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Bus Stop (2006) >
News and Review|Village Life|Ledger Dispatch|Calaveras Enterprise
In the middle of a snowstorm, the passengers on a bus from Kansas City are forced to hole up in a cheerful roadside diner until morning. Cherie, a nightclub chanteuse in a sparkling gown and a seedy fur-trimmed jacket, is the passenger with most to worry about. She's been pursued, made love to and finally kidnapped by a twenty-one-year-old cowboy with a ranch of his own and the romantic methods of an unusually headstrong bull. "an uproarious comedy that never strays far from the truth." NY TIMES
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Sacramento News and Review
The Main Attraction
By Jeff Hudson, Sacramento News and Review
(8.17.06) Main Street Theatre Works seems to have hit on a winning concept: staging an American classic in the group’s Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre. Last summer it was The Rainmaker, a production that was just nominated for several Elly Awards. This year, it’s William Inge’s Bus Stop, featuring several of the same cast members. And it’s arguably an even better show.
Bus Stop takes place on Inge’s home turf, small-town Kansas circa 1950, where a bus is waiting out a March blizzard at a roadside restaurant. The characters include two waitresses, a lawman, the bus driver and four passengers: a nightclub floozy from Kansas City, two cowboys from Montana and an unemployed English professor who quotes Shakespeare between gulps of whiskey from a hidden bottle.
Technically, the story’s a comedy. Three "could be" couples quickly emerge, and there’s a happy ending, sort of. But this isn’t storybook love. One couple is a pair of consenting adults opting for a quickie. Another pair’s courtship looks more like a case of abduction, and the third is a creepy mismatch between a middle-aged male authority figure and a teenage girl. Inge works up funny situations in this play for grown-ups, periodically including some wise, plainspoken lines about how truly challenging it can be to do the right thing in love.
The production is beautifully cast, with Dale Lisa Flint (who trained with the California Shakespeare Theater) bringing the nightclub floozy to life. David Campfield, a River Stage veteran who continues to turn in strong performances wherever he works, plays the young, impetuous cowboy. Scott Taylor is his wise, guitar-playing hired hand. Mikel Nalley does well as the besotted professor who realizes he’s behaving badly but can’t control himself. Richard Williams gives a fine performance as the savvy sheriff. Scott Divine, fondly recalled for many roles with the Actor’s Theatre, is vivid in his scenes as the bus driver. Sandra McCord is the middle-aged proprietress of the cafe, offering sage advice to her teenage employee. Maia McCleery, a recent high-school graduate, is just right for this part. Director Ron Adams doesn’t rush things, but he doesn’t let the pace lag either.
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Village Life
"Bus Stop" at MSTW: sentimental journey into yesterday
By David Jacobson, Village Life
(8.23.06) If you remember the mid-fifties what do "Bus Stop" and William Inge bring to mind? Almost surely "Marilyn Monroe." Here’s what Bosley Crowther, leading critic for the New York Times, had to say about the film based on the Broadway hit:
"He (Director Joshua Logan) has got her to be the tinseled floozie, the semimoronic doll who is found in a clip-joint by a cowboy of equally limited brains and is hotly pursued by this suitor to a snowbound bus stop. And, what's most important, he has got her to light the small flame of dignity that sputters pathetically in this chippie and to make a rather moving sort of her."
Sutter Creek’s Main Street Theatre Works can’t resurrect Marilyn but offers us the play that seems to embody her paradox: just what roles are men and women supposed to play? Though dated and oozing Pollyanna optimism, Inge’s play captures the no-man’s-land before the seventies gave voice to feminism. It was the age of Marilyn, when the male dream girl was a nymphomaniacal virgin.
Two other couples echo the relationship. The boozy Dr. Gerald Lyman (Mikel Nalley), the failed professor with an eye for underaged girls, lures the teen-aged Elma Duckworth (Maia McCleery) with promises of the intellectual life in Topeka. Meanwhile the worldly Grace (Sandra McCord), the diner’s owner abandoned by her husband, shares a long and pointed interlude with the crass bus driver, Carl (Scott Divine), in her quarters above.
The three pairs are protected and advised by a chorus of two elders, the witty sheriff Will Masters (Richard Williams) and Bo’s cowboy companion and caretaker, Virgil Blessing (Scott Taylor). Virgil ultimately breaks through Bo’s ultra-macho frenzy by suggesting that women do appreciate a measure of tenderness.
Inge shows his stagecraft most of the way despite the sentimentality, though the action sags at the end as he plods through getting the characters off the stage one by one. Still, we get lightning bolts of wit throughout.
Director Ron Adams and cast seem to have chosen wisely to play up the farce. The sly wink from onstage is effective enough to elicit occasional good-natured cheers and boos from the audience. The high point of the show comes in the second of its three acts, with Elma and Lyman in a grotesquely funny balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet." They’re topped by Flint, wearing a grotesque costume by Michael Coleman while she sings 'Night and Day" [sic] on the counter, with gestures like a traffic director.
Flint has the toughest assignment, as the anti-Marilyn. She plays the role much as Kim Stanley might have originally, as a blowsy survivor, an innocent who can’t believe she’s worthy of love. Campfield gives his impetuous all to the explosive Bo. As Lyman, Nalley manages to make his seductive pedophile charming and even likeable, so that his ultimate conversion seems inevitable.
McCleery personates Elma, the schoolgirl waitress, with utter transparency, intelligent yet idealistic. As Will, Williams gives us a tough and wise sheriff who knows how to be firm, yet overlooks what’s better not to see. Taylor as Virgil is gently persuasive and low-key. As Grace and Carl, McCord and Divine are definitive in brief appearances. Susan McCandless designed the charming set.
"Bus Stop" runs Fridays and Saturdays through September 9 at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre in Jackson. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and performance begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate or may be charged by phone at (209) 267-5680, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Prices are $15 for adults, $10 for age 18 and under. For directions and other details, see www.MSTW.org
E-mail jacobsondb@aol.com.
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Amador Ledger-Dispatch
Don't miss the 'Bus' at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre
By Brandi Ehlers, Amador Ledger-Dispatch
(8.16.06) If it has been a while since you last rode the bus, you better not miss Main Street Theatre Works' second summer production of the year, "Bus Stop" at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre.
Written in the 1950s by William Inge, "Bus Stop" takes place in a small diner 30 miles west of Kansas City in the wee hours of the morning on a cold day in March. It tells the story of eight people stuck together due to a snow storm for a night at Grace's Diner.
Grace Hoylard, the owner of the diner played by Sandra McCord, finds her diner filled with the local sheriff, a bus driver looking for some action, a kidnapped chanteuse, a drunk professor and two cowboys all with very interesting stories. All Grace is interested in is getting to know Carl, played by Scott Divine, the bus driver better.
Cherie, played by Dale Lisa Flint, a singer at a night club in Kansas City, has been kidnapped by cowboy Bo Decker, played by David Campfield, and being taken against her will to his ranch in Montana so they can be wed. They are traveling with Bo's side-kick and surrogate parent, Virgil Blessing, played by Scott Taylor, who tries to keep Bo in line and offer advice to the 25-year-old cowboy.
Sheriff Will Masters, played by Richard Williams, has his hands full with Bo and the professor Doctor Gerald Lyman, played by Mikel Nalley, who is too busy hitting on the waitress Elma Duckworth, played by Maia McCleery, between sips of his water and rye whiskey, to know what is going on. The night takes many twists and turns as the story of each character comes to light and in the end several issues are resolved.
The interaction between the characters was great and the way the show flowed from conversation to conversation was flawless. Director Ron Adams did a marvelous job, creating a show that is fun and enjoyable.
The entire cast was wonderful, but my favorite character had to be Cherie. Flint was fantastic. She sang and danced and really made you feel for her character. Campfield did well as a stubborn, pigheaded cowboy hell bent on marrying a woman that wants nothing to do with him.
Taylor was a perfect fit as the wise, laid-back father figure. He did well making his character feel genuine and heart-felt. Williams was a great small town sheriff with an attitude of my way or the highway. He kept the other characters in line and played the role well.
McCleery's innocence and age really helped her to pull off her character. She did a wonderful job as the naive, small town girl. Nalley was great and had to be my second favorite on the stage. He stumbled and bumbled his way around the stage brilliantly. I think he really might of been drinking more than just colored water.
McCord did a good job as the small town diner owner that was a little lonely. Divine did well with his role and was entertaining to watch.
Set design by Susan McCandless was great. You really feel as if you are inside an old-fashion diner. Make sure to eat or bring dessert because the doughnuts may make your mouth water.
Make sure you bring a comfortable chair, some bug spray and a sweater or blanket because it can get a little chilly. Picnics are allowed and encouraged.
"Bus Stop" will play Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 9. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. for picnics and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 18 and are available at the gate or through: Lizzie Ann's/Bubblegum Books, 59 Main St., Sutter Creek; Hein & Company Bookstore, 204 Main St., Jackson; or charge by phone at 267-5680 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
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Calaveras Enterprise
Love lingers in Main Street’s ‘Bus Stop’ at Kennedy Mine
By Mike Taylor, Calaveras Enterprise
(8.16.06) Love comes in many costumes, with many rules of engagement, and often
with little warning; writers have tongue twisted themselves with the
subject for ages. For William Inge, love blusters onstage under a cowboy hat and
even manages to take hold of a few folks in "Bus Stop," playing through
Sept. 9 at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheater in Jackson.
Inge was often compared to Tennessee Williams; he even lost out on a
Tony Award when his wonderful comedy-drama, "Bus Stop," opened the same
year as Williams’ masterpiece, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." "Picnic"
might have captured a Pulitzer Prize for Inge, but "Stop" was considered his most
popular play.
In "Bus Stop," our scene is a charming little roadside diner -
one of those "everywhere" places that line the highways and byways of the
Midwest, where you’re sure to catch a different cast of characters inside whenever
you stop in for a meal. A blizzard has closed the road ahead, so the occupants
of a bus headed west must spend the night waiting for the weather to clear.
There aren’t many folk onboard, but each has a story to tell and a
few insights to share with Inge’s audience, and with the locals who
inhabit the roadside eatery. Carl, the driver, is a feisty sort of man who’s
always on the go, even if his compass is pointing directly at Grace, the owner
of the diner. She’s not too sure she’s happy with her life, but
celebrates each day the fact her husband is nowhere to be found. Her helper, Elma is a
young lady about to venture off to college; she’s got the grades, but her
sheltered existence has left her a bit too wet behind the ears.
Cherie is the first passenger to enter the diner. A nightclub singer
of somewhat questionable character, she’s been kidnapped by a
headstrong cowboy named Bo. He’s the sort who acts and then thinks about those
actions, which is getting him into trouble with the local sheriff, who often pops in
to check on the tourists. Virgil is a kind of father figure to the quarrelsome Bo, always ready
to step in and protect the immature cowpoke whenever he opens his mouth
too wide. Virgil is a kind of voice of reason throughout the play.
Lastly, and perhaps deservedly so, is Dr. Gerald Lyman, a loquacious
letch who immediately takes a liking to the naïve Elma. As less-than-savory
as this relationship can appear - and must have appeared in the 1950s
- there are actually a lot of lessons to be learned from this blowhard
professor who drinks too much and thinks even more. He’s been married thrice, but
chooses to use his experiences to cut off his chances of connecting with
women, rather than using them to learn and move forward.
Sandra McCord and Scott Divine give Grace and Carl an itchy-footed
charm, as the pair finally decides to head to Grace’s upstairs apartment to
bring their flirtations to fruition. Divine is especially wry in his
delivery; there’s almost always a knowing twinkle in his eye.
Maia McCleery is the proverbial fresh-faced ray of sunshine in the
diner, always offering a smile and always taking people at their best. Inge
captures some interesting moments as the professor cautiously pursues
Elma, but it all comes crashing down as the man drinks himself into a
stupor.
Mikel Nally started slow as he came onstage; I was thinking he might
prove a weak link in the casting chain. But as he assails Shakespeare during
his drunken outburst, Nally uses the entire stage to stagger and bluster
about. This is indeed the saddest soul in Inge’s menagerie and Nally
captures the self-loathing, and even the remorse, with ease.
Dale Lisa Flint is a cracker jack Cherie; the perfect mix of trailer
trash talent and soothing southern charm. Flint knows when to stand tall and
when to cower as Bo bullies her; she’s a woman who’s either in over her
head, or has found her call of the wild. When Cherie and Elma talk about love
in Act II, Cherie is on her game. But when Virgil lets her in on a secret
about Bo, Flint easily lets her face tell what Cherie’s feeling; words would
have gotten in the way.
David Campfield is a boisterous Bo; even his voice is decibels above
the rest of the cast. Bo’s a reprehensible so-and-so for most of the
show, and Campfield plays it to the hilt, taking care not to take Bo over the
top. He’s also very good when Bo softens a bit around the edges, at the urging
of his buddy, Virgil. Scott Taylor, as Virgil, is the Burl Ives of this
production, leaning back and listening to it all, keeping his comments
to himself until Bo wrings them out of him.
Richard Williams plays the sheriff as a lawman who rarely has to do
much except for break up neighborhood disputes, but when Bo thinks he’s
going to leave with Cherie, Williams summons the gumption and performs just as
the audience wanted to act toward Bo. There’s a tension just under the
surface with Williams’ portrayal, as if we’d be shocked to see what the
sheriff might do if his abilities were truly tested.
This is a determined play; it’s not as fast-paced and flashy as more
contemporary works, but that’s not to say it’s slow. The first act
plays like a marching band taking the field, each player takes their place
to prepare for what’s to come. The second act flows more freely as the
riders begin to feel the diner walls closing in on them. To fight the
boredom, they stage little shows to entertain themselves, and these vignettes are
telling moments for each and every character. The third act delivers the
morals to the little fables playing out in the show. Lessons are learned, eyes
are opened and lives are changed.
It’s obvious director Ron Adams took time with each actor, helping
each to catch the nuances present in the characters. The Susan McCandless
stage is a step back in time, reminiscent of every roadside dive encountered in
youth.
One peccadillo however, is a giant bus prop that’s used outside the
diner window; too large a portion of the audience can’t even see the
impressive charade as the travelers arrive and depart. There aren’t many belly laughs, but those are not required in a show like this. Inge is holding up a finely focused mirror so we might view our
own missteps along the road of love in order to make the next stop more
enjoyable. Solid performances from an able cast make this "Stop"
well worth the time.
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