That's me with Linsee Lewis, who is celebrating 30 years on the Roanoke stage.

Here's Why Community Theatre Is Vital

There are a lot of reasons to love community theatre and all of them were on display last night at Attic Productions' staging of Robert Harling's hilarious "Steel Magnolias." It is a play written in 10 days during the 1980s and still as fresh as one of those magnolia blossoms floating in Shelby's swimming pool.

"Steel Magnolias," of course, is set in a small town hair salon and features six women, planning, scheming, gossiping, cracking fall-down funny jokes and generally living their often fulfilling lives.

The Attic production is so community in every respect, from the compelling story to the audience chatting eagerly in the lobby, to the sets, lighting, costumes and the six veteran actresses--actually 12 overall--pulling you into the story. 

My pal Susan and I were fortunate to see the one production in this two-week run that featured the understudies, giving us a clear picture of the depth of talent available for these shows in the Roanoke Valley. Attic, which is celebrating its 25th season, is in Fincastle in a roomy, comfortable, modern theater with great parking.

A deserved standing ovation.

I wanted to see this one because my good friend Linsee Lewis was playing the key part of Shelby, around whom the story revolves. Linsee, who looks like a teenager and plays a young woman preparing for marriage, is enjoying her 30th year on the Roanoke area stage and she does it with one of her typical knock-it-out-of-the-park performances. 

She has been in some memorable community theater roles over her three decades ("The Belle of Amherst," a one-woman show, foremost among them), but it would be difficult to eclipse her role in "Steel Magnolias." I simply forgot that this was Linsee about five minutes into the play and believed she was Shelby.

The same was true of the entire second-string cast that included Kathy Boyer, Brandi Dawson, Michelle Hardin, Kelly Hoagland and Susan Singleton, all of whom were spot-on. If the first team cast is better than this group, it might want to move on to Broadway. The first team includes Traci Addison, Emma Boyer, Melanie Fox, Ashley Light, Sandi Rhodes and Kris Sorensen.

As good as these actresses were last night with their difficult parts that require precise comic timing and some real tear-jerking drama, the star of the show is director Chip Addison, who is making his directing debut at Attic with this complex play. But that's not all he does. He is also the set designer, lighting designer, and co-sound designer. That's a handful for anybody, but it is fairly typical of community theatre where the lead actor or director might also sweep the floor between scenes.

Susan pointed out several times that one of the very real charms of this production is that it firmly establishes the "community" in community theater with its big, lively, involved audience that nearly filled the auditorium--for an understudy performance. Before the play, during intermission and after the show, it was like a block party. The people know and like each other and you could almost imagine them at a barn-raising.

We agreed afterward that this was one of the most enjoyable evenings of theatre we have experienced in quite some time and we go to a lot of plays.

"Steel Magnolias" continues through the weekend (tonight at 7:30, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30). I suggest you call for tickets ahead of time because the line is long: 540-473-1001. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 kids and groups.