Just a couple of months ago, folks from the Rock Hill Community Theatre woke up on a Sunday morning to find themselves homeless, their theatre the victim of a tragic fire. Tonight, the little theatre that could rises from those ashes to present the classic Southern comedy Steel Magnolias.
Look, it’s not a big deal for a community theatre to produce Steel Magnolias. It’s more a big deal for a year to go by without a community theatre producing Steel Magnolias. But this production means a lot more than another group of women laughing and crying over their lather, rinse, repeat. Tonight marks a return to the stage of a company that I personally thought would never manage this production so soon after losing everything they owned.
Everything. All their props, costumes, lights, archives, everything was destroyed in the fire. But tonight the show goes on. It doesn’t matter if it’s any good, but I know Vito (the director) and he’s not gonna let anybody slack, what matters is that it’s being done.
Break a leg, ladies.