Quotable Quotes: A Little Girl Talk with the Cast of Steel Magnolias
WHO: The cast of Broadway's Steel Magnolias as well as playwright Robert Harling and director Jason Moore
WHAT: Opening night
WHERE: Curtain call at the Lyceum Theatre and party at Tavern on the Green
WHEN: April 4, 2005
"I was really worried about how emotional I would be because they had asked me to say something at the end. But it just seemed like such a natural thing that it was happening on Broadway and after 18 years." --Playwright Robert Harling on keeping his emotions in check before speaking at the curtain call
"The complexity of the emotional life of the play is what you live to work on." --Marsha Mason on performing a show that is both a comedy and a tearjerker
"It is a challenge and yet I find if I'm able to be present in the moment and just do the play, that I'm able to be there emotionally." --Christine Ebersole on how she remains focused while performing
"I think that Bobby Harling has created an amazing combination of humor and heart-wrenching. I feel the play was inspired. He feels the play was inspired. His sister who died must have guided him all the way." --Frances Sternhagen on the autobiographical aspects of the show
"It's so amazing. I don't think I can actually like describe it. I'm sort of in shock right now. It was such an amazing experience." --Rebecca Gayheart on making her Broadway debut
"It's just a dream. I can't imagine a better place to be in right now or a better group of women." --Lily Rabe on her first Broadway experience
"It made me think of a lot of people I've lost, so I found it to be incredibly emotional which sometimes was draining and sometimes I would just have to go up to the roof and have a little cry." --Delta Burke on reacting to the events in the play
"'The only thing that separates us from animals is the ability to accessorize.' That's my favorite." --Jason Moore on his favorite line in the play
"I think [Frances Sternhagen] has got the home-runners. She's the Babe Ruth of comedy." --Christine Ebersole on Frances Sternhagen's comic lines in the play
"I love, 'My personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair.'" --Lily Rabe on her favorite line in the play
"I wanted to have a group that had to find each other and find a rhythm together because that's part of the coming together of an ensemble. It made it tricky sometimes, but it also was a wonderful support system." --Jason Moore on casting the play
"I just watch it and write it down. I don't profess to understand women." --Robert Harling on writing believable female characters
"It's enormously good fun. I love it. I really do. I have this sort of set face." --Marsha Mason on her grumpy character Ouiser
"I think the challenge is that these people really did exist, their families are still alive, and they're based on real characters, so the challenge was making it authentic and organic." --Rebecca Gayheart on one of the challenges of playing her Shelby, which is based on Robert Harling's sister
"She's just wonderful. I just love her. I'm just really thrilled that she gets to be my daughter." --Christine Ebersole on playing Rebecca Gayheart's mother in the play
"It's just so nice that people come and they can laugh and maybe cry." --Robert Harling on how audiences respond to the piece
"It was lovely to watch how that worked. It was an extra sort of support system that they had for each other that helped the fabric of the play." --Jason Moore on having stage veterans and fresh faces in the cast learning from one another
"She's such a consummate performer and she's so brilliant. What can I say?" --Marsha Mason on working with Frances Sternhagen
"Some of the young people thought, 'They hate us!' And I said, 'No. They're listening." --Frances Sternhagen on counseling her co-stars on the opening night audience's reaction
"I just hope that some of their talent will rub off on me." --Rebecca Gayheart on her colleagues
"I always hated the part when I had to look pretty. I love that I don't have to look pretty." --Marsha Mason on the appearance of her character
"I'm impressed that I can do the hair." --Lily Rabe on her onstage beauty skills
"What's so funny though is that she does a lot of head acting. That head is moving moving, and I'm just trying to follow with my little pick and get something pinned up." --Delta Burke on doing Rebecca Gayheart's hair on stage
"There's nothing like Broadway. Broadway's Broadway!" --Robert Harling on the play's long road to the Great White Way
"I think everything is funny and sad all the time, and I think this play sort of captures that perfectly." --Lily Rabe
"I think that would get on my nerves--on my scalp all the time--but they seem fine about it. So far, I've been trying to be very gentle and not hurt and I throw in a massage occasionally." --Delta Burke on doing her co-star's hair onstage
"I've learned a lot about menopause." --Jason Moore on some of the wisdom he's picked up from his cast
Interviews by Beth Stevens
Compiled by Grace Hernandez
