The story of female friendship and community take center stage this week as the Great Falls Theatre Company hosts their production of Steel Magnolias.

The play was adapted into a movie starring Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah, among others, in the late 1980s and had a long run on Broadway.

Written by Robert Harling, the play is based on his family’s experience following the death of his sister.

Ryan Hurley, director of the GFTC’s production, said that the show is based on community and “a group of women there for each other in their ups and down.”

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He said that the GFTC’s founders and original board were women and he thought the show’s cult popularity would resonate with the community, but also honor the groups founders in their effort to revitalize community theater in Great Falls.

As a cult favorite, Hurley said he knows women who quote from the movie or know it by heart and thought that popularity offered a good opportunity for the community to experience it as live theater.

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The show has been to Great Falls before, but Hurley said since it would be good to bring back as the story is rooted in community, “in how we all stand by each other in our roughest times. Like after COVID, we’re all recovering from that and we’re all going through something. We’re stronger together.”

There’s laughs, but also tragic moments, and Hurley said that often we’re too busy to process feelings and the show as live theater offers a chance for catharsis to let some of those emotions go and walk out of the theater feeling lighter.

It’s not Hurley’s first experience directing over his career, but his first with GFTC.

He had a role in Oklahoma! last summer, but wanted to do more with mentoring other artists, particularly the youth, “rather than being the star of the show.”

Amber Henning Griffith, the board president, said that since GFTC incorporated in 2021, the response from the community has been “overwhelming.”

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The company is expanding with their first youth summer camp this year and then looking to expand into adult classes based on community feedback.

As soon as Steel Magnolias closes, the company goes right into auditions for their summer musical production of the Music Man.

Henning Griffith said that their philosophy is to build shows that will pay for themselves, but that donations have helped serve as seed money for shows, expanding programs and building sustainability into the company.

It’s also been “amazing” to see people getting involved in the company, from the actors to behind the scenes helpers.

For Steel Magnolias, most of the set and props were donated from an old salon and some from stage manager Tim Luoma’s mother.

Going into Music Man, Luoma said that they could really use help with sewers and costume makers.

She said one of the major cast members of Steel Magnolias moved to Great Falls in the fall and has an extensive arts background.

That influx of people coming to or through Great Falls with varied arts backgrounds is “life giving” and hearing from the community that they have found live community theater again with GFTC “has been the biggest joy.”

Luoma joined the board in August and had grown up in community theater in Great Falls but it seemed to have fizzled.

The community response to GFTC, he said, had been “incredible” with sold out shows of their opening production of Oklahoma! last summer and Charlie Brown over the holidays.

“The appetite is huge,” Luoma said.

It’s also shown in the volume of people wanting to get involved as the Steel Magnolias is a cast of six and they saw 27 people audition, about half of whom, they hadn’t seen before, Luoma said.

Some of those cast members in shows so far have been young people coming up in theater, or those who had done community theater in the past, or perhaps never tried but always wanted to, he said, and “it’s incredible to see.”

Steel Magnolias runs at the University of Providence Theater:

• 7:30 p.m. April 18
• 7:30 p.m. April 19
• 2 p.m. April 20
• 7:30 p.m. April 20

Tickets are available on their website, or limited tickets will be available in person at the box office previous to show start time subject to availability.

The box office opens one hour before show time, doors open at 6:45 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. showings and at 1:15 p.m. for the April 20 2 p.m. matinee showing.