Lyric
Marie
Benson was an avid reader at an early age. From about age 6, she
turned her creative mind into entertaining. Her command of language, musical
talent, vibrant personality, and fun-loving demeanor kept those around her
feeling upbeat and happy. Lyric developed her love for theater through middle
school in the Kansas City area and extended that through high school in Morocco.
Her acceptance to Yale was a giant step and one that paid off in yet bigger
rewards through her Theater Studies major. She performed in such stage
productions as “A Chorus Line,” “As Bees in Honey Drown,” and her senior solo
performance of “Margarita’s Way.” The only bigger step would be a career in
theater and entertainment. That’s exactly where she headed.
Working nights at Balthazar, an upscale French Bistro, Lyric auditioned by day. It
wasn’t long before she shot an MTV commercial, did Maybelline
voiceovers, and earned brief roles on Comedy Central, All My Children, and Law
and Order. The role that may have vaulted her career was that of a New York
“working girl” in an American Express ad for the Tribeca Film Festival. It
appeared in the New Yorker Magazine and on posters and billboards throughout New
York City.
Though Lyric’s donor cause in death is a noble one, her passion in life
will always be remembered as well. For that reason, it is only fitting that
others may be granted some help in sharing a similar dream. A theater-related
scholarship will be offered each year to at least one area high
school student who closely profiles Lyric’s desire to succeed. Beyond a love for
theater, students are selected based on qualities that reflect those Lyric would
have demonstrated......academics, extracurricular activities, community service,
character, maturity, and talent.
|