STAGE REVIEWS : REVIVAL OF ‘BUS STOP’ IS ENGAGING

One of the more engaging scenes in La Habra Depot Theatre’s “Bus Stop” comes when Cherie, the chanteuse being pursued by a smitten rodeo Romeo, straddles a rickety table and sings a spirited but horrible rendition of “Black Magic.”

Anyone familiar with Marilyn Monroe’s Cherie in the film of William Inge’s 1955 Broadway play may feel a ripple of anxiety when the lovely Karen Person assumes her seductress pose and starts chirping. Monroe’s meltingly sexy and vulnerable characterization, which found full expression in the “Black Magic” number, is more than a sharp movie memory--it’s a measure by which other portrayals are invariably judged.

But Person, dressed in a faintly naughty parody of a majorette’s uniform, puts her own stamp on the scene, conjuring a funny, plucky and personal moment. She has made the role her own.

Cherie, along with Bo (played by Christopher Lance Walker), her wild, bronco-breaking suitor, are at the turbulent center of “Bus Stop,” another of Inge’s romantic tales set in the American heartland. From the moment Bo eyes Cherie wiggling in a tawdry nightclub, he knows he’s found an “angel” to put on display at his Montana ranch. Cherie likes what she sees in the boyish, bumptious Bo, but she isn’t ready for marriage, much less rural life in the Big Sky country. When she balks, Bo does the only sensible thing--he abducts her and, with his moseying cowboy pal Virgil (Lee Robinson) in tow, hops a bus home.

A snowstorm, however, threatens Bo’s plans, and the bus’ passengers are forced to spend the night in a small diner near Kansas City. Set designer Michael Eiden’s authentic-looking greasy spoon becomes the arena where the unlikely couple comes to terms with each other and with their love. There are a few minor subplots, including the sparring affair between bus driver (Alan Aperlo) and cafe owner (Christee Tate) and the vaguely kinky but tender relationship shared by a depressed and depressing old-timer (Don Evans) and a naive waitress (Cathy Schultze).

“Bus Stop” is not a realistic drama. It’s more like a fairy tale, a sweetly realized vision of love as the ultimate elixir and equalizer. It’s easy to quibble with the characters’ peculiar motivations or the simplistic, hard-to-believe resolutions, but don’t--the atmospheric “Bus Stop” is best felt, not analyzed. Director Judith Rauschl seems to have realized this, emphasizing the play’s folksy innocence.

That’s also the only way to approach Person’s and Walker’s performances. Both are highly emotional and work well within the context of heightened romanticism. Walker’s style does take a little getting used to, however. His Bo bursts into the diner like a Great Plains tornado--noisy, mean and unpredictable; it’s hard to like this guy early on. But by the second act, Walker has relaxed some and begins to reveal Bo’s sensitive streak--the lariat-slinging bully has become a moony-eyed cowpoke. Much of Person’s charm comes in responding to Bo’s mood swings with a budding affection that first surprises, then thrills her.

Rauschl maintains a brisk pace that helps to keep the naturally sentimental “Bus Stop” from becoming mawkish.

“Bus Stop” continues through Dec. 13 at the La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid Ave., La Habra. Information: (213) 946-9708 or (213) 691-8900.