunks of the film’s dialogue verbatim. Memorable lines include: Truvy’s “All gay men have track lighting and are name Rick, Mark or Steve,” and Ouiser’s “I’m not crazy M’Lynn. I’ve just been in a bad mood for the last 40 years!”
When “Steel Magnolias” opened in 1987 at the Lucille Lortel in Greenwich Village, theatergoers enjoyed meeting these feisty belles and their southern fried phrases, but certainly Shelby’s decision to fearlessly live life in the shadow of death’s specter must have resonated strongly with gay audiences who were around for some of the grimmest years of the AIDS crisis. More than two decades later, the play might feel a little stale, but that courageous spirit still resonates.
Celebrity News
Fashion icon Bob Mackie dead at 87
Designing legend to all the divas, gone but not forgotten
To those still reeling from the loss of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, we have another queer icon to add to the In Memoriam of 2026: Bob Mackie. A designer known for being extra, before that was even a thing, has left us with a legacy of looks and an indelible mark on fashion.
The news broke on his Instagram account Monday, Sept. 14, with the message:
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today. He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a fashion and costume designer, which is all he ever wanted to do. His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.” According to People magazine, he passed away in Palm Springs, Calif., due to pneumonia.
At 87, Mackie is the definitive designer for divas. Mackie has literally dressed them all, including Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, and even RuPaul. He’s dressed film and television icons like Raquel Welch, Lynda Carter, Goldie Hawn, and Jennifer Lopez. It’s not just female divas; he’s also done many of Elton John’s famous costumes as well as David Bowie’s.
His first major mark was drawing the first design of Marilyn Monroe’s famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress. Next, he was an assistant to costume designer Ray Aghayan on “The Judy Garland Show.” The two would carry on a professional and romantic partnership for 50 years until Aghayan’s passing in 2011.
Mackie then went on to do all of the costumes for “The Carol Burnett Show,” creating an estimated 17,000 costumes for her show’s 11-year run. This gave him much critical acclaim and notoriety, making him a permanent fixture in the variety show market.
He became a frequent collaborator of Cher, having made her famous midriff-revealing Oscar gown, her “If I Could Turn Back Time” costume, and being her designer for her various television shows, including “The Sonny and Cher Show.” He even designed costumes for her Farewell Tour. The two are synonymous with him having lent his artistic sensibilities to give her a distinct look. Cher even said in 2024, “He helped me create a different me.”
Mackie has left his mark on fashion with a distinct style of glamorous, over-the-top looks. He received the monikers the “Sultan of Sequins,” the “Rajah of Rhinestones,” and the “Guru of Glitter” for challenging the line between costume and fashion with lots of fringe, flash, and over-the-top eye-catching elements. He’s managed to retain a presence not just in entertainment but in the fashion industry for decades. Most recently, one of his outfits was a major plot point for the final season of “Hacks.”
Mackie has received his share of awards and acknowledgments. In addition to dressing many people for the Oscars, he received three nominations, including dressing Diana Ross for “Lady Sings the Blues.” He won a Tony Award for “The Cher Show.” He won nine Emmy Awards and received 30 nominations for his prolific television work.
Luckily, Mackie’s life was celebrated before his passing, receiving various Lifetime achievement awards including the Geoffrey Beene CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award, being honored by the Television Hall of Fame, and receiving “RuPaul’s Drag Race”‘s Giving Us Life-time Achievement Award. He was the first guest judge on the popular series.
It’s clear that not only was Mackie talented, he was magical. He gave a bit of stardust to countless celebrities, luminaries, and public figures with looks that not only defied expectations but managed to be truly spectacular. He’s part of the glitz we think of when we think of Hollywood, and while often elaborate costumes, the shrewd fashion sense and elegance cannot be denied. Mackie will be missed, but his work lives on in the countless pieces still in circulation and forever captured on film and in media.
The 29th annual SMYAL Fall Brunch was held at the Marriott Marquis on Sunday, Sept. 13.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Books
Dolly Parton biography puts her hardships into context
‘Ain’t Nobody’s Fool’ a highly researched tome not to be missed
‘Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton’
By Martha Ackmann
c.2026, St. Martin’s Press
$30/304 pages
Not too bright.
That’s what people once thought about you. Your language didn’t conform, you had your own sense of style, and you were ignorant about modern things and places and foods. But you were no dummy. You were different, and you had a secret: as in the new biography, “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton” by Martha Ackmann, you knew exactly where you were going.
When Avie Lee Owens and Lee Parton first married, they had the very basics: “two knives, two forks, two spoons, a skillet, a butcher knife, and an old iron kettle.” He was 17; she was 15. Babies came quick. The fourth one was named Dolly, after two great-aunts.
Almost from the time she could walk, Dolly sang. Before she was old enough to attend school, she wrote poetry, and she’d begun to notice rhythms and beats she could make with her fingers. As a schoolchild, she created her own musical instruments out of scraps, and she was eager to perform whenever anyone asked her – and they asked often, because Dolly Parton was a nice girl, and her sense of humor conveyed a warmth that drew people in.
Growing up in the Tennessee mountains, Parton was independent, shunning marriage and child-raising, instead focusing on a dream of being a star. By the time she was in high school, she’d had a regular gig on local television but she recognized that there were few opportunities for fame in the mountains, so she left for Nashville the day after high school graduation, with the snickers of naysayers ringing in her ears.
She stayed with an aunt and uncle there, and she beat the streets, dined on grocery store samples to get by, and missed her family and friends. And they worried about her, but they knew nothing would derail her plans. They knew Dolly would be fine.
As a friend said, “’She had her head on pretty good.’”
Chances are that if you’ve listened to music any time in the last 60 years, you’ve heard Dolly Parton through her words or her music or both. Now you need to learn more about her, and “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool” is where to do it.
Here’s a biography that grabs you on the first page with the tiniest bit of family tree, but not so much that you get bored with it. Author Martha Ackmann writes about Dolly Parton’s early life, putting hardships and experiences in context, both personally and historically. There are name-drops, but not overly so, as Ackmann takes you through Parton’s career, her heartbreaks, her marriage, and her years with Porter Wagoner, in detail but not dramatically embellished or outrageously told. It’s a biography that’s just right, sourced well and written with a fresh take that, like its subject, tells a good story.
Fans, of course, will want this highly researched book but music lovers of any age or type will eat it up. That means you, so use up that Christmas gift certificate. “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool” just shines.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
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Historiography with heart
