“Bus Stop” at LTM timeless classic

MANCHESTER — Adultery, abduction, pedophilia, alcoholism, and domestic violence without a profane word to be heard can be seen in the timeless classic play “Bus Stop” by William Inge at the Little Theatre of Manchester through Sunday.
This is the first production the Little Theatre of Manchester produced 50 years ago, and, unlike some plays that show their age, this show is still relevant and solid today and a fine community theater production.
Confidently directed by Fred T. Blish, who knows the show well, having played Bo Decker in their original production, this play is set in the 1950s in a Kansas bus stop diner in March during a late winter snowstorm.
As the characters repeatedly and endearingly say, “March sure is coming in like a lion.” There is something comforting and kind about these common colloquialisms which connects the social subconscious of the group of mostly strangers in a strange place.
Those strangers include a ragtag group of bus riders — a lounge singer, a couple of cowboys, and a college professor on the lam. They stumble into period-perfect roadside diner to get out of the cold and have a bite to eat. Their stay is extended due to a snowstorm that is blocking the roads ahead.
Alysa Auriemma plays Cherie, the chanteuse, with wide-eyed bewilderment and lower-class sweetness. She is a young gal in her 20s who has had a rough go of it, coming from a large family in the Ozarks who lost everything in a flood that has left her friendless and penniless in the world.
A naïve but exuberant cowpoke who has just won his first rodeo, Bo Decker, played by Bob Pelletier, “gets familiar” with Cherie and just assumes she is like one of his horses — he wants her and he takes her. He commanders her onto a bus along with his buddy, the older Virgil, with the expectation of marrying her and taking her to live with him on his Montana ranch, whether she wants to or not.
Mike Zizka does a terrific turn playing Virgil the bachelor cowboy who has raised Bo after Bo’s parent’s death when he was 10. There is something so natural and unaffected in Zizka’s expressions and delivery. He’s endlessly compelling and seems like a cantankerous character right out of a Sam Shepard play.
Other characters include the fine Michael Forgetta as the drunken Falstaffian rogue professor, Dr. Gerald Lyman, who has a penchant for underage gals. His “Romeo and Juliet” scene with the high school waitress Elma Duckworth, played with perky intelligence by Trish Urso, is one of the highlights of the show — at once amusing and poignant.
Sara Logan is also natural and real as the sassy down-to-earth diner-owner Grace Hoylard. We learn she is married, but hasn’t seen nor heard from her husband in ages, and is not too upset about that fact. She has a thing for the bus driver, Carl, played with many sly innuendoes by Nick Demetriades.
As Grace explains to Elma, “Every once in a while I gotta have a man or I get grouchy.”
The costumes, by Marge Patefield are age and time appropriate, but why are Bo’s jeans so terribly ill fitting?
As a cowboy and a rodeo dude, those jeans should be tight as tight can be, rather than the strangely baggy, low-inseamed, nondescript jeans he uncomfortably wears. It’s not too late. There are a few shows left. Get that man a pair of tight, sexy wranglers that advertise Bo’s strongest attributes — his animal magnetism and sexual potency — not hide it.

BUS STOP

3 Stars
Location: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester
Production: Written by William Inge. Directed by Fred T. Blish. Associate direction by Debi Freund. Sound by John Ryan and Michael Forgetta. Set design by Fred T. Blish and shop crew. Lighting design by Lee Hammitt. Costumes by Marge Patefield. Produced by Michael Forgetta. Stage manager Jim Ryan.
Running time: 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Show Times: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. through March 14.
Tickets: $16 — $23. Seniors over 60 and students receive a discount. Call the box office at 860-647-9824, or visit their website at www.cheneyhall.org

ACTOR…CHARACTER
Alysa Auriemma … Cherie
Bob Pelletier … Bo Decker
Trish Urso … Elma Duckworth
Sara Logan … Grace Hoylard
Michael Forgetta … Dr. Gerald Lyman
Mike Zizka … Virgil Blessing
Dave Walton … Will Masters
Nick Demetriades … Carl