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See ‘Bus Stop,’ help United Way of Elgin
Drama and charity join forces in Elgin, when The Guild Theater’s production of “Bus Stop” rolls into town this weekend.
The United Way of Elgin will benefit from each performance, as the Guild Theater donates $2 per full-priced ticket sold.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 18 through Feb. 2, at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St. Tickets are $15; $10 for students with a student ID; senior and group discounts are available. To reserve a seat, call (847) 297-6365 or visit theguildtheater.org.
“It’s exciting to actually see our dollars at work in the community we serve,” said Paul Sprecher, business manager of the Guild Theater, in a news release.
The United Way of Elgin is dedicated to making community investment achieve lasting results. Their approach of bringing everyone around a set of collective issues and priorities, helps them to better serve the long-term health and welfare of the community.
“They help with a variety of local issues including education, finances and health,” Sprecher added. “We’re proud to join the cause with the United Way of Elgin to bring to our arts community an awareness of local needs and help provide solutions.”
“Bus Stop” is a drama with romantic and some comedic elements. This classic play takes place in 1955. In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus out of Kansas City pulls up at a cheerful roadside diner. All roads are blocked, and four or five weary travelers are going to have to hole-up until morning. Cherie, a nightclub chanteuse, is the passenger with most to worry about. She’s been pursued by a 21-year-old cowboy with a ranch of his own and the romantic methods of an unusually headstrong bull. The belligerent cowhand is ready to sling her over his shoulder and carry her, alive and kicking, all the way to Montana.
As a counterpoint to the main romance, the proprietor of the cafe and the bus driver at last find time to develop a friendship of their own; a middle-aged scholar comes to terms with himself; and a young girl who works in the cafe also gets her first taste of romance.
The cast of “Bus Stop” includes: August Conte of Kildeer, Jim Heatherly of Naperville, Scott Mills of Chicago, Jennifer Mitchell of Arlington Heights, Chrissy Monaco of Palos Hills, Art Moss of Rockford, Daniel Scott of Des Plaines, and Stephanie Wootten-Austin of Rolling Meadows.
The Guild Theater is a theater company comprising a mobile troupe of professional dramatists, whose full scale productions are transferable to a wide array of venues. The Guild Theater’s productions, readings and workshops include professional actors who are members of Actors’ Equity Association, and have performed at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight and other main stage venues nationally. Its season of plays reflect a full range of human experience. The season’s final production will be Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” slated for June.
The United Way of Elgin envisions the Elgin area as a proud community where its residents work together to embrace diversity and develop innovative solutions resulting in healthy and successful families that are the building blocks for safe and vibrant neighborhoods. Contact Elissa Kojzarek at (847) 741-2259 for information about the United Way of Elgin.
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