November 10 - December 3, 2006

Director: Norman Seltzer

Evening Performances:
November 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, December 1 and 2 at 8
Sunday Matinees:
November 19 and December 3 at 2.

Silver Spring Stage presents the earnest and endearing comedy Bus Stop by William Inge. The play, directed by Norman Seltzer and produced by Marcia Kolko, is portrait of stranded, snowbound bus riders in a diner. A singer, cowboy, diner owner and professor open a revealing window into youthful and mature romance and the roads we travel to discover ourselves. Bus Stop will run weekends November 10 to December 3, 2006.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices range from $13 to $18. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees on November 19 and December 3 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

Bus Stop opened on Broadway in 1955 and was William Inge's most successful play. It ran for a year. The cast featured theatre legends Kim Stanley and Elaine Stritch and was a Tony Nominee for Best Play. A year later it was made into a hit movie directed by Joshua Logan and starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, and Eileen Heckart. Inge has often been cited in the pantheon of American playwrights along with Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill and others. Yet, he chose the simpler language and lifestyles of rural Americans for the majority of his work. He earned the nickname "playwright of the Midwest." As Vincent Canby wrote, “Inge preferred the melancholy, the humor and the unconscious gallantry of commonplace characters. He saw them mostly in economically depressed but sexually charged circumstances.” His other well-known works are Come Back, Little Sheba, Picnic (Pulitzer Prize), and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. In 1961, he won Academy Award for writing the original screenplay for Splendor in the Grass. Bus Stop can be considered a multi-part harmony on love. The play depicts love in its various ages: robust, seasoned and even unfortunate. As a writer, Inge always longed for the happy ending, but he was never sentimental. In Bus Stop, he writes a genuine comedy with sweetness and hope, yet the vulnerability and honesty of life are not disguised. It is telling that his end came by his own hand in 1973.

Set near Kansas City in the mid-1950's, a bus finds the roads blocked by a fierce snowstorm and pulls up to a small roadside restaurant where some weary travelers have to spend the night. Cherie (Lynd Poore), a young would-be nightclub Chanteuse, is being pursed by Bo (Matt Boliek), a young belligerent cowboy from Montana who intends to sling her over his shoulder and carry her back to his ranch. He's accompanied by his friend Virgil (Roman S. Gusso). As a counterpoint to this romantic pursuit, Grace (Toni Carmine), the proprietor of the cafe and the bus driver Carl (Josh Canary) find time to renew their "friendship"; a pretentious windbag, a former professor Dr. Lyman (Scott Holden) with a great fondness for whiskey and young girls tries to work his charms and wiles on a young waitress Elma (Lenora Spahn); and the local sheriff Will (Andy Greenleaf) tries to make sure that things won't get too out of hand.

The production team includes Roselie Vasquez-Yetter (Assistant Director), Dale Brady (Stage Manager), Andy Greenleaf (Set Design), Don Slater (Lighting Designer), David Steigerwald (Sound Designer) and Richard Battistelli (Costumes).

The Stage's 39th season continues with the humorous and heartfelt Visiting Mr. Green (Jan. 12-Feb. 4), antic and hilarious Dimly Perceived Threats to the System (Feb. 23-Mar. 18), funny and sensitive The Drawer Boy (Apr. 13-May 6), enchanting and delightful Morning's at Seven (May 18-Jun. 10) and thrilling and thought-provoking Never the Sinner (Jun. 29-July 22). Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Maryland State Arts Council and Combined Federal Campaign.