“The Lyons” is a family in tragedy
Listen to this articleNormally when you think of the family patriarch days maybe even mere hours away from death, lying in a hospital bed surrounded by family you do not typically think of laughing, that is unless you know of the Lyon family. You see while the Lyons truly are family they are very far from Ozzie and Harriet Nelson; they are severely yet hilariously dysfunctional.
The banter back and forth especially between the cancer-riddled father and his wife becomes the source of unending laughter to all observing the exchange. It is truly hilarious and central to that reality is the spectacular performance presented by Judith Scarpone as Rita along with her stage husband Ben portrayed by James Handy.
Then the story evolves and the second act takes on a much darker side as Rita reveals a very long held, very dark secret that can’t possibly be anything but deeply disturbing to her adult children Lisa (Verity Branco) and Curtis (Chad Coe). Exacerbating the situation is the manner by which son Curtis finds himself in the same hospital where his dad just died. Yep, dark it gets.
But in overall entertainment value The Lyons scores a legitimate 4 on a scale of one to five with five being perfection. On the one hand it is inescapably funny at first but it also looks deep into other elements of life that are not always so funny yet they are very real and reveal the still universal imperfection of mankind.
You can enjoy The Lyons now through July 1st 2017 at The Road Theatre, 5108 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, California. In addition to an excellent slice of theatre The Road Theatre Company shares that space with a very interesting and captivating art gallery which those attending the show may enjoy before and after the show at no additional cost. For tickets and reservations you may call: 818-761-8838 or go online here.
Top photo: Screen shot of preview with Judith Scarpone and James Handy
Ron Irwin was born in Chicago, Illinois a long time ago. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, became a trial lawyer, TV and radio host, CEO of a public company and once held an Emmy. He never won an Emmy he just held one. Ron has written and published twelve books. His most important book to date is “Live, Die, Live Again” in which Ron tells of his early life and his unexpected and very temporary death in 2012. That experience dramatically refocused his life and within the pages of that book Ron reveals how he achieved a much healthier life, ridding himself of Diabetes, Cancer and Heart Failure. Now Ron enjoys writing about many things including health topics, travel [he has circled the globe several times], adventure, culinary experiences and the world of performing art. Ron’s motto is “Live better, live longer and live stronger because it feels great and annoys others.” Contact the author.