Last night, my husband and I saw Bus Stop at the Badgett Playhouse in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.  I had a smile on my face for the entire duration of the play – even during intermission.  On the ride home to Owensboro?  Still smiling.  Smiling like a Southern Baptist Preacher in a room full of fried chicken and sweet tea.

I’ve honestly enjoyed each show I’ve seen at Badgett Playhouse.  My favorite have always been Greater Tuna and Always, Patsy Cline which simply defy description.  But now these “favored children” have company at the top.  Bus Stop is a complete and total delight.  I was surprised and pleased to discover that it’s as funny as Greater Tuna, which is really saying something.  It also had as much heart as Always, Patsy Cline – also really saying something.

Here’s a little synopsis:  Bus Stop is a romantic comedy about a busload of characters who are snowbound in a little diner in Missouri called Grace’s Diner.  The two actors who make Greater Tuna the comedy magic that it is, Bill Minihan (pictured on the right) and Steve Sherling (pictured at the top), are in Bus Stop – which are two of the reasons the play is so much fun.  Bill Minihan plays a cowboy who is in love with a nightclub singer name Cherie (beautifully played by Sara Minihan, Bill’s lovely wife).  The problem is, our cowboy hero goes about it ALL WRONG.  How wrong?  Well, he has abducted her and is attempting to force her to marry him.  What he lacks in smooth he makes up for with enthusiasm.

In the movie Bus Stop, Marilyn Monroe played the character of Cherie – but she had nothing on Sara.  Sara was mesmerizing in Always, Patsy Cline and she was up to her old tricks in Bus Stop.  She had audiences doubled over, laughing in that one and in this one as well.  She also happens to have one of the prettiest voices I’ve ever heard.  She got to sing a song in this play and my ears were very glad she did.  You’d have to see Variety! Music, Memories & More to really enjoy her singing (and dancing!).

Steve Sherling is not only the director of Bus Stop, he also plays the bus driver, Carl.  He’s brilliantly funny as a performer, and he’s just as impressive as a director.  He had his cast in top shape and the entire production was amazing.   While Steve isn’t in a whole lot of scenes, he’s a hoot and a half in the ones he does have.  Then again, I honestly believe that he, Bill, and Sara (left) could make a farm report entertaining.  The minute Bill swaggered onto the stage, it was like, “Let’s get this party started!”  He’s one of those performers who, obviously, loves nothing more than to make people smile.  Apparently, he’s gotten a lot of practice, because to say he has honed his craft would be a gross understatement.

Kay Scarbrough plays Grace, the owner of the diner.  The actress is actually a nurse which leaves me nothing short of amazed.  She memorizes all these lines in addition to a demanding career like nursing?  You go, girl.  She was adorable and did a great job.

Equally adorable was Dana Poulson (right) who played a young, naive waitress in the play.  In addition to many plays and musicals, this lovely young actress has had appearances in the films Bringin’ Down the House, Austin Powers- Goldmember as well as the television shows Son of the Beach and Six Feet Under. She blew me away with her beautiful voice in the Variety show and I was very, very impressed with her as an actress. 

You might want to write her name down and remember it.  Hollywood could use a fresh face – especially when it’s backed up by an incredible amount of talent.  

Scot Durham played a drunk who got his swarmy on around Dana’s character.  He played a bit of a sleaze, but you couldn’t help but like him anyway.  He brought a lot of charm and even vulnerability to the role.  He did a very, very good job and cracked the audience up many times.  Like Dana, I had mostly just seen Scot’s musical side – I was shocked to see that he has so much talent as an actor!  This particular role calls for some real acting chops, and he showed that he has them.

Jeff Miller was a complete newcomer for me – not surprisingly, since this was his first appearance at Badgett Playhouse.  I loved his acting style and he fit in seamlessly with the rest of the Variety! performers as though he’d worked with them his entire career.  Mr. Miller is a 20 year veteran of the stage and was most recently seen in Annie and Of Mice and Men at Murray’s Playhouse in the Park, where he is President of the Board.

I hope he’ll return to Badgett Playhouse often.

I saved Thomas Michael (Virgil – left) for last because, quite frankly, his is an inspiring story.   Unlike the rest of the cast, Thomas Michael doesn’t exactly list “acting” on his resume.  He’s a guitarist extraordinaire. He is to the guitar what Tiger Woods is to a golf club, Albert Pujols is to a baseball bat, and Paula Dean is to a skillet. 

Magic.  Happens.

My husband is a huge fan of Thomas Michael’s guitar playing and calls him his favorite “picker.”  He (Thomas, not the husband) has shared the stage with the likes of Martina McBride, Johnny Paycheck, Steve Wariner, Randy Travis, and Tracy Byrd.  Or as my husband would say, they shared a stage with Thomas!

He apparently was called upon to do a role in this play by his friends and co-stars at Badgett Playhouse.  No doubt they knew he had the grit to pull it off even if he didn’t.  He told my husband, after the show, that he didn’t get much sleep the night before the play opened because he was “scared to death!”  I’d have never guessed.  He nailed his part magnificently.

The fact that he stared into fear’s intimidating eyes and didn’t blink shows strength of character.  It also shows someone who thought so much of his friends that he wasn’t about to let them down.  I love that!  He most certainly didn’t let them, or anyone, down.  He fit in with the rest of the talented men and women and, whether he realizes it yet or not, he is an actor.

I just can’t go on about this cast enough.  They were outstanding and we saw them on just the second night. Several times, when action was going taking place on the other side of the set, I could overhear delighted audience members saying things like, “Look at the drunk!” or “Look at Cowboy’s face!”  The cast fed off of the audience’s laughter and it made the evening something extra special.

The first few rows were occupied by a tour group from Louisville, Kentucky.  They had the time of their lives!  I didn’t get a chance to talk to the group’s leader after the performance, but I wanted to tell her that if they loved Bus Stop (and they obviously did), they MUST come back for the Tuna Christmas Show.  I also wanted to ask her if they’d brought groups to the Always, Patsy Cline or Greater Tuna shows.  I was going to encourage her to remember them for next year. They’d be two more experiences they’d remember and talk about forever.

Bus Stop will be showing throughout September, so I HIGHLY encourage you to go to the Variety! Music, Memories & More website and find the perfect date for you on their schedule.  

The Tuna Christmas Show will air on the following dates:  November 20 & 27 and December 4, 11, and 18.  My husband’s trying to convince me that I don’t have to see each performance and I’ve agreed.  I guess I could force myself to miss the one on Thanksgiving.