{"id":7253,"date":"2025-05-20T23:59:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/review-a-steady-not-too-bumpy-ride-to-william-inges-bus-stop\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T23:59:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T23:59:57","slug":"review-a-steady-not-too-bumpy-ride-to-william-inges-bus-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/20\/review-a-steady-not-too-bumpy-ride-to-william-inges-bus-stop\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: A Steady, Not-Too Bumpy Ride to William Inge\u2019s Bus Stop"},"content":{"rendered":"
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David Lee Hyunh, Midori Francis, Delphi Borich, Cindy Cheung and Rajesh Bose in Bus Stop<\/em> at Classic Stage Company. Carol Rosegg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William Inge<\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Bus Stop<\/span><\/i><\/a> may be 70 years old, but its lovelorn and lusting characters invite present-day descriptors: gathered at a Kansas diner during a blizzard we encounter a <\/span>sex pest <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> stalker, fuck buddies<\/span><\/i>, a <\/span>groomer<\/span><\/i>, and possibly a <\/span>closet case<\/span><\/i>. (That last expression dates back to the 1940s.) Forgive my coarse slang; Inge\u2019s assorted thirsters are much more polite\u2014that is, repressed\u2014about their hangups or vices. But however you classify these folks, a mostly outstanding cast brings them vibrantly to life in a respectful revival co-produced by Classic Stage Company, NAATCO, and Transport Group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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If Inge\u2019s language avoids vulgarity, he doesn\u2019t hide his core subject: the myriad agonies that come with love and sex. Let us refer to the aforementioned labels and map them. Impetuous young cowboy Bo (Michael Hsu Rosen<\/a>) lost his virginity to nightclub singer Cherie (Midori Francis<\/a>), subsequently forced her on a bus and has been harassing her for more physical affection. As for NSA hookups, that\u2019s bus driver Carl (David Shih<\/a>) and salty, wisecracking waitress Grace (Cindy Cheung<\/a>). The predator in question is Dr. Lyman (Rajesh Bose<\/a>), an alcoholic ex-teacher who makes Shakespearean-scented overtures to Elma (Delphi Borich<\/a>), a pretty waitress still in high school. Less explicitly defined is Virgil (Moses Villarama<\/a>), Bo\u2019s strong-but-silent buddy. Virgil may not be out, but the ranch hand\u2019s giving <\/span>Brokeback Mountain<\/span><\/i>. Not getting mixed up in any hanky-panky is square but decent sheriff Will (David Lee Huynh<\/a>), whose job is to keep these horny Kansans from running amok.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rajesh Bose, Delphi Borich, Michael Hsu Rosen and Moses Villarama in Bus Stop.<\/em> Carol Rosegg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Snowed in and waiting for a crew to clear the highway, Carl and his passengers pass the hours with their relationship dramas that simmer, explode, or overlap with others. Dr. Lyman spikes his lemon soda with whiskey while flirting with the oblivious and impressionable Elma. Carl and Grace contrive to meet in Grace\u2019s adjoining apartment for a quickie. Cherie, suitcase stashed behind the counter, prays the bus will leave soon\u2014without her aboard. The girl has essentially been kidnapped by Bo, determined to ferry her to a \u201cGod-forsaken ranch in Montana,\u201d as she puts it. Prone to tantrums, the bullying Bo is kept barely in check by Virgil, his much more mature and level-headed friend. The tension of <\/span>Bus Stop<\/span><\/i> lies mainly in finding out if Inge will steer his group portrait toward tragedy or comedy. Will Bo and Cherie fight their way to true love? Will Dr. Lyman lure Elma into a tryst in Topeka?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frequently compared to his coeval Tennessee Williams\u2014both premiered work on Broadway through the 1950s and \u201960s\u2014Inge (1913\u20131973) is widely regarded as the lesser writer. Certainly, his language lacks Williams\u2019s flamboyant lyricism and his sexual frankness comes across as paler, primmer. When it opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre, <\/span>Bus Stop<\/span><\/i>\u2019s neighbor down 45th Street was the comparatively pornographic <\/span>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof <\/span><\/i>at the Morosco. Both are stellar examples of midcentury American drama, but it\u2019s the Williams that has gotten five revivals to Inge\u2019s one (in 1996). Today, Inge remains the yellow-bellied western meadowlark to Williams\u2019s pink flamingo. Even so, director Jack Cummings III<\/a>\u2019s scrupulously detailed, slow-burning production makes a sturdy case for revisiting Grace\u2019s diner, especially in the close environs of Classic Stage Company.<\/span><\/p>\n

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David Shih and Cindy Cheung in Bus Stop.<\/em> Carol Rosegg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cummings\u2019s strongest asset is a hugely appealing ensemble. Coinciding with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the production casts AAPI actors in roles they fit beautifully. With her blend of deadpan wit and world-weary grit, Cheung leaves nary a crumb as Grace, dispensing side-eye and side-of-mouth punch lines. Balancing Cheung\u2019s one-liners, the sweet Borich infuses ingenue Elma with curiosity and kindness. Shih\u2019s working-joe bus driver is a rumpled hoot and Huynh\u2019s cop a beacon of dignity and tolerance. In a role that <\/span>Marilyn Monroe<\/span><\/a> hoped would prove her acting bona fides, Francis sports blonde highlights and adopts a Southern drawl to charming effect. Cherie is neither victim nor innocent, and the gifted Francis finds the right proportion of kittenish alarm to hellcat fury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of the more difficult (and dated) roles yield mixed results. Rosen\u2019s recently deflowered cowpoke is a baby-man with a temper, and for the first half Rosen seems more like a rodeo fop than a real fella. But his Bo grows on you, acquiring layers of pain and emotional intelligence before your eyes. A great character actor could, hypothetically, dominate the show with Lyman, the most articulate and tragic of these pilgrims, a boozer and sex predator who has enough morals left to know he\u2019s a monster. Bose could have made a meal of this roguish windbag, but I\u2019m sorry to report he barely gets past the bread roll and salad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Delphi Borich, Michael Hsu Rosen, and Moses Villarama in Bus Stop.<\/em> Carol Rosegg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happily, Villarama\u2019s Virgil is a memorable study in less-is-more. The brooding, guitar-strumming performer (whose role as the DJ in <\/span>Here Lies Love<\/span><\/i> was electric) becomes the surprise last man standing in Inge\u2019s story, and his melancholy final moments as Grace closes her eatery linger in one\u2019s memory. May an inspired writer pen a sequel to <\/span>Bus Stop<\/span><\/i> focused entirely on Virgil\u2019s progress. And not without Villarama.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Truth is, casting is the only way in which this version is nontraditional. The design (sets by Peiyi Wong<\/a>, costumes by Mariko Ohigashi<\/a>) stays dutifully in period. Cummings directs by the book, but the pacing and entrances slightly lag. One needn\u2019t go all Ivo van Hove\u2014no one\u2019s asking for live video or nudity and anachronistic pop tunes\u2014but bolder mise en sc\u00e8ne could unlock hidden energies. Inge\u2019s repeated plaints on intimacy need a heavier foot on the gas so they don\u2019t cloy the palate. Grace puts it succinctly early on: \u201cMakin\u2019 love is <\/span>one<\/span><\/i> thing, and being lonesome is another.\u201d She plates the truth, and serves it up fast and hot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bus Stop <\/i><\/b>| 2hrs 10mins. One intermission. | Classic Stage Company | 136 East 13th Street | <\/b>boxoffice@classicstage.org<\/b><\/a> | <\/b>Buy Tickets Here<\/i><\/b><\/a> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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