“Steel Magnolias” cast holds dress rehearsal before premiere on February 21st & 22nd

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Take six women from northwest Louisiana, put them in a salon, and what do you get? The latest production from the Ramsey Theatre Company, “Steel Magnolias,” which premieres on Saturday & Sunday.

The cast held a dress rehearsal on Thursday before the performances, but organizers stress this is not a musical but a play.

“This is Ramsey Theatre Company’s first play… so first play without music. So this is not a musical. This is a play… and what a lot of people don’t realize is that Steel Magnolias was actually a play before it was a movie. So the movie was adapted from the original play, and it’s just outstanding. We have an outstanding cast full of professionals who have experience on Broadway, TV, film, and just a wonderful group of actors who’ve come together to tell this beautiful and meaningful story,” Diane DiCroce, Artistic Director for the Ramsey Theatre Company, says.

The set took a lot of inspiration from designer Sebastian Tingle’s family, specifically the women in his life.

“I started diving into a lot of 80s research. My grandma and mom lived through the 80s, so I started talking with them a lot in the very beginning and asking them what it was like to go to salons. From there, I just compiled a lot of research and started talking with our director, Tim Altmeyer, and it was super fun to get to see what his perspective was on the 80s as well, because also he had never been to a salon,” he says.

With this being its first play, Ramsey Theatre Company is looking to add a little variety on top of its musical productions.

“Someone who may be coming to us for the first time to see a show in person to come see a Ramsey Theater production… maybe they haven’t seen a musical before, and maybe they’re more inclined to come and see a play. So this way they can come in, they can see the tremendous quality of our productions, the excellent quality of the acting and all of the production values, and be introduced to Ramsey Theater Company through a play and then come back and see a musical,” DiCroce says.

With March on the horizon, it’s also a great way to kick off Women’s History Month just a bit early.

“It’s all about women supporting each other, and just carrying each other through with the friendship and love that they have for one another,” DiCroce says.

“I think this show does a great job of showing the personality of southern women, especially in the 80s. It makes me feel like my family is seen… and I think a lot of people I know relate to the show,” Tingle adds.

The show premieres on Saturday, February 21st at 7:30 PM and Sunday, February 22nd at 3:00 PM.