Ainsworth, Blair & Welch Tour Steel Magnolias in 2012

The play, famously adapted for the big screen in 1989 with an all-star cast of Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley Maclaine, Darryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts, centres on six friends bonded together by the cycles of life, birth and death.

The tour will be directed by David Gilmore, whose West End credits include Daisy Pulls It Off, Lend Me a Tenor, The Hired Man and Grease.

The cast will feature: Kacey Ainsworth (EastEnders), Isla Blair (The History Boys tour), Cheryl Campbell (Casualty), Cherie Lunghi (Strictly Come Dancing), Sadie Picking (Waterloo Road) and Denise Welch (Loose Women).

It kicks off at the Theatre Royal Bath on 2 April 2012, before visiting: New Theatre, Cardiff (9-14 April); Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (16-21 April); Theatre Royal, Nottingham (23-28 April); Theatre Royal, Brighton (30 April – 5 May); Grand Opera House, York (7 -12 May); Richmond Theatre, Richmond (14 -19 May); Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (21 -26 May); Theatre Royal, Newcastle (28 May – 2 June); The Mayflower, Southampton (4 -9 June) and Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes (11 – 16 June).