Milwaukee Chamber Lines Up 1950s 'Bus Stop'

<strong>Milwaukee Chamber Theatre</strong> continues its commitment to working with area university theater programs as it opens William Inge's <em>Bus Stop</em> in<em> </em>collaboration with <strong>UW-Parkside</strong>. <em>Bus Stop </em>is a mid-'50s comedy perhaps best known as a film starring Marilyn Monroe. Set in a diner in a rural town during a winter snowstorm, the play is based on people Inge met in a tiny town in Kansas. Bus passengers take shelter in the diner as the storm runs its course, and people get to know each other. It's a quaint comedy that should be a great deal of fun with the cast that Milwaukee Chamber has assembled for the show.<br /><br />Doug Jarecki plays Carl, a bus driver who has an ongoing, occasional relationship with diner owner Grace Hoylard (played by Jacque Troy). Jarecki and Troy are impressive comic talents who should add a great dynamic to the show. Charismatic Dan Katula plays Sheriff Will Masters. UW-Parkside students play some roles as well, including Elma, a girl working the diner, and Cherie, the attractive aspiring nightclub singer played by Marilyn Monroe in the film adaptation. Lisa Kornetsky, the head of UW-Parkside's theater program, will direct. UW-Parkside professor Jamie Cheatham playsinterestingly enougha college professor, which should provide some added fun for the production.<br /><br />Milwaukee Chamber/UW-Parkside's production of <em>Bus Stop </em>runs April 12-29 at the Broadway Theatre Center's Cabot Theatre. For ticket reservations, call 414-291-7800.<strong><br /><br />Theater Happenings</strong><br /><br /> <ul> <li>The day-to-day dealings of an annelid, an arachnid and an insect get theatrical treatment this month as <strong>First Stage</strong> presents <em>The Diary of a Worm, a Spider and a Fly</em>. The stage adaptation of the popular children's books by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss hits the stage of the Todd Wehr Theater April 13-May 13. For ticket reservations, call 414-273-7206<em>.</em></li> </ul> <ul> <li>The <strong>Sunset Playhouse</strong> presents Ken Ludwig's popular farce <em>Lend Me a Tenor</em>. The comedy of operatic proportions makes it to Elm Grove April 19-May 6. For ticket reservations, call 262-782-4430.</li> </ul>