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Jul 28, 2017 · The Heartbreaking Real-Life Story Behind 'Steel Magnolias'. We caught up with writer Robert Harling for a look back at his iconic play, which debuted off-Broadway 30 years ago. It's been 30 years since Steel Magnolias, the play that inspired the iconic film by the same name, opened off-Broadway. In the decades since its debut at New York's WPA ...
- The title was inspired by real life. Harling said the title, "Steel Magnolias," is the perfect description for the women it profiles: They're both delicate like a flower, but also hard as steel.
- Harling wrote the play in 10 days. Many writers take months or years to write a play. But Harling wrote "Steel Magnolias" in only 10 days. "Ten days later, that's all it took because I had lived the story."
- It was originally going to be a short story. Harling said when he began putting his sister's story down in writing, it began as a short story. "But I was missing the sound of the wonderful vernacular," he said.
- Harling at first thought his story was a drama. When the play was first in rehearsal, Harling says they thought it was strictly a drama, since they were performing a dark, emotional story.
May 17, 2023 · The play is based off a true story, centered around the author’s experience of the loss of his sister. Robert Harling, the author and creator of Steel Magnolias, lost his sister Susan Harling-Robinson, from diabetic complications. A friend had advised Harling to write down the story as a way to come to terms with everything that had happened.
- Jane Kenney
- 3 min
Steel Magnolias. (play) Steel Magnolias is a stage play by American writer Robert Harling, based on his experience with his sister's death. The play is a comedy-drama about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana . The title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel".
Jul 24, 2022 · This beloved classic's true story still has more to share. As the film's creator describes, Robert Harling grew up moving "from southern town to southern town, to southern town, eventually ending up in Louisiana." This nomadic childhood made it hard to make friends from place to place.
- 40 sec
Apr 26, 2018 · The playwright and screenwriter reflects on the Southern film that touched the world. Writer Robert Harling at Oaklawn Plantation, his farm near Natchez, Louisiana. Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the G&G book S Is for Southern: A Guide to the South, from Absinthe to Zydeco. A compendium of Southern life and culture, the book ...
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Jul 5, 2024 · It is a difficult atmosphere for actors to capture and to make it feel authentic; harder still to maintain through the mounting suspense of a tragic storyline. So it is a tribute to Anthony Banks, who directs a new production of Robert Harling’s popular 1980s play, that he has drawn from his powerful female cast such a convincing performance ...
