Town Players to Present BUS STOP

Town Players' 80th anniversary season continues with BUS STOP, opening Friday, September 4 at The Little Theatre on Orchard Hill Road in Newtown. Opening night, patrons are invited to join the cast and crew for a champagne reception after the show to help kick off the 2015 Newtown Arts Festival. The month-long festival is sponsored by the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission.

Written by William Inge, BUS STOP begins when a bus is forced to stop at a cheerful roadside diner in Kansas during a snowstorm. As a result of the delay, a disillusioned bar singer must deal a little longer with the attentions of a rowdy (but still wet-behind-the-ears) young cowboy who insists he will marry her, as the other passengers make personal connections and confront the dissatisfactions experienced in their own lives.

First produced on Broadway in 1955, BUS STOP continues to be popular because of modern audiences' longing for a simpler, more innocent past. The 1956 film starring Marilyn Monroe was loosely based on the stage play.

The New York Times says, "Mr. Inge has put together an uproarious comedy that never strays from the truth," while the New York Post notes, "William Inge should be a great comfort to all of us...he brings to the theatre a kind of warm-hearted compassion, creative vigor, freshness of approach and appreciation of average humanity that can be wonderfully touching and stimulating."

BUS STOP is directed by Brian DeToma of Danbury. The cast includes the talents of Tony Benedetti (Beacon Falls), Clare Boyle (Newtown), Christopher Cooney (Monroe), Barbara Disraeli (Brewster, NY), Miles Everett (Thomaston), Leah Nashel (Newtown), Tom Torpey (Stratford) and Steve Yudelson (Newtown). The production crew includes producers Lynn Alexander (Southbury) and Tracy Nashel (Newtown), set designer Timothy Huebenthal (Southbury), lighting designer Nick Kaye (Bethel), lights and sound operator Becca Cardozo (Fairfield), and stage manager Terry Polvay (Sandy Hook).

BUS STOP runs September 4 - 26. Curtain times are 8 PM Fridays and Saturdays, with Sunday matinees at 2 PM on September 13 & 20. Tickets are $22; $18 for matinee performances, $10 for children 10 and under for all performances. Please note that Friday, September 25 is a sold-out benefit performance.

Reservations may be made by calling the box office at 203-270-9144 or by sending an email to reservations@newtownplayers.org. Tickets may also be purchased online by going to the theater's website, newtownplayers.org.