Sophia Gray continues family legacy in Theatre Aspen’s ‘Steel Magnolias’

Theatre Aspen kicks off its 41st season with the production of the play “Steel Magnolias” on Monday, June 17.

“As we begin our 41st season, we are fortunate to have one of the strongest slates of shows ever and a terrifically-talented cast, many of whom are returning to Aspen as alumni,” said Producing Director Jed Bernstein in a press release. “We can’t wait to welcome audiences back to our theatre, in the beautiful John Denver Sanctuary.”

“Steel Magnolias” the play was written by Robert Harling, based on his sister’s death, about the bond between a group of women in Louisiana. It premiered at New York City’s WPA Theater in 1987 and inspired the beloved 1989 Academy Award-nominated film of the same name starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley McClain, Darryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts.

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The play’s action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the “anybody” ladies come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.”

Filled with repartee and acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength — and love — which give the play and its characters the special quality to make them truly touching, funny, and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.

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The cast of six women includes Claire Saunders (“Sweeney Todd”) as Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, Mary Bacon as M’Lynn Eatenton, Valerie Wright (“Tuck Everlasting”) as Ouiser Boudreaux, Terry Burrell (“Three Penny Opera”) as Clairee Belcher, Aurelia Williams (“Parade”) as Truvy Jones, and Sophia Gray as Annelle Dupuy-Desoto. The play is directed by Jenn Thompson, who directed “Doubt” last summer.

For Gray, who is the daughter of actors and valley residents William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman, taking the Theatre Aspen stage is a continuation of a story that began with her grandmother and mother, Grace and Felicity Huffman.

Her grandmother, Grace Huffman, was an early local stalwart of the company and a regular onstage presence in the theatre’s early years, going as far as storing the organization’s massive performance tent in a barn on her property.

Likewise, her mother, Felicity Huffman, appeared in Theatre Aspen productions early in her career and most recently starred in the 2023 production of “The Guys.”

“I look up to those two women more than anyone in my life,” Gray said. “It’s amazing that my mom performed (at Theatre Aspen), let alone my grandmother. It’s not lost on me that I’m doing a play with all women, about women in the same place where my mother and my grandmother lived. Because, if I were to write my ‘Steel Magnolias,’ it would be about those two women.”

Gray said that storytelling was a valuable currency during her childhood with both her immediate and extended family. She found her passion for acting at the age of 10 when she played Éponine in a production of “Les Miserables.”

“It was a completely appropriate role for a nine-year-old to take on. I grasped the momentousness of that story for sure,” she said with a laugh. “But I distinctly remember this moment in the final number where the whole cast is onstage facing the audience, and all the parents stood up. It’s like this little switch flipped in my brain, and I was like, ‘Oh, I like this.'”

From there, she was hooked, going on to attend a performing arts high school and then studying acting at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, from where she just graduated.

She said she was drawn to the production of “Steel Magnolias” for a variety of reasons beyond being the third generation in her family to perform in a Theatre Aspen production. Perhaps the most compelling was getting the opportunity to work with an all-female cast and director.

“The biggest difference between the film and the play is that, in the play, there are no men,” she said. “I’ve never had an experience of working with all women, and it’s just wonderful and refreshing. It’s a great story about girlhood and womanhood and loss and tragedy and growing up. Rehearsals have just been such a joy and such a wonderful time.”

While June 17-18 are previews of the production, “Steel Magnolias'” opening night is June 19 at Hurst Theatre in Aspen. For more information and tickets: theatreaspen.org/steel-magnolias