Six fine actresses offer 'Magnolia' all they can.
By Paul Lamar

Under the inspired direction of Steve Fletcher, six excellent actresses are getting every last laugh and tear from this Robert Harling script about friends in a small Louisiana town over a two-year period in the 1980s.
Each performer has found the core of her character, yet it's in the interplay among the women that the piece springs to life.

The tension that drives most scenes involves the relationship between mother and daughter. M'Lynn is rightly, if overly, concerned about her daughter's diabetes. However, Shelby is already an adult, so she fights back when her mother meddles too much.
The other women do their best to support M'Lynn and Shelby without taking sides. Clearly, they've all been in each other's life and know how much to say or not say.

Technically, Curtain Call lives up to its high standards. The single set is aptly appointed, the costumes are perfectly period, right down to the shoes, the lighting and the sound are appropriate mood-setters.
What's especially impressive is the stage business. The performers read, set hair, pour coffee, rummage through bags, etc. and they don't miss a beat, so naturally do they inhabit their characters.

Perhaps you've seen the movie, maybe even another stage production. I don't think that this effort, played like a piece of chamber music, could be topped.