Steel Magnolias

Playwright – Robert Harling

Robert Harling made his directorial debut with The Evening Star for Paramount, which he also wrote for the screen based on Larry McMurty’s novel. The Evening Star reunited Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson and co-stars Juliette Lewis, Bill Paxton, Scott Wolf, Miranda Richardson, and Marion Ross. The Evening Star is the continuation of one of the most beloved and acclaimed movies of our time, Terms of Endearment. Before launching a successful stage and screenwriting career, Robert graduated from Tulane University School of Law, but instead of taking the bar exam, he opted to become an actor in New York. After years of productive work as an actor in voiceovers and commercials, Harling was inspired to write the highly acclaimed stage play Steel Magnolias, which was based on events from his personal life. Steel Magnolias continues to thrive in theatrical productions throughout the world. Immediately bridging a career from stage to screen, Harling adapted his original play into the popular film of the same title, which starred Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, and Daryl Hannah. Over the years, Mr. Harling has become a much sought-after screenwriter: other credits, to name a few, include Soapdish, which was based on Harling’s acting experience and starred Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robert Downey Jr., and First Wives Club for Paramount, starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton.

Truvy – Brianne Taylor

Brianne Taylor: Assistant Professor of Voice at UMKC // voice & dialect coach // director // performer.

Her solo show Keeper of the Plains is an exploration of the femme voices of the masculine, agricultural dominated American Great Plains. She has performed professionally at The Contemporary American Theater Festival, with various companies in Washington, DC, and has taken her solo show to LA and fringe festivals nation-wide. She has coached dialects with WVPT before and is thrilled to be performing with them! Much love to my boys: Josh, Ezra, and Arden -xoxo

@the_brianne_taylor

Annelle – Sophia Kenol

Sophia Kenol is an actor, writer and director based in NYC. She attended William Esper Studio’s two-year program in Manhattan where she received a certificate in acting. She has appeared in numerous commercials, professional sketch comedy shows, theatrical productions across the Eastern United States including Atlanta, DC, Miami, and NYC as well as multiple independent short films. Sophia spent January and February in Miami as a leading role in the hit play The Girls of Summer at the M Ensemble Company. She is super excited for her debut with the West Virginia Public Theatre. 

Clairee – Shanel Riley

Shanel Riley is a New York City based performer making her stage debut! She has appeared in commercials for Dr. Miracles, Carol’s Daughter, Comedy Central and was recently featured in Murder Under the Friday Night Lights, The Murder Tapes, (ID Channel) and costarred in the award winning independent film Breathe. BFA Brooklyn College. Raised by one amazing single mom. Mark 11:24-25

https://shanelriley.weebly.com

Shelby – Amanda McGovern

Amanda McGovern (Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie) is a senior BFA Acting Major at West Virginia University. Amanda is excited to work with WVPT for the second time after her involvement in the workshop production of I Want to Know What Love Is. Her WVU credits include Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Fairy Godmother), Ride the Cyclone (Ocean O’Connell Rosenburg), Bright Star (Margo Crawford), and Carrie: The Musical (Chris Hargensen). Amanda would like to thank WVPT for the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful story!

M’Lynn – Tracy Hyland

Regional stage credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Winter’s Tale), ACT Contemporary Theatre (Eurydice, A Christmas Carol); Seattle Shakespeare Company (Macbeth, Hamlet, Winter’s Tale, Bring Down the House); and Book-It Repertory Theatre (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Anna Karenina, Rhoda: A Life in Stories). Film appearances include Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas and the cult hit Dark Dungeons. Originally from Pittsburgh and a coal miner’s daughter to boot, Tracy is beyond thrilled to make her West Virginia Public Theatre debut. 

**This actor appears through the courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.**

Ouiser – Carol Halstead

Carol has worked on and off Broadway and in regional theatre throughout the US. Most recently she played Margaret Quinn in the world premiere adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Street, Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, and the national tour of C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. Carol lives in NYC where she trains as a 4th degree black belt in Seido Karate. She is a graduate of F.S.U. and American Conservatory Theatre.
TV: Madame Secretary, Elementary, Law & Order.
Upcoming films: Books& Drinks, Damages & Collisions

@carol_halstead

**This actor appears through the courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.**