Click Here for Bus Stop Cast Announcement

A lot can happen in a single night. A tawdry nightclub singer can discover domesticity, a brash rancher can soften his touch, a drunken lecher can regain his dignity and even the most solitary and forlorn can find romance in a tiny, Midwestern roadside diner populated with weary travelers in the middle of a blizzard. While exuberant and comical on the surface, this enduring play by American master William Inge is a tenderhearted tale of love and loneliness that examines the hunger for companionship and understanding residing within us all. It dramatizes the melancholy, the humor and unconscious gallantry of commonplace characters. The 1956 movie version of the same name starred Marilyn Monroe as the nightclub singer.

Author: William Inge
Director: Michael J. Lasley

Rehearsals: Starting Dec. 14 at 7pm
Performance Dates: Jan. 22 – Feb. 7 (Thu. – Sun.)

PRINCIPAL ROLES (stage age)

Grace Hoyland (35-45)
– owner of the bus stop café; tough, confident, passionate

Elma Duckworth (16-18)
– a naïve and bright high-schooler working at the restaurant as a waitress; full of questions and dreams

Will Masters (40s-50s)
– the local sheriff; strong, imposing figure, no-nonsense and brusque, but good-hearted

Cherie (20s-early 30s)
– a nightclub chanteuse; pretty, fragile, tawdry, uneducated but street-wise, had a rough childhood in the Ozarks and grew up too fast.

Dr. Gerald Lyman (45+)
– former college philosophy professor; intelligent, dry, witty, alcoholic, divorced, likes young girls

Carl (30-50)
– bus driver; good ol’ boy, worldly, likes the ladies

Bo Decker (25-35)
– ranch owner; headstrong, brash, loud, impulsive, simple

Virgil (40s-50s)
– ranch hand; good-hearted, simple cowboy, like a father to Bo