Entertainment : ACT I of Benton County Bus Stop Cast Announcement

ACT I of Benton County announces the cast of their May production, Bus Stop. This delightfully warm-hearted romantic comedy runs May 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23. The cast includes: Grace Hoyland, played by ACT I veteran, Halane Cummings, new-comer, Mikala Niemeier as Elma Duckworth, Sheriff Will Masters, played by ACT I veteran, Casey Cooling, Cherie, played by ACT I veteran, Rachel Kramer, the bus driver Carl, played by ACT I veteran, David Gates, Dr. Gerald Lyman, played by ACT I veteran, Anthony Bopp, Virgil Blessing, played by ACT I veteran, Rick Primmer, and Bo Decker, played by ACT I veteran, Alex Vasquez. A lot can happen in a single night. Bus Stop takes place in the heart of the Midwest at a small-town diner thirty miles west of Kansas City. The bus pulls in at 1:00 a.m. and the snowstorm leaves the passengers stuck until morning. Elma Duckworth is a young waitress still in high school and an innocent to the world and to love. Grace Hoyland is the owner of the diner, a “grass widow” and an expert at hiding from the world her loneliness. Will Masters is the local sheriff, protective of his town and all the people passing through it to the world outside his jurisdiction. Cherie is a nightclub “chanteuse” singer and dancer who is trying to escape the clutches of the overly rambunctious love of a young cowboy, Bo Decker. Bo is the bullheaded owner of a ranch in Montana who is fresh off the ranch for the first time in his life. He saw and fell for Cherie and is convinced they are going to get married even though he’s never really stopped to listen to hear if Cherie has agreed. Virgil Blessing is the older calm, quiet, never-in-too-big-of-a-hurry, ranch hand that is Bo’s mentor and friend. Dr. Gerald Lyman is a former college professor who courts young Elma with romance, using the words of poets and playwrights. Carl, the bus driver, is a cocky and simple man who romances each “woman in port” he meets at his bus stops and tries to hide his own loneliness. When these complex lonely and loving, but highly amusing characters come together for one night a lot can happen. They are forced to spend the evening together and to confront their own lives. There are laughs, tears, and frustrations as each character is honestly learn to see themselves. The audience at the end of the play is left wondering how many of the changes they experience during the night will stick with them or will they be back in the sunlight of morning. This is the second time that director, Jill g. Lockard-Bopp has directed this play. As she says “I fell in love with this play the first time I read it. It offers up the wonderful combination of comedy and an honest look at real human emotions. The playwright, William Inge was born and raised in the Midwest during the 20’s and 30’s. He knows the people of the Midwest. There is a wonderful quote of his that shows this understanding. “”I’ve often wondered how people raised in our great cities ever develop any knowledge of humankind. People who grow up in small towns get to know each other so much more closely than they do in cities”” And this is true. We are in a way spoiled growing up in small rural communities. We can walk down the street knowing half the people we see. We greet them with ‘Hi how are you’ or How’s your children, parents, family’. This familiarity is a gift and we sometimes forget how blessed we are for having it. This play offers us the opportunity to see ourselves and to remember our first time ‘off the ranch’ or the first touch of romance. And, the loneliness we can all experience at one time or another.” The Production Staff for Bus Stop has veterans to ACT I supporting all aspects. Lockard-Bopp has assembled her staff very carefully starting with Bunny Fritch as the ADSM (Assistant Director/Stage Manager). They have been working on the research and play development of the play for the past six months. Ironing out the what-if’s and could-we’s to finalize the pre-rehearsal questions. The Set Construction Director, Keith Bonar and Set Construction Assistant, Bill Travis, have been busy building the set pieces and will actually use platforms built from the last play, The Miser. Publicity Director, Doug Martens has sent out notices for auditions, and press releases, arranged for posters to be printed and ACT I mailing lists notified of the up-coming production. The Properties Mistress, Pam Primmer, and the Costume Mistress, Sue Gates will begin to collect props and measure actors and pull from stock or build the play’s costumes. As the production dates come closer the Make-Mistress, Judy Travis and the Hair Stylist, Kathy Tranel will begin to check the actors against the character’s ‘look’. Lockard-Bopp stated “A BIG production staff is needed to produce a show. You need people who can take a look at a picture of a 1950’s nightclub singer and re-produce the costume, the hairstyle, the make-up, even the shoes. It is the same with building a set. I have a really rough drawing of what I want the set to look like and I give this to the Set Director and it’s up to him and the Assistant to basically give me what I want.” One of the last areas that are worked on for a production is hanging and focusing the lights for the show. The Lighting Director/Designer for this show is Eric Upmeyer. Lockard-Bopp did say with a big smile, “I still need a board operator (which is someone to run the lights and sounds) for the show if anyone is interested.” Through all this activity the actors are busy learning lines, learning where and when to move when on stage, and developing their characters. “I have a night during the rehearsal period that I call Character Analysis Night” Lockard-Bopp said. “This is when everyone in the cast sits down with Bunny and myself and we ask them questions for their characters to answer. Questions such as, ‘what was the room you grew up in that you felt the safest and what did it look like. Tell me in detail what that room looked like. What is your favorite treasure and why.’ When an actor can answer these questions as their character they are fleshing out the character, making the character real and in doing so, they create three dimensional characters with whom the audience can identify with.” Bus Stop remains a profound picture of mid century Midwest morality and life. It presents the audience with small-town values and lessons that remain part of our life today. Sometimes it is a good thing to look back as see where we were and find the humor, the love and the warmth of each other to ease away the loneliness in a long cold night.