BUS STOP - Adobe Theater Non Equity Auditions

AUDITION NOTICE

BUS STOP

by William Inge

Directed by Georgia Athearn

Saturday, June 14, 1-4pm, Sunday June 15, 6-8pm Callbacks, June 16/17, 6:30

Show dates: September 5 through September 28, 2025

Please note 2 Thursday performances (11th & 25th) One Saturday Matinee (20th)

Rehearsals begin the week of July 14th, 2025

For further information please contact Director Georgia Athearn at glapeach7@gmail.com

Setting Up the Scene

In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus out of Kansas City pulls up at a cheerful roadside diner. All roads are blocked, and four or five weary travelers are going to have to hole up until morning. As the layover unfolds, so do the stories, tempers, lives, and eventually the hearts of this wonderful cast of characters.

All roles are available.

There will be cold readings from the script. Women interested in auditioning for the role of Cherie should prepare a short song to sing A cappella. You may be asked to sing this song at auditions or callbacks. If you wish to prepare a monologue, it will be seen but are not required. Callbacks for Virgil may involve playing guitar.

FEMALE

Elma Duckworth: (Age: actor should be able to play 16-18) Elma is an innocent and impressible naive high-schooler, full of dreams, working as a waitress at the Bus Stop diner.

Grace Hoyland: (Age: 30-60) Owner of the diner. She is pretty in a fading, hard-bitten way. She has a passionate side to her nature, loving a good fight and the attentions of a good man.

Cherie:(Age: 18-26) A nightclub chanteuse (a singer - ability to hold a tune important but doesn't have to be a 'great' singer), pretty, fragile, grew up too fast. She wears too much makeup and is “hill-folk” from the Ozarks.

MALE

Dr. Gerald Lyman: (Age: 50-70's). A former college philosophy professor who is articulate and charming but cannot hold a position, partially due to his resistance to any kind of authority, and partially due to his taste for young women. He also has a drinking problem.
Will Masters: (Age: 40-mid 50's) Sheriff, big, stern, means business but friendly. Brusque in manner, but goodhearted and described as a deacon of his church. A highly moral man in the general sense of the word.

Carl: (Age: 30-60) The bus driver, who has an ongoing just passing through relationship with Grace. This is purely sexual in nature.

Bo Decker: (Age: 20-30) A brash young cowboy (who was orphaned at the age of 10) with boorish manners that hide a naivete almost as profound as Elma's. He believes that Cherie will be his bride, although she wants nothing to do with him.

Virgil Blessing: (Age: 40's-60's) Ranch hand, good-hearted simple cowboy, like a father to Bo, laid back, must be able to play some guitar! An older, wiser cowboy who has become a father figure to Bo.