Petra on Opening Night!

Last Friday night the lights came up on a stage at Parlor City High School. On it were two young women, one sitting in a beautician's chair and one standing behind it. The one sitting (and peering at the audience as if in a mirror) was my Petra, playing Truvy in the fall production of "Steel Magnolias." For you fans of the film, it's the Dolly Parton role.

The six young women who moved on that stage moved me more than I can say. It's a play about women's relationships; unlike the movie, there are no men in the play at all. We see them only through the eyes of the women.

Truvy spends much of the play-- which unfolds over roughly two years-- trying to keep an atmosphere of can-do optimism going at her shop ("The last romantic thing my husband did for me was in 1972, when he enclosed this carport so that I could support him."). This is no easy feat, given the rivalries and conflicts that unfold as the story blossoms. Petra executed a very creditable southern accent, and portrayed this sassy and sentimental middle-aged woman with a depth that even caught me by surprise. But, hey, I'm the mom-- you can count on me thinking it was amazing, right?

Now... on to finish a semester that has been academically challenging, to get enough sleep, to get into some kind of reasonable routine. But boy, that was fun!