A barking mad love story next at Old Lyric
Mid-life crisis. The very phrase conjures up pictures of flashy red convertibles with a buxom young blonde in the passenger’s seat. But in A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia” it is a dog that may end a 22-year marriage. Of course, the dog is played by a lovely young actress, and therein lies the twist.
“Sylvia” is the third show of the Old Lyric Repertory Company’s (OLRC) summer season. The production opens Thursday, July 3, and runs throughout the season until its closing Wednesday, July 30. Performances are presented at the Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center, Logan, and curtain time is 8 p.m. Selected matinee performances are at 2 p.m. For ticket information and dates. call (435) 797-0305 or check out the Web site at www.usu.edu/lyric.
Now in its 37th season, OLRC is the professional summer theatre program offered by Utah State University’s department of theatre arts and the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
In “Sylvia,” a dog is the final straw in a struggling marriage. Kate and Greg, having raised their children and sent them off on their own, move back to the city to attack life again. But Greg finds that attacking life is hard without a purpose. He is about to lose his job and is struggling to
find himself when he finds a stray mutt instead. Sylvia, the mutt, seems to be the answer to his searching. He takes her home and awaits his wife’s return with some trepidation, and rightly so. Sylvia in not only an unwanted pet, but also, more importantly, she is a young, attractive, female dog.
In Gurney’s romantic comedy the love triangle has a strange twist, but many of the struggles and emotions stay the same as Kate and Greg fight to save their 22-year marriage. The play is, in turns, funny, poignant, tense and funny again – really funny, said director Adrianne Moore who directed last summer’s OLRC production of “The Rivals.”
Having just come off of a production of “Taming of the Shrew” (directed for Utah State Theatre at Utah State University), Moore said she is excited to be working with a small, intimate cast in a piece of contemporary theatre. “We have a great cast, very experienced and mostly new to the Lyric,” she said. “The cast is small enough that we have really been able to focus on character development and relationships in rehearsal.”
“Sylvia” is a new kind of play to hit the Lyric stage; it’s very contemporary, but still enjoyable for everyone, Moore continued. “I think ‘Sylvia’ is hysterically funny, really one of the funniest plays I have seen,” she said. “The characters, however, all take themselves very seriously. The main character, Sylvia, is actually a dog. She is also a symbol for freedom for the natural world that her master, Greg, yearns for. For Kate, Greg’s wife, she is ‘the other woman.’ So the actor has the challenge of playing a dog with doggy mannerisms but must also function as the embodiment of the fantasies of the humans around her.”
Playing the title character of the loving, rambunctious and often flirtatious mutt, Sylvia, is New York actor Amy Tribbey. This is Tribbey’s first season with the OLRC, but she is a well-traveled actor on the regional circuit. Playing her newfound master, Greg, the man with the mid-life crisis, is William Warren. This is not Warren’s first season at the OLRC, but in the years since he was last seen here, he moved to Kansas City to get his master’s degree and has been working extensively in regional theatre. Greg’s wife, and Sylvia’s competition, Kate, is played by actor Susan Dolan. This is Dolan’s first season at the OLRC, but she works often in her home, Salt Lake City, for the Salt Lake Acting Company, the Pioneer Theatre Company and Sundance Theatre. And returning for this show to play three different characters, two of them women, is OLRC regular Lee Daily. According to Moore, Dailey will delight audiences with his support roles in this production. He plays Tom, a macho New York dog owner, Phyllis, a New York society matron, and Leslie, a therapist of indeterminate gender – is she/he a man or a woman?
“Sylvia” contains some language not suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
The playwright is known for his biting satires and comedies that center, usually, around the lives of WASPs, but he has to write about what he knows, he has said. A once-professor at MIT, he quit his job at the age of 40 to take up writing full-time, much against the wishes of his family, who thought theatre was an exhibitionist’s arena. Since his jump into the writing world, he has become extremely prolific.
“Sylvia” was written in 1995 and opened at the Manhattan Theatre Club with a formidable cast. Sarah Jessica Parker originated the title role, with Blythe Danner as Kate and Charles Kimbrough as Greg. The show is now produced regularly in regional theatre as its wit and charm entice dog lovers and theatre lovers alike.
The OLRC season includes five shows running in repertory all summer, from June 12 through Aug. 9. The first, “On Golden Pond,” is followed by the comical tunes of “Forever Plaid,” the barking madness of “Sylvia,” the who-done-it fun of “The Murder Room” and a classic love story in “The Last Train to Nibroc.”
Moore summed up the season by concluding, “The season is very varied, there should be something for everyone, and hopefully audiences will come to all five shows and have the opportunity to see a real range of work in terms of period and genre. ‘Sylvia’ is a contemporary New York comedy – originally featuring Sarah Jessica Parker. Contemporary work is a new challenge for the Lyric.”
According to the OLRC publicity office, this season offers many more promotions throughout the season. This includes weekly Web site giveaways, special performance-night promotions and autograph opportunities. Watch the Web site for more, and keep an eye out for the OLRC Promo Jeep. Catch the driver and win merchandise, tickets and more. For more information on promotional activities and ushering opportunities, call 435-797-1500.
Tickets are currently available, including the OLRC’s Flex-Pass option. A Flex-Pass Season Subscription includes five coupons to any evening performance of choice (subject to ticket availability). With this pass, patrons can see what they want – one show five times or five shows once – all at savings. There is also a matinee Flex-Pass option for even more savings. Pricing and ticket information is available by calling (435) 797-0305 or by visiting www.usu.edu/lyric. Tickets can be purchased at the Smith Spectrum ticket office on the Utah State campus (7600 Old Main Hill, Logan).
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