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Penn State aims to keep emotions in check against rival Pitt

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Happy birthday Anya Rose Nemic!

<p>NUANGOLA &#8212; With her husband and two children off at the state fair, eager to show the steer her daughter raised, Francesca is alone for three days.</p><p>Alone on the farm in Iowa, with the neighbors nearby in case she needs any help &#8212; and with a traveling photographer suddenly showing up to ask directions to a bridge.</p><p>Maybe this Robert has something to offer her too.</p><p>&#8220;She connects with him,&#8221; said Alice Y. Lyons, of Wilkes-Barre, who portrays the Italian war bride/farm wife in Theatre at the Grove&#8217;s production of the musical &#8220;Bridges of Madison County,&#8221; which continues this weekend in Nuangola. &#8220;He wants to know what her dreams are.&#8221;</p><p>Ah, that&#8217;s something her husband, Bud, never seems to take the time to do.</p><p>Francesca and Robert will share their connection for four days &#8212; not three, after all; the steer advances in competition so the family delays their return &#8212; and Robert will urge Francesca to come away with him.</p><p>Will she? Won&#8217;t she?</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve analyzed this character a lot,&#8221; Lyons said, &#8220;and I&#8217;ve talked about this many times with my co-star (Dane Bower) and my director (Mike Marone). She still loves her husband, but he just doesn&#8217;t give her the attention she needs. I think if her children were older, she might leave. But because of her love for her children, she stays.</p><p>&#8220;As a married woman (in real life), I don&#8217;t want to sound like a cliche but I am completely enamored and in love with my own husband, and I can&#8217;t put myself in her place,&#8221; Lyons said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t lack that (attention) in my life.&#8221;</p><p>At the same time, she said, one of the messages of the play is not to judge anyone.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just such a gorgeous, sad love story,&#8221; Lyons said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not just about a man and a woman who had an affair. That&#8217;s a tiny piece of the puzzle.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The last song is &#8216;Always Better,&#8217; and she sings about how she has just loved her whole life, whether it be a love for her family in Napoli, her love for her husband and children, her passionate love for Robert in four days,&#8221; Lyons said. &#8220;She&#8217;s always going to choose love, and the choice of love is &#8216;always better.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>The music, written by composer Jason Robert Brown and presented onstage by a seven-piece orchestra, is &#8220;the biggest selling point in the show,&#8221; said Bower, of West Wyoming, who plays the traveling photographer. &#8220;It&#8217;s a very lush, evocative score that brings out a lot of emotions. The whole thing is really bittersweet.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A state fair figures into the plot line of &#8216;Bridges of Madison County.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_bridges1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A state fair figures into the plot line of &#8216;Bridges of Madison County.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_bridges2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dane Bower and Alice Y. Lyons portray traveling photographer Robert and Iowa farm wife Francesca in &#8216;Bridges of Madison County&#8217; at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_bridges2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dane Bower and Alice Y. Lyons portray traveling photographer Robert and Iowa farm wife Francesca in &#8216;Bridges of Madison County&#8217; at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_bridges3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The photographer and the war bride make a connection, but their four-day affair is only &#8216;a tiny piece of the puzzle&#8217; in the musical &#8216;Bridges of Madison County,&#8217; cast member Alice Y. Lyons said. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_bridges3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The photographer and the war bride make a connection, but their four-day affair is only &#8216;a tiny piece of the puzzle&#8217; in the musical &#8216;Bridges of Madison County,&#8217; cast member Alice Y. Lyons said. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> The musical &#8216;Bridges of Madison County&#8217;</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. today; 3 p.m. tomorrow</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Theatre at the Grove, 5177 Nuangola Road, Nuangola</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $22 for adults and $15 for students</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> 570-868-8212</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Nuangola theater company stages production of ‘Bridges of Madison County’