Darryl Vinyard's FAMILY ONLY Will Make World Premiere at Theatre West

The world premiere of Darryl Vinyard's original comedic drama FAMILY ONLY is being developed at Theatre West. It is the inaugural production of the organization's Best-of-Workshop series, in conjunction with its 55th anniversary.

FAMILY ONLY will be directed by Arden Teresa Lewis and produced by Benjamin Scuglia for Theatre West, with Theatre West Executive Director John Gallogly.

Starring: Riley Rae Baker, Roger Kent Cruz, Frank Gangarossa, Anne Leyden, Sheila Shaw and Dianne Travis.

Creative Team: Set design: Jeff G. Rack. Lighting design: Yancey Dunham. Sound design: Paolo Greco. Costume design: Arden Teresa Lewis. Stage manager: Leesa Freed. Production photography: Garry Michael Kluger. Assistant stage manager: Victoria Baker. Publicity: Philip Sokoloff.

Performances will run at Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, in Los Angeles, CA 90068. Across the streeet from Universal City, near North Hollywood and Studio City. There is free parking in the Panasonic lot across the street.

Shows are February 10 to March 19, 2016, playing Fridays/Saturdays at 8:00 PM, Sundays at 2:00 PM. The Sunday, February 19 performance is Pay-What-You-Can; afterwards, there will be a Q&A with the cast and playmakers.

Admission: $20; Seniors (65+): $15; Students (under 25 with current ID): $5; Pay-What-You-Can on Sunday, February 19. For reservations, call (323) 851-7977 or go online at www.theatrewest.org.

Is it still a party if it's FAMILY ONLY? Where do you draw the line with family? Will invites his relatives to toast the purchase of his new home, but instead of celebrating they tear each other apart. Can the family survive? Is there any love left between them or just a tally sheet of debts owed and paid?

The setting is Will and Nicky's backyard patio in Sherman Oaks, California, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It's a hot weekend afternoon in the dead of summer.

Family members include Will (Frank Gangarossa), a cautious man who can't seem to relax around his own family; Nicole (Riley Rae Baker), Will's wife, whose patience is pushed to the breaking point by her husband's pushy relatives; Andrea (Anne Leyden), Will's older half-sister, recently divorced and the mother of six-year-old Chloe, who feels the world is against her, never has any money and must constantly be rescued; Walter (Roger Kent Cruz), Will and Andrea's father, thrice-married, quick with a quip and forever dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes; Brenda (Sheila Shaw), Walter's upbeat third wife, who doesn't let anyone forget what a martyr she has become by marrying him; and Amanda (Dianne Travis), Will and Andrea's grandmother, Walter's mother, and the blunt, no-nonsense family matriarch whose newly drawn-up will throws the family dynamics into chaos.

FAMILY ONLY, an original comedic drama by Darryl Vinyard making its world premiere at Theatre West, tests the boundaries of love with humorous and dramatic results.

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