H.O.P.E. Players to Stage 'Steel Magnolias'

Jenn Hallman, a 2002 Hatboro-Horsham alum, channeled her grandmothers for her latest role. 

Hallman, 26, will take on the persona of Louisa "Ouiser" Boudreaux – a woman 40 years her senior - in a local production of “Steel Magnolias,” which starts tonight and continues through March 19.

“I see myself as this woman in 40 years,” Hallman said of the “curmudgeon” who strives to “make you laugh and make you frightened.”

“She’s like the woman who sits on her front lawn screaming at the kids to get off her grass,” she said. “She shoots off her mouth. She can respond without thinking.”

In short the character, played by Shirley MacLaine in the 1989 screenplay, is a complete turnaround for Hallman, who teaches at Epiphany of Our Lord in Plymouth Meeting. And while Hallman said she’s drawn to Oiser’s character, it’s the familial aspect of the play that really impacted her.

The Robert Harling play, which was later adapted to the big screen, chronicles the trials and tribulations of six women and how their strong bond sees them through. 

“It speaks about friendship and love and family and not just mother/daughter, (but) your extended family of friends and community,” said Barry Kriebel, the play’s artistic director, and fellow Hatboro-Horsham graduate. “This show has been something I wanted to do for many years. It’s a dream come true for me.”

Together, Hallman, Kriebel and another Hatboro-Horsham grad, Jennifer Basmajian, form the nucleus for H.O.P.E. Players, a philanthropic group started (two productions ago) with the goal of raising funds and awareness for local charities through performing arts. The acronym stands for Helping Other People Endure.

Although H.O.P.E. Players is new on the scene, the troupe’s love of the theater is not. Hallman, then a Hatboro-Horsham student, met Kriebel in 2000 while he was directing high school productions.

During her sophomore year of college, Hallman said she wanted to continue with theater and also wanted to help other people. She bridged the two with a troupe she helped to found called “Hats off to Theater.” Through it, the group raised $3,000 for the AIDS Fund in Philadelphia.

“We got these founders awards from them. It was an amazing feeling. We were doing something we loved,” Hallman said. “We were raising this money for these organizations that needed it. That’s kind of where it began.”

Over the next few years, Hallman said “Hats” lost its luster in part because of everyone being so busy. Then, Hallman said she and Kriebel were talking one day and decided to do “something.” That something was the root of H.O.P.E. Players, which has raised several thousand dollars for charity through its last two productions, “Sordid Lives” and “Dog Sees God.”

For  “Steel Magnolias,” the troupe is fundraising for the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes is a theme that runs through the play and is a disease that’s hit close to home for Hallman as well.

“Diabetes is so huge for me because it’s in my family,” she said. “To watch someone else’s story about what she had to deal with and what she had to go through … Getting married, having a baby, a kidney transplant … is incredible.”

Besides fundraising for charitable organizations, H.O.P.E. Players is also trying to generate enough money to establish itself as a nonprofit group.

Hallman and Basmajian, who are both teachers, would like to offer a summer camp in July for kids at St. James School in Elkins Park, where H.O.P.E.’s productions are staged.

Hallman taught at the school prior to its closing, and while there, had led a theater program.

“These kids just had such an amazing time with it,” Hallman said. “They get that creativity flowing, they get to use their imaginations. They get to meet new people.”

While the summer camp details are still coming together, Hallman said, “we’re just going to make it happen.”

Her ambition, like her young age, is another difference between Hallman and her “Steel Magnolias” character, who in one of her memorable quotes said, “I do not see plays, because I can nap at home for free. And I don't see movies 'cause they're trash, and they got nothin' but naked people in 'em! And I don't read books, 'cause if they're any good, they're gonna make 'em into a miniseries.”

If you go

H.O.P.E. Players' "Steel Magnolias" starts tonight at St. James Hall, 8306 Brookside Road in Elkins Park. The show continues Saturday and Sunday and March 18-19. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12. For information or reservations, call (484) 886-1869, e-mail or visit the group on Facebook.