The split-level tone of the proceedings is established by the proprietress of the place who readily confesses, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." Somewhat settled in its archetypal ways, it celebrates Southern sisterhood through four scenes and seasons, following the ups and at least one major down in the lives of six women who rendezvous around the hairdryers every Saturday morning over a three-year period in the late '80s in a fictional burg not at all unlike Harling's own Natchitoches.

Harling was on hand to welcome its arrival (his belated Broadway debut, by the by). With director Jason (Avenue Q) Moore, he personally delivered the roses at the curtain call to six ladies who had 'em coming (to name Names, alphabetically: Delta Burke, Christine Ebersole, Rebecca Gayheart, Marsha Mason, Lily Rabe and Frances Sternhagen). Then, he delivered more laughter-through-tears to an audience already dabbing its eyes.

"Everything you have seen is true—the names have been changed to protect me," he told the first-nighters. "Twenty years ago, I lost my sister to complications from diabetes. Her name was Susan. She was an extraordinary woman. She was my best friend." In dealing with this loss—which was aggravated by the fact she left a two-year-old son, Robert, "who would never know how wonderful his mother was"—he took up writing for the first time, and, with a little beginner's luck, Steel Magnolias fell into place. The characters played by Gayheart and Ebersole are specifically patterned on his sister and his mother, Margaret (who, with her husband, Bob, and son, John, was in beamingly in attendance); the other characters were affectionate amalgams of the small-town biddies of his youth.

"Susan had a dream to take care of her baby and everybody she loved. The theatre did that. Her dream came true. I had a mission to fill . . . so one person would hear a story. There's a very fine young man in the audience tonight named Robert. He's my nephew."

The glitter-and-shine at Tavern jumped a kilowatt or two with the likes of Chris Noth, Kathryn Rossetter, Alex Kinney, Edward Hibbert, Martha Plimpton, hiphop impresario Russell Simpson and diva missus Kimora Lee Simmons, Billy Stritch, Rue McClanahan and Joel Vig, Kyan ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy") Douglas, New Jersey's ex-governor James McGreevey, London TV's Graham Norton, Amanda Peet, Michael Arden, Katie Holmes and Donna Hanover.

The highly syndicated Liz Smith, who really does jot down thoughts for her column at intermission, didn't make it up to the tavern in Central Park, but several Broadway lights enjoying their Monday off at Steel Magnolias were around adding to the after-party glow.

Sarah Paulson, out of her Glass Menagerie for the evening, used elaborate "Allah, be praised" hand-wavings to greet Rabe, who returned that salute. Both might be vying in a few weeks for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play—as, for that matter, might the other young Broadway debutante among the Magnolias, Rebecca Gayheart.

Notice the subdued, subtle way that Gayheart plays her third scene as the surrogate Susan Harling. "I did research on dialysis," the actress said. "You do your homework and just hope someone will pick up on it. The big thing everyone told me was that they were just fatigued—no energy because it really takes a lot out of you, having your blood purified three times a week. The longer you've done it, the more toll it takes on your body." Continued...