Darryll Alvey and Tammy Jones. Photo by Jon Lewis.
Bo’s a topnotch rodeo cowboy and a good-lookin’, self-assured Montana rancher with the world on a string; Cherie, a gal who’s been around, spends her nights singing to roadhouse yokels while dreaming of performing under the bright lights.
Not exactly a match made in heaven. Or is it?
That’s just one of the questions the audience gets to puzzle out in Riverfront Playhouse’s delightful production of William Inge’s “Bus Stop.”
Relationships in their many splendored forms are at the heart of this play. While all eyes are drawn, justifiably, to the two leads—Tyler Williams as Bo and Kaxia Wilkens as Cherie—there are plenty of other dynamic situations worth watching.
Carly Sinclair, left, and Kaxia Wilkens. Photo by Jon Lewis.
The two-act play takes place within Grace’s Diner, a rural Kansas café that doubles as a bus stop. A snowstorm closes the highway and passengers on the Kansas City-to-Topeka bus are forced to seek shelter in the restaurant.
As usual, John Welsh was sure-footed as Dr. Lyman, an oft-divorced and out-of-work philosophy professor with a drinking problem and a penchant for young girls. His untoward interests are piqued when he meets Elma, the young waitress, who was deftly played by Carly Sinclair.
Welsh, who doubles as the assistant director, sees plenty of potential in Sinclair, 15, who was last seen as one of the Joad children in the Riverfront production of “The Grapes of Wrath.” “She’s very intelligent and showed a quick grasp of the character,” Welsh said in an interview last week. “She has that sweetness about her that just lights up the stage.”
Tyler Williams, left, and Bill Siemer. Photo by Greg Rathbun Photography.
An impromptu staging of the balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet,” starring the drunken professor and Elma, is one of the play’s many highlights.
“Bus Stop” also benefits from the presence of Tammy Jones, who has been a community theatre treasure for more than two decades. She instills her character, the café owner Grace, with both a world-weariness and a sly you-only-live-once zest.
Her interplay with Carl the bus driver (a spot-on turn by Darryll Alvey) lends a nice comedic spirit to the play.
Williams comes from a musical theater and dance background and decided to try his hand in a drama, and the Riverfront audience is the beneficiary of that decision. He perfectly captures Bo’s false bravado and immaturity while slowly letting his character grow up and take in the world as an adult.
Tyler Williams. Photo by Greg Rathbun Photography.
Wilkens, another Riverfront newcomer, offers a refreshing presence as Cherie and a more-than-capable singing voice. She really shines in her scenes with the impressionable Elma. “She embodies Cherie,” said Welsh. “Not only the brash singer, but also a little girl. Very worldly but she’s still got that little girl in her heart, which is revealed.”
Honorable mentions need to go to Bill Collins as Bo’s long-suffering sidekick and mentor and Bill Siemer as the local sheriff, Will Masters. Saralysette Ballard is the Cherie understudy and filled that role on opening weekend.
“Bus Stop” continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Oct. 10 with 2 p.m. matinee Sunday and Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. Tickets, from $15 to $25, are available by calling 243-8877 or visiting www.cascadetheatre.org.
