Review: Bus Stop At The Huntington Theatre

The Huntington Theatre opens its 2010/2011 season with a fine production of William Inge’s 1955 romantic comedy “Bus Stop” which chronicles the events at a Kansas diner that becomes the overnight shelter for a mix of characters stranded during a blizzard. It is romance and pathos deftly mixed – an engaging character study of lonely, lost people that still manages to be both enlightening and funny.

Director Nicholas Martin has assembled  an exceptionally strong ensemble cast that makes the rural diner come alive.  Nicole Rodenburg stars as Cherie, the ditzy nightclub singer ,in the role made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1956 movie version of the play. The crazy-in-love swaggering cowboy Bo Decker that abducts/”courts” her is played by Noah Bean who gradually softens with the help and guidance of friend and father-figure Virgil played by  Stephen Lee Anderson. Favorite veteran Boston-area actor Will LeBow plays the bus driver Carl out for a fling with the wise-cracking diner owner Grace played by Karen MacDonald- a most comfortable and endearing romantic sub-plot. Henry Stram’s Dr. Gerald Lyman seduces the  young waitress Elma, played with wide-eyed perfection by Ronete Levenson, with recitations of Shakespeare. As the alcoholic pedophile professor struggling with his inner demons, Stram manages to be a charming creeper who ultimately- thankfully- controls himself.

The Bus Stop set design is exceptional- the diner is complete with authentic period 1950′s-era details like a long lunch counter and stools, mid-century appliances and the sights and sounds of a raging snowstorm outside.

The Huntington  Theatre presents Bus Stop through October 17  at the Boston University Theater, tickets $24-$89 (264 Huntington Ave., Boston)(Map)

Image Credit: Huntington Theatre, T. Charles Erickson

iStopOver received complimentary seats to review