Queen Latifah (left) and Condola Rashad play mother and child, M’Lynn and Shelby. (
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Shirley MacLaine (from left), Lesley Ann Warren and Olympia Dukakis supported the stars. (
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Sally Field and Julia Roberts. (
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If you enjoyed the 1989 movie “Steel Magnolias,” you probably thought you were covered in the Southern melodrama department for decades to come. Based on a Robert Harling play, the story is set in a fictional Louisiana parish and blends the themes of friendship, family, food and religion into one big pot of hearty, emotional gumbo.
Lifetime has remade the popular play and film with an all-black cast, led by Queen Latifah.
Latifah plays M’Lynn, a role played by Sally Field, the mother of Shelby (Condola Rashad), a long-suffering diabetic with chronic kidney disease. On the eve of her wedding — “my colors are blush and bashful,” she brags — Shelby has been told by doctors that her kidneys won’t withstand the rigors of child-bearing. Shelby gets pregnant anyway and bears a son, Jackson Jr., but in the end, M’Lynn’s fears that her daughter won’t survive are proven correct.
What’s made “Steel Magnolias” a beloved story is the play’s depiction of female relationships. Laughter and gossip lighten tough moments, as does a pot of food brought over during any crisis. And while the story has its hilarious moments, it’s also a tear-jerker par excellence.
Harling, who also wrote “The First Wives Club” and adapted the book “Good Christian Bitches” into ABC’s “GCB” last season, understood these family dynamics better than most men. He hailed from a family of strong Southern women and had a front row seat for most of the their theatrics. “Steel Magnolias” is based on the death of his sister.
As fans of the piece, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron — the producing team behind everything from NBC’s “Smash” to the Oscar-winning “Chicago” — decided to film “Magnolias” for television, although why it needed to be an all-black remake is something they address in the vaguest terms.
“Our point of view is that ‘Steel Magnolias’ is a universal piece and it just works in whatever community you set it in,” says Meron.
Meron and Zadan had worked with Queen Latifah in “Chicago” and their film version of the Broadway musical “Hairspray,” and they immediately asked her to work with them on this new project as both star and executive producer.
“Neil and I had the greatest experience of our lives doing ‘Chicago’ with Latifah,” says Zadan. “Then we had the second best experience of our lives doing ‘Hairspray.’ And then we thought wait a minute, two is not enough. We need a third. And now we feel that we need a fourth.”
From there, the trio took the idea to Lifetime, run by Nancy Dubuc.
“It turns out that this story and this piece is Nancy Dubuc’s absolute favorite,” says Zadan. “And she thought that it would make a great new version for a new generation with this cast.”
The film was a somewhat corny rendition of the 1987 play, which ran off-Broadway for 1,126 performances, that nonetheless captured the spirit of the play. Field imbued M’Lynn with a mother’s pure love and dedication to her daughter, while a very young Julia Roberts, just 21 in 1989, played Shelby with all the spark that turned her into her generation’s biggest movie star. In fact, Roberts was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for the role.
Field and Roberts were supported by Dolly Parton, hair as big as ever, as the empathetic hairdresser Truvy, and a gawky Daryl Hannah as the naive Annelle. And Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine, as wealthy socialite Claree and the even wealthier but anti-social Ouiser, stole every scene they were in.
That cast is hard to top, but Zadan, Meron and acclaimed Broadway director Kenny Leon get an A for effort. Besides Latifah and Condola Rashad, Phylicia Rashad — yes, Condola’s mom — takes on the role of Claree, with Alfre Woodard playing Ouiser.
Jill Scott, who did wonderful work on HBO’s “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” is Truvy. Newcomer Adepero Oduye plays the meek Annelle.
“In terms of casting we were looking at it based on what’s on the page not on what’s been done previously,” says Zadan.
“So, when you see Jill Scott’s performance it does not make you think of Dolly Parton. And she’s not trying to recreate Dolly Parton. And I’d say the same thing goes for everybody in the cast.”
One expects a producer to love his actors but what’s missing from this “Steel Magnolias,” is the energy of the original. Queen Latifah plays M’Lynn with an innate calm, while Field was all worried purpose with a flash of that crazy manic energy she displayed in “Sybil.” Condola Rashad has Shelby’s rebellious side down, but she and Latifah don’t connect as mother and daughter in the effortless way that Field and Roberts did.
And while the elder Rashad and Woodard are fine actresses, they fall far short of Dukakis and MacLaine’s rapport. While MacLaine ran around in oversize overalls and fur coats like any self-respecting crazy Southern woman, the always gorgeous Woodard is almost too dignified to pull off Ouiser’s battle-ax.
Still, watching the new “Steel Magnolias” wouldn’t be a bad way to spend a Sunday night, especially if you’re in need of a good cry.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
Today, 9 p.m., Lifetime