News : ACT 1's 'Bus Stop' cast ready for weekend performance

ACT 1 'Bus Stop' performers continue rehearsals to prepare for opening night Friday, May 14.

The conflict between Cherie (Rachel Kramer) and Will (Alex Vasquez) affects the other characters.

Professor Lyman (Tony Bopp) explains to Elma (Mikala Niemeier) his views on the education system.

Virgil (Rick Primmer) tries to explain to Will (Alex Vasquez) how to be tender toward women

Cherie (Rachel Kramer) discusses the difficulty of finding love with Elma (Mikala Niemeier).

Will (Alex Vasquez) cheers as Cherie (Rachel Kramer) sings and dances on a table at the bus stop.

Cherie (Rachel Kramer) dances and sings at the bus stop. The ACT 1 play opens Friday, May 14.

Virgil (Rick Primmer) entertains the stranded characters with a song on his guitar at the bus stop.

Mikala Niemeyer rehearses Elma's 'Juliet' speech on the Palace stage.

Cherie (Rachel Kramer) asks Sheriff Will Masters (Casey Cooling) for help escaping from Will.

The view from the booth where technicians control the sound and stage lighting for ACT 1.

Things have been going so well for the ACT 1 production of 'Bus Stop' that the director gave the cast a day off on Mother's Day. Dress rehearsals do continue throughout this week as the cast prepares to open the show Friday, May 14. It continues for two weekends at the Palace Theatre.

The show times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday May 14 and 15, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 16. The schedule repeats the following weekend, with 7 p.m. shows scheduled for May 21 and 22, and the finale at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 23.

In 'Bus Stop,' three women and five men explores various aspects of love and loneliness while stranded in a Kansas bus stop cafe because of a snow storm. The original play written5 by William Inge opened on Broadway in 1955. Marilyn Monroe starred in a 1956 movie loosely based on the play.

Director Jill g. Lockard-Bopp and Assistant Director/Stage Manager Bunny Fritch offered this summary of the characters in the play, and the names of the ACT 1 performers who have those roles:

Elma Duckworth — Mikala Niemeier - An intelligent but naive high school student; she is Grace's waitress.

Grace Hoyland — Halane Cummings - Owner of the diner, a "grass widow". She is 40-ish, and 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.

Will Masters — Casey Cooling - The local sheriff. Tough as nails and brusque in manner, but good-hearted and a staunch Christian, described in the play as a "deacon of his church". A highly "moral" man in the general sense of the word.

Cherie — Rachel Kramer - A pretty young woman who comes from a difficult "hill folk" background, and has left her innocence far behind. She is an aspiring nightclub singer, but has never worked in any establishment above the level of "cheap dive".

Dr. Gerald Lyman — Anthony Bopp - A 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 unfortunate taste for young women. He also has an obvious drinking problem.

Carl — David Gates - The bus driver, who has an ongoing "just passing through" relationship with Grace.

Bo Decker — Alex Vaqsquez - A brash young cowboy with boorish manners that hide a naivete almost as profound as Elma's. He has convinced himself that Cherie will be his bride, though Cherie wants nothing to do with him.

Virgil Blessing — Rick Primmer - An older, wiser cowboy who has become a father figure to Bo, (who was orphaned at the age of ten) as well as Bo's head ranch hand.