'In Love with Tyrone' is a play for all audiences

Want to go?
WHAT: “In Love with Tyrone”
WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 5 and 7 p.m. Oct. 6
WHERE: State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland
COST: $41-$49
INFO: 216-241-6000 or 866-546-1353 or visit www.PlayhouseSquare.org
 
“It’s my most successful production to date, and I’m very excited to come to Cleveland,” said Malone, calling from the Queen City. “I think timing is everything. There have been so many plays in the ‘90s and ‘00’s, and now this time there’s not as many out there, so I’m getting more attention. And, I’m a woman writer and it’s just something new and different.”
 
Written in 2006, “In Love with Tyrone” stars Robin Givens in a story about a woman's journey to find herself after she has been betrayed by the love of her life. Basically Malone said she set out to answer the age-old question: What happens when the right woman falls in love with the wrong man?  
 
And what a wrong man Tyrone turns out to be, womanizing with the best friend Givens’ character, Danetta, and getting tangled in other common webs associated with someone who talks a good game but can’t back it up in reality.
 
Malone, who started writing plays in high school, said she relied on her past for inspiration. Specifically, she talked about growing up with her best friends being her mother and grandmother. She gained a lot of life wisdom that she strives to incorporate into her work.
 
Something else at play regarding “In Love with Tyrone” is the fact Givens’ stage performance naturally comes from her own experience of loving the bad boy and paying the price.
 
“This role for her is amazing,” Malone said. “She has a book called ‘Grace Will Lead Me Home,’ and she talks about her love of God and how he has taken her through. I think this character is a sort of a reflection of the great person that she is. She’s an amazing woman. She is absolutely fabulous and an amazing actress.”
 
Finally, Malone admits the elephant in the room of sorts is the fact “In Love With Tyrone” in title alone appears to be an urban-based production. Naturally, the playwright-director stresses the play is open to all audiences. Her proof, she said, is in the theme. That is, everyone has a Tyrone in their life.
 
“It’s funny, when we did the show recently in Hartford there was a lot of crossover audience, even though we expected it to be more African-American,” said Malone. “It was really a blended audience of white and black, and one of the things that was said from both races is it really spoke to them. Those are the experiences they had.”
 
“I think all women, no matter what color they are, have been in love with a Tyrone – just a guy who has broken their hearts. That’s really the bottom line. There is something for everyone, every age and every demographic.”