{alltv} Linda Lavin Will Be Matriarch of 'The Lyons' at Vineyard Theatre

The Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere production of Nicky Silver's The Lyons, about an "unforgettable family in search of connection," will star Tony Award winner Linda Lavin, the not-for-profit announced on June 16.

Mark Brokaw (How I Learned to Drive) will also direct Michael Esper (American Idiot, Intelligent Homosexual's Guide…) and Gregory Wooddell (Some Men in Philadelphia) in the play about a grieving family, to begin performances at Off-Broadway's Vineyard on Sept. 21. Opening night is Oct. 11.

Additional casting and creative team will be announced.

According to Vineyard, The Lyons, Silver's seventh new play to open at The Vineyard, is "an outrageously funny and stirring work about a family grappling with the death of its patriarch. When Ben Lyon's wife, Rita, and their grown children gather to say goodbye, they learn that despite being a family, each of them is utterly isolated. Afraid of closeness and afraid of solitude, Ben's death may be a catalyst that propels them into foreign territory — human connection."

Lavin, the acclaimed actress of TV's "Alice" and Broadway's Broadway Bound, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Collected Stories, has been busy in recent weeks singing "Broadway Baby" in the Kennedy Center production of Follies in Washington, DC. That staging will move to Broadway for a limited engagement starting in late summer, but Lavin will not move with it. It was thought she might resurface in the fall Broadway move of the acclaimed Off-Broadway play Other Desert Cities, but she apparently opted to premiere Silver's play instead. (The New York Times reported a fall launch for Other Desert Cities, roughly coinciding with The Lyons.)

Silver is the author of Raised in Captivity (Drama Desk nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination), Pterodactyls (Oppenheimer Award, Kesselring Award, Drama Desk nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Food Chain (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Eros Trilogy, Fit to Be Tied, The Maiden's Prayer, Free Will and Wanton Lust (Helen Hayes Award), The Altruists and Three Changes.

Tickets for The Lyons will go on sale in late August 2011. To guarantee a seat now, become a member of The Vineyard's 2011-12 season. Memberships are available online by visiting www.vineyardtheatre.org or by phone by calling the box office at (212) 353-0303.