Steel Magnolias

The State Theatre is bringing Steel Magnolias to the Paramount and Stateside Theatres on Thursday, September 10, at 6:30 PM. It's a screening of the 1989 film, which runs 117 minutes and was directed by Herbert Ross.

The story centers on Shelby Eatenton, newly married and joyfully pregnant, whose diabetes could make childbirth life-threatening. Her mother, M'Lynn, terrified of losing her only daughter, turns to her four closest friends for strength and laughter. It's a film about the bonds between women, and it's got a cast that's hard to beat: Julia Roberts as Shelby, Sally Field as M'Lynn, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, and Olympia Dukakis. The whole thing was made to celebrate the life and career of Dolly Parton, and 15% of ticket sales are donated to The Dollywood Foundation, which Parton founded in 1988 to inspire children in her home county.

If you've spent any time downtown, you know the Paramount. It's been on Congress Avenue for over a century, built in 1915 as a Vaudeville and variety house, and it's the city's oldest surviving theatre. Today it stages comedy, drama, music, dance, spoken word, children's programming, and film. It's a City of Austin Landmark and a State Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and one of the few remaining 'hemp houses' in America, still rigged with ropes and sandbags. The venue is run alongside the State Theatre by The Austin Theatre Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

So, if you're in the mood for a classic that's as much about friendship as it is about family, you'll find Steel Magnolias at the Paramount on Thursday, September 10, starting at 6:30 PM.