Just saw The Lyons

[DAME]

So tonight I went to see Linda Lavin In "The Lyons". Let me start by saying that the Cort Theater is one of those houses that also has great memories for me. I believe the first thing I ever saw there was "Twice Around The Park" with Eli Wallach and Ann Jackson. I always bitch about the leg space there and always forget just how bad it is . I was in row J, dead center, and I felt so confined. And before I get into the actual play let me just say that their restrooms are disgusting and in need of major renovations.

I had heard great buzz about this play and was really looking forward to it. Linda Lavin is one of those actresses that is very mannered and technical, but is always fascinating and in the past It has worked for her . Not in this. Her craft tonight came off like a bag of tricks. Wether it was turning each page of a magazine with precision or constantly picking at lint or something in her wardrobe . She never stopped . She couldn't just be present. She always had to be busy on stage. And it wasn't a character choice. She has always had this quality about her. But tonight it came off as dishonest and annoying. The play itself was amusing in a "Love American Style" kind of way. I guess the older bridge and tunnel crowd will enjoy it . I can even picture Valerie Harper touring with it. The gem in it is Dick Latessa. I hope he at least gets a Tony nod. The rest of the cast is capable. If your planning on going I would do a matinee. The silver haired crowd will probably add another element of fun to the sitcom proceedings.

[After Eight]

"Linda Lavin is one of those actresses that is very mannered and technical, but is always fascinating and in the past It has worked for her . Not in this. Her craft tonight came off like a bag of tricks."

The same could be said for Mark Rylance. Some people go gaga over that.

In her case, I believe her "bag of tricks" was entirely suited to the stylized nature of the character and the play. I thought she was terrific in a terrible play.

[DAME]

Glad you enjoyed her. I didn't buy her for one second. .You would think she would have enought to work with being that her husband is dying and her children are such a mess.. No heart and soul up there. Just a technical performance.

[Kad]

I thought it totally worked and was believable, every gesture to facial expression... because, honestly, I know a lot of women who do exactly those things. Mostly in my family.

[theaternut]

I had the same thoughts when I saw the play off broadway. I have seen Linda Lavin give the exact same PERFORMANCE before and to better effect. it was all a bunch of tics and business . I emphasize the word performance because to me that is what it was . Nothing real.

[Mister Matt]

Wether it was turning each page of a magazine with precision or constantly picking at lint or something in her wardrobe . She never stopped . She couldn't just be present.

Reading that reminds me so much of Helen Mirren in the Prime Suspect series. God, just watching her eat a candy bar while reviewing evidence at the police station would drive me nuts! It was like you could hear her discussion with the director about character choices and whatnot. It wasn't just what she was doing, but the very deliberate way she was doing it. I don't know why something so innocuous would bug me so much, but I'm glad to see it's not just me that notices these things.

[mamaleh]

Saw the play last night and enjoyed (most of) it--not the opening scene of Act II, however, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

POSSIBLE SPOILER:

I didn't mind Lavin's constant bits of business. Here's a woman who has felt "trapped" for decades because 40 years earlier a man she was not in love with fell in love with her (OK, I didn't really understand that). So with that realization, for the past several years she has slowly been disassociating herself from him. What better way to distance oneself than to constantly leaf through magazines, play with one's buttons or whatever? It made sense to me in the context of her character.

[Bettyboy72]

I agree with mamaleh. I saw Act I as Lavin going through the motions in her life with a precision and bordeom. It was a facade. Act II she shows her true colors is more transparent.

That being said, I didn't like the play and I've seen Lavin better.