Alexandra Van Hasselt portrayed Anne Dindon, while Dalia Aleman played Marie Dindon. In the middle is James Skiba in the role of Edward Dindon in a producti9n of La Cage Aux Folles.
By Aaron Krause
Dalia Aleman and Alexandra Van Hasselt find themselves in familiar roles as they prepare to perform in a professional South Florida co-production of the classic comedy-drama, Steel Magnolias.
Aleman and Van Hasselt will play mother and daughter, respectively, for the third time in the two women’s careers. And they seem overjoyed about that. Indeed, the duo could hardly stop laughing during an interview in the lobby of Empire Stage, the intimate black box theater space in Ft. Lauderdale where the production between Florida Theatrical Events and ArtBuzz Theatrics will run from Oct. 3-20.
Steel Magnolias centers around a group of female friends who frequent Truvy’s Beauty Salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana during the 1980s. With copious amounts of humor, the women support each other during happy and sad times.
Just as the women in Steel Magnolias are close, so, too, are Aleman and Van Hasselt.
“We’re such good friends and we just get along so well,” Aleman says.
The performers, who boast about 19 years of professional acting experience between them, met in 2017. That was when they were cast in Broward Stage Door Theatre’s production of the musical Nine. Van Hasselt played an ensemble member while Aleman portrayed the mother of Guido Contini, a brilliant film director going through a mid-life crisis.
In fact, Aleman says she always seems to play a mother or a mother figure. Aleman played a Mother Superior for a South Florida co-production of the musical, Sister Act in 2022.
“For me, it’s easy to step into mom roles because I connect to moms so much,” says Aleman, a performer with dark brown hair and green eyes.
Aleman says she doesn’t have to prepare to play a mom.
“It’s what I live every day,” she adds.
Indeed, in real life, Aleman is mom to 23-year-old Tyler and 25-year-old Austin. The elder son is the same age as Van Hasselt. Together, they attended middle school at NSU University School. Van Hasselt says she hasn’t seen Austin since their school days, when they knew each other but “weren’t really friends.”
Before Aleman was a mother, she taught first grade in the Bahamas, where she lived for 18 years. Teaching involves “a lot of mothering,” according to Aleman.
Meanwhile, Van Hasselt, an actor with long, light brown hair and brown eyes, says she often plays the role of somebody’s daughter onstage. In the upcoming co-production of Steel Magnolias, Van Hasselt will portray Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, the 25-year-old daughter of Aleman’s character, 50-year-old M’Lynn Eatenton.
“They work brilliantly together,” says South Florida performer-director Larry Buzzeo, who is helming the co-production. He added that Aleman and Van Hasselt are easy to work with and “very professional.”
“I feel it’s very easy to work with Dalia,” Van Hasselt says.
“I think Alex brings out the bubbly (personality) in me,” Aleman responds.
Both say their work ethic and personalities are similar. More specifically, they’re both hard workers and also like to have a good time. When they’re not onstage together, you can find them in the dressing room preparing together for their entrance or talking with each other outside the theater.
Aleman and Van Hasselt also keep track of each other’s careers. For example, last year Carbonell judges nominated both women in the same category, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Female. Aleman recalls calling Van Hasselt to tell her about her honor.
Van Hasselt was nominated for her work in Actors’ Playhouse’s April 2023 production of the musical, Bright Star. Van Hasselt portrayed Margo Crawford, a young woman who runs her own bookstore.
Meanwhile, Aleman’s nomination recognized her for her work as, you guessed it, a mother, in Slow Burn Theatre Company’s February 2023 production of the musical Honeymoon in Vegas. More specifically, Aleman played a dying mother whose son promises her that he will never get married; she tells him that no woman could love her as much as she (mom) did.
In addition to playing mother and daughter in the upcoming production of Steel Magnolias, Aleman and Van Hasselt portrayed mother and daughter in The Wick Theatre’s December 2023 production of the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Aleman portrayed Doris MacAfee while Van Hasselt played Kim MacAfee.
Also, in Broward Stage Door Theatre’s September 2018 production of La Cage Aux Folles, Aleman stepped into the role of Marie Dindon, mother of Van Hasselt’s Anne.
“Dalia’s always been a great mentor for me,” Van Hasselt says.
“I just love following her career,” Aleman says.
The two say that Steel Magnolias is a dream show for them and they will portray dream roles in the show. Twenty years ago, while living in the Bahamas, Aleman played Shelby, the character Van Hasselt will portray in the upcoming production.
“It’s just a great play and I knew I wanted to play the mom one day and now I am,” Aleman says.
What is great about the play? Aleman says it’s “very well written” with characters who seem like real, relatable people displaying authentic emotions.
This will mark Van Hasselt’s first time performing in Steel Magnolias. She says the mother-daughter relationship in the play is deeper and more emotional than past mother-daughter characters that she and Aleman portrayed.
But neither performer appears to be worried about that. In fact, Aleman notes that she and Van Hasselt have always enjoyed strong chemistry onstage.
“We’re kind of a packaged deal,” Aleman says.
Steel Magnolia from Florida Theatrical Events and ArtBuzz’s production of Robert Harling’s comedy-drama. Oct. 3-20 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets $35 ($25 for the Oct. 3 preview performance). For more information www.empirestage.com.
