The Williamstown High School Drama Club’s first production of the the 2026-27 school year opened with a heartfelt display of womanhood – and all things pink.
The drama club’s fall production was “Steel Magnolias,” a long-beloved stage play and film based on a real story by Robert Harling, which follows six women in Louisiana as they endure their lives’ challenges while having grounded connection among each other (and the color pink) within the walls of a small salon. (The award-winning 1989 film starred Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis and Daryl Hannah).
Williamstown’s production ran September 23-25, just three weeks after the first day of school. It starred a small cast of six girls with three swings (understudies). Plus, it featured the drama club’s first-ever student-led production team of eight students, as well as two student stage crew members.
Back in late May, before the 2025-26 school year ended, co-directors and teachers Maggie Quindlen and Natalie Donisi held auditions and casted the roles for “Steel Magnolias.” They held their first rehearsal during the last week of school. Then, after a break, the small cast and production team began seriously rehearsing for the fall play in July.
“Honestly, this (production) has been my favorite,” Quindlen, who started teaching theater and overseeing the drama club four years ago; Donisi, who teaches special education, also began teaching and overseeing the drama club four years ago.
“This is my first group of seniors I’ve watched since their freshman year. So watching them really act and be good at it has been a little emotional and a little like, ‘wow, it worked. Something clicked, and they’re not little babies anymore,’” Quindlen said. “They’re doing really strong, higher level work than the typical high schooler,” she said.
The play starred seniors, juniors and sophomores. The following students made up the cast of six women with equally significant roles: Sarah Armenia as Clairee, Kiera Kingsland as Truvy, Leah Paine as Shelby, Max Person as Ousier, Allison Quinn as M’Lynn and Callie Zitkevitz as Annelle.
Makayla Davis, Antonia DiGenova and Alanna Randall were casted as swings, who prepared to understudy multiple roles.
“I love M’Lynn so much. I typically wind up doing the motherly roles, just because that’s kind of who I am as a person, too, and it kind of portrays that,” said Quinn, a senior who first started acting in drama club in sixth grade and then joined the high school drama club as a sophomore.
The cast and co-directors enjoyed how small of a group it was. They said it helped them all grow closer together, which ultimately impacted their on-stage performances.
Williamstown High School Drama Club’s set for “Steel Magnolias.”
“It allows us to really be around each other and get to know each other outside of our character, and it shows on stage how we connect,” Paine, a junior who started acting at age seven and has been part of the high school’s drama club since freshman year, shared. “We’re just so supportive of one another, and it’s just been amazing, especially because we’re all girls. It’s just been really special.”
“You really get that one-on-one kind of relationship with each of your castmates, and it’s wonderful,” Quinn said. “Like, I knew who Leah Paine was, but I never got to actually know who she was, so this allowed me to be able to know everybody as a person.”
In addition to spending time together rehearsing over the summer, the cast had the opportunity to participate in workshops organized by the co-directors, which Quindlen found “really special.”
They brought in Michael Dean Morgan, a professional dialect coach, actor and professor who has performed on Broadway. He was one of Quindlen and Donasi’s professors at Rowan University, where they each studied theater and earned their masters in special education. Morgan worked with each of the drama club performers twice in one-on-one Zoom sessions and in group sessions.
“He really helped them shape their accents,” Quindlen said. “Anyone can do a country accent, but he really focused on the Northern Louisiana, Texas accent, which is very particular. He came in and was like, ‘If you watch the movie, that accent is not correct. It’s very pretty, but that’s not how they go.’”
Additionally, Clayton-based hairstylist Polly Matthias held a three-hour-long workshop for the cast and swings on how to realistically do some hairstyles while performing on stage, since it takes place in an active salon.
Matthias posted about her experience with the girls on Instagram.
“With the heartbreaking passing of Dolly Parton yesterday, today felt especially emotional and surreal. Dolly made Truvy unforgettable, and her beauty, strength, humor and larger than life hair will forever be part of what makes this story so special,” she wrote on August 26, a day after Parton passed away at 80. “I was genuinely so impressed by how beautifully they executed the styles, especially since, for many of them, it was their first time doing hair like this.”
The preparation of the show came at a time where the film was back at the forefront of pop culture, since it was one of Parton’s most beloved and popular acting roles.
“The girl who played Dolly’s character, Truvy, messaged me on our ParentSquare messenger to tell me she passed away. I screamed,” Quindlen said, who has loved Parton since she was a child. “So, we decided to throw in a bunch of Dolly Easter eggs.”
There were framed photos of Parton and magazines with her on it displayed in the salon set, the only set for the entire production. They also used Parton for the transition music to pay tribute.
The eight students part of the the high school’s first student-led production team were to thank for those small details, as well as the other extensive work they each took on.
Quindlen said her and Donisi’s decision to finally create a student production team was, in part, inspired by roles included in high school theater award categories.
“Every year, we participate in the Montclair Theater Awards, what they call the Foxy Awards. They have a bunch of different categories: Student director, student dramaturge (that’s like history and researching things), student stage manager, costume designer, set designer, hair, makeup, things like that. So we wanted to utilize that to be up for those awards,” Quindlen said.
“I feel like we really are building a sense of accountability and responsibility. And it’s not just like, ‘I want to be cast as the lead.’ No, its, ‘I want to put on something,’” she continued. The students have been working just as hard as the cast all summer and fall, and students will now continue to have the opportunity to work on the production-side of the remaining productions of the school year and in years to come.
The fall musical will be a production of the new musical “The Outsiders,” based on the renowned book and movie. Several student cast members from “Steel Magnolias” will be on the production team for the musical, and vice versa. “The Outsiders” will run October 29-31.
The spring musical will be “All Shook Up,” a jukebox musical that uses the music of Elvis Presley and is inspired by William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night.” It will run February 27-29.
The cast of Williamstown High School Drama Club’s fall production of “Steel Magnolias,” from left to right: Allison Quinn, Leah Paine, Kiera Kingsland, Callie Zitkevitz, Max Person and Sarah Armenia.
