Noted director/actor/writer Austin Pendleton will direct Bus Stop, Olney Theatre Center's first production of its 2010 season.
Bus Stop plays the Mainstage February 17 through March 14, with a Pay What You Can preview performance on February 16. Tickets are $26 to $49, with discounts available to groups, seniors, military, and students. Call the Box Office at 301.924.3400 or visit olneytheatre.org for tickets and information. In addition, Olney offers several special performances that include sign interpretation, audio description, and post-show discussions.
In the midst of a howling blizzard, a busload of passengers holes up in a roadside diner outside Kansas City. On the bus is a nightclub chanteuse named Cherie, who is being pursued by Bo, a cowboy who wants to sling her over his shoulder and carry her off to Montana. Overnight, the owner of the café and the bus driver explore a long-overdue friendship, an aging scholar learns a valuable lesson, and love, with a touch of humility, appears unexpectedly in this classic romantic comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, William Inge.
Born in Independence, Kansas, in 1913, Inge was a professor and drama critic before writing his first play in 1947. He dramatized the melancholy, humor, and simple heroism of common folks and Midwestern life. In addition to Bus Stop, his body of work includes Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic (Pulitzer Prize); The Dark at the Top of the Stairs; and Splendor in the Grass (Academy Award).
The 1955 Broadway production of Bus Stop featured
Elaine Stritch as Grace. She received her first Tony Award nomination (Best Featured Actress in a Play) for the role. Bus Stop received three additional Tony nominations. The cast of the short-lived Broadway revival in 1996 included
Billy Crudup as Bo and
Mary-Louise Parker as Cherie. The film version of Bus Stop (1956) starred
Marilyn Monroe as Cherie and
Don Murray as Bo, and was directed by
Joshua Logan. It was nominated for an Oscar and two Golden Globe Awards, among other awards.
Austin Pendleton, perhaps best known for his television roles on Homicide and Oz, has directed and performed on and off-Broadway, and is an ensemble member of
Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He wrote and performed in Orson's Shadow, which received the L.A. Drama Critics Award for Best Writing. Last season in New York, he directed
Michael Weller's Fifty Words, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and
Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre, with casts including such actors as Maggie Gylenhall,
Peter Sarsgaard,
Elizabeth Marvel,
Denis O'Hare,
Norbert Leo Butz,
George Morfogen, and
Pamela Payton-Wright. In addition to directing Bus Stop at Olney, Pendleton is directing
Terrence McNally's new play, Golden Age, which is scheduled to play the Kennedy Center this spring after its world premiere in Philadelphia this month.
Boyd Harris makes his Olney debut as the driven-by-love cowboy Bo Decker. A graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, his Chicago credits include Picnic (Writers' Theatre), Hollow Lands (Steep Theatre), Flat Danny (2007 Rhino Fest), and Zombies from the Beyond (Backstage Theatre). The object of his affection, Cherie, is played by Jean Lichty, also an Olney first-timer. Most recently, she performed in the world premieres of Diana Amsterdam's short plays, Letting Billy and The Girl's Last Big Mistake, as well as in Bro with
Kevin Bacon and
Ethan Hawkes.
James Judy plays Virgil, Bo's friend and confidante. Also new to Olney audiences, Judy's Broadway credits include Into the Woods, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and A Christmas Carol. The final bus passenger, Dr. Gerald Lyman, is played by James Slaughter. Slaughter has appeared in more than 30 productions at Olney, including An Enemy of the People (
Helen Hayes Award nomination), Democracy, and The Constant Wife. He most recently performed in The Solid Gold Cadillac at
Studio Theatre.
Jane Summerhays plays Grace, the owner of the diner. A Catholic University graduate, Summerhays previously performed at Olney in Tonight at 8:30, The Miser, and Happy End. Her Broadway credits include The Wild Party, Lend Me a Tenor, Me and My Girl, Sugar Babies, and A Chorus Line. Helping Grace is young Elma, portrayed by Judith Ingber. Ingber last appeared at Olney in Call of the Wild. Ingber last appeared at Olney in Call of the Wild. Other Washington area credits include Please Listen: A Musical Chaos (Open Drawer Theatre), What's a Little Death? (Infinite Stage), Girls and Dolls (Solas Nua Reading Series), and Through the Looking Glass (Capital Fringe Festival).
The other diner regulars are Carl, the bus driver, and Will Masters, the sheriff.
Harry A. Winter (Carl) and Timmy
Ray James (Will) were both seen at Olney in King of the Jews. Winter has performed in the National Tours of Gigi and Jolson: The Musical, and regionally in Show Boat, 1776, Allegro, and 110 in the Shade. James is well known to Washington audiences, with performances at Olney,
Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, Folger Theatre, and
Signature Theatre, among others.
The creative team for Bus Stop includes Stephen Dobay (Scenic Designer),
Kathleen Geldard (Costume Designer),
Keith Parham (Lighting Designer), Jarett C. Pisani (Sound Engineer), Anne Newsmith (Wig Designer), Leigh Wilson Smiley (Dialect Coach), Robb Hunter (Fight Director), and Renee E. Yancey (Stage Manager).
TICKETS: $26 - $49; discounts available for groups, seniors, military, and students
BOX OFFICE: 301.924.3400;
olneytheatre.orgLOCATION: Olney Theatre Center
2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Maryland 20832
Located just north of Washington, DC, the theater sits 1¼ mile from the intersection of Olney-Sandy Spring Road (Route 108) and Georgia Avenue (Route 97). Parking is free.
