Northern Exposure (1990–1995): Season 6, Episode 20 - Buss Stop - full transcript
Michelle decides to put on the play, Bus Stop, but is running into problems with the cast: Ron bribes her with $250 to cast Erick in a role and Erick starts getting carried away; Holling continues to get drunk during rehearsals and cannot remember his lines; Chris cannot kiss Maggie due to his feelings for her and wants to quit the play, but in the end does kiss her; Shelly is jealous of Maggie getting the lead female role. The Capra's are still separated and it is affecting Phil's sleeping.
(DOORBELL RlNGlNG)
RON: I got it, Erick.
Probably our very own
breck girl.
Our Lady of
the Civic Volunteers.
Do you have to, Ron?
At least someone's
trying to do something
to fill the cultural void
around here.
Well, Michelle Capra,
come in, come in.
It's Alaska out there.
It's invigorating, though.
You'll get used to it.
Yeah.
Let me take your coat.
Okay.
Why don't you go over
and stand by the fire.
Yeah.
Hey, I just want
to thank you guys.
Thank you,
thank you, thank you.
I couldn't get this benefit
off the ground without you.
Oh, we love
supporting local theater,
especially
for such a good cause.
I mean,
the Cicely trout hatcheries.
We're just glad
we have the chance.
Aren't we, Ron?
We are. We are.
And Bus Stop is such a
great choice for Cicely.
It is. Yeah.
With real people.
A small town. A bus
stranded in a blizzard.
Exactly!
What'd we say,
Michelle, $500?
Again, thanks.
And with Ruth-Anne's $250,
just $250 more
and I'm there.
You know, I've done lnge
before in Fort Lauderdale.
Really?
Picnic.
Yeah, and what a blast.
I played Hal, which is
the William Holden role.
Right. Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't forget Omaha.
He was Mitch in Streetcar.
His mother still
got the reviews.
Stellar.
Great!
(OVEN BELL DINGS)
There's the cinnamon buns.
Miss Michelle, you are
staying to tea. I insist.
Okay.
Okay? Yeah.
That man is so
excited about this play.
Oh, me, too. Me, too.
It really gives me a chance
to be in the community,
you know,
to really contribute.
I was a theater arts minor,
you know.
And to mount a play,
to direct, it's just great.
Well, that's great, Michelle.
But I mean,
Erick is really excited.
About the sheriff.
Sheriff Will.
He really hopes
he gets the part.
Oh, fantastic!
I can't wait
to hear him read.
Well, I think the operative
word here is gets.
Gets?
The check, Michelle?
I covered that $250 for you.
It's for $750.
So, gets.
Oh. Gets.
It'll take a minute
for the icing to set.
Gives the tea
a chance to steep.
Sit down. Sit down.
Yeah. You'll...
You're gonna think
you're at grandma's house
with these cinnamon buns.
Hey, maybe
if we twist his arm,
Erick'll dig up those old
reviews of Streetcar, hmm?
CHRIS ON RADIO:
Hear ye, Cicely. Shake it out.
Today is separating-
wheat-from-chaff day,
as if anybody forgot
those sweaty palms
and palpitating hearts
at the Bus Stop auditions.
The whole town's been
bitten by the theater bug,
right?
Who among us isn't
aching at the chance
to get up on that stage,
tread those boards,
hit those marks?
Roar of the greasepaint,
smell of the crowd!
Look at where
the spotlight shines, Ma!
On me!
Speaking of which,
it's about that time
for our stage manager
and costume honcho,
Marilyn Whirlwind,
to post the fateful
cast list.
What'd the great one say?
„All the world's a stage,
and we are but players,”
if you get a part.
Watch the elbow,
buddy.
Sorry.
Holling!
Holling, there's your name!
You're the doc! See?
I told you, didn't I?
HAYDEN: Way to go, Vincoeur.
I just tried out
to please Shelly.
I got the part of Cheri?
She is?
Maggie is Cheri?
The dancehall fox?
You're Elma.
MAGGIE: Oh, yeah!
Shelly, congratulations!
You got the part, too!
We can both be in it.
Elma?
That egghead waitress?
You don't even have to
pretend, seeing as how
you do waitress work.
She is onstage a lot
and more than anybody,
really.
Can anybody see
who got the sheriff?
Erick Hillman.
I did?
He did?
I can't believe it!
I did it!
Ron, I got it, Ron!
I'm sheriff.
That's terrific!
That's terrific!
Good for you!
Good for you!
CHRIS: Hey, everybody!
Who's what?
Did I get anything?
Only the lead.
I got Bo?
Get out.
Who's my Cheri girl, then?
Hey, Bo.
Maggie?
I mean, Cheri. All right!
Really?
Yeah.
The great white way
or bust, huh?
ALL: Yeah!
34-inch waist.
You know, I haven't gained
an ounce since freshman year.
„Gee, I hate to go out
to the cold powder room,
but I guess I better not
put it off any longer.”
Great. Nice work, Maggie.
We'll let you run through it
again, okay? Promise.
Okay.
All right.
Her? Again and again?
Holling?
Yes, ma'am.
It's your line.
(STAMMERING)
Oh, I'm sorry.
Where are we?
How defiantly
we pursue love,
like it was
an inheritance due.
An inheritance due.
Let's see.
Holling, that
wouldn't be real liquor
in that flask, would it?
Yes, ma'am.
It says in the booklet
that Dr. Lyman is a drinker.
Oh, well,
that doesn't mean
that we actually drink.
In the theater we pretend.
We appear
to be drinking.
It's the art of acting.
It's...
That's method, Holling.
You think alcohol.
Taste alcohol. Smell alcohol.
No, no.
Why fake it when
you can do the real deal?
What's realer than that?
Well, Shelly,
if you're drunk,
you can't act
like you're drunk
because you're
too drunk to act.
But if you are drunk then
you don't have to act
like you're drunk.
Besides, it helps me
calm down my nerves.
Okay,
let's say we take a break?
We had a really good morning.
Erick, tell Chris
the fight scene after lunch.
Right.
And let's try it off-book.
Memorized.
Uh...
Good job, guys.
Really. Good work.
It's gonna be good.
It is.
It's happening again.
Oh, maybe it'll be
different this time.
You were really good
this morning, Ed.
A natural.
Oh, you think?
Yeah.
Don't stop there, Ed.
Drilling, rehearsing,
repeating, improving,
that's the secret.
Be righter than anyone else
to begin with
and then beat
the blazes out of it.
No way of
wriggling out of it now.
But it's just like
grade school, you know?
Reciting your page
of Pilgrim's Progress,
and everybody waiting
and watching for you
to slip up.
I just hope Michelle
knows what she's doing.
Making Maggie
a dancehall singer.
You saw her.
Did you believe her?
Well,
she didn't stumble over
any lines that I noticed.
Just think
she would've gone with
a little more experience.
Well, Maggie
has experience, hon.
From college.
That play,
The Glass Menagerie.
With the little
cripple girl, you know?
Holling,
that's just acting.
I'm talking
about presentation.
I mean, I was
Miss Northwest Passage.
Barley Queen. Snow Princess.
If I know anything,
it's how to work an audience.
Stand up straight, smile.
Anyway,
you saw me at tryouts.
And you were good, too!
Good?
I nailed it, didn't I?
Well...
Didn't I?
Well...
Well, I did!
I ain't gonna have
no one interfering
in my ways.
Now, lunge, Chris!
Energy, Erick!
(GRUNTING)
Great! That was great!
Yeah?
That was so much better.
That was fantastic!
When you lunge,
really lunge for him!
And, Erick, just stand
your ground, okay?
Not bad, huh?
Well, he does seem
to be loosening up
a little, thank heaven.
That's why they rehearse,
Ruth-Anne.
...stand your ground
and pop one.
Okay, great. Wardrobe...
Forgive me, Ron.
Hmm?
But I still don't understand
why Erick got that part.
Could've been
his guardian angel
looking out for him, hmm?
Excuse me.
Hey, hey, hey.
Looking good buddy.
You saw?
Yeah. Yeah!
I've been watching you
for about an hour now.
It's the focus. I get
so immersed in, you know...
Thanks for coming, really.
I gotta have a conversation
with wardrobe.
Kathy, thanks.
Did you get a chance
to make those changes...
All right, Maggie,
if we can have you
come sit up here on stage.
Right here.
And, Chris,
we'll take it from
your entrance, „Cheri.”
Okay? Great.
Okay.
Cheri...
(STUTTERING)
Oh, wait, hold on, Chris.
Hayden? lsn't this
doorframe a bit low?
Well, it's gotta be.
It's a shallow stage.
You gotta force
your perspective.
Uh-huh.
We'll talk later, okay?
Chris, again?
From „Cheri”, okay?
CHRIS: Cheri.
Hi, Bo.
I promise not to
molest you or nothing,
but if you
give me your permission,
I'd like to kiss you goodbye.
(SlGHlNG)
You would?
I'd like for you
to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Well!
Wait, Bo.
Don't you think
when you kiss me this time,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Well, golly, when you
kiss someone for serious,
it's kind of scary, ain't it?
Yeah, it is.
Chris?
What's the matter, Chris?
Nothing.
Uh...
Could we do that again?
Yeah. Sure. Okay.
Take it from „Golly.”
Okay, „Golly.”
Okay.
Ready?
Sorry.
Golly,
when you kiss someone...
Well, what?
What?
I think it's the...
The words...
Maybe I need some air.
And some food...
Well, okay.
It's been a long day.
We can stop.
Come back fresh, Chris.
All right?
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Michelle.
Phil.
Please.
Space, remember?
And I'm really busy.
You see?
I know. I know.
No space.
I'm not here
to take any space.
I just came by
to tell you that...
I'm glad that
you're volunteering.
You know, participating.
And a play? Terrific idea.
Really. Right up your alley.
Terrific? You don't think
it's terrific.
Yes, I do.
You think it's boring.
Theater?
Oh, an antiquated art form.
Gives you the creeps.
Hey, no.
Hey, yes.
I know you, Phil.
You'll say whatever it takes.
You just want me
to come home, right?
Okay, okay!
Is that so terrible?
Look, I can't sleep
without you, Michelle.
You know that.
I'm a physician.
How am I supposed to function
if I'm sleep-deprived?
Sorry, Phil.
It won't work this time.
Michelle?
Oh, you two.
We were talking.
No, it's fine.
Chris, come here.
What's up?
It's about the play.
I'm gonna bail.
Bail?
At 1 :00 in the morning?
You can't quit, Chris.
You mean quit?
He wants to quit.
Look, I'm not gonna do it,
I just... I can't do it.
Can't do what?
You were doing great.
'Cause it's that...
It's that scene. The kiss.
I just...
I hit this wall...
Okay, it makes you
a little uncomfortable?
Is that it?
No, it doesn't
make me uncomfortable.
I've been swapping spit
with babes
and doing the two-backed beast
since I was nine.
Nine?
Phil, please.
Well, what then, Chris?
It's that stuff, you know,
scary, serious.
Just...
I can't relate.
It doesn't feel right.
I... It isn't me.
Well, it isn't you, Chris.
It's Bo.
Yeah,
but I'm the one doing it.
He's got a point.
He's an actor, Phil.
He's playing a part.
Those are
the character's feelings.
They don't have to be his.
I don't know.
That's the craft, Chris.
See, you know,
the art of acting.
Forgetting yourself
and becoming someone else.
There's techniques, Chris,
exercises that you can do.
We will work with you.
It'll be fine. You'll see.
Go home. Rest.
Get a good night's sleep.
Trust me on this. Okay?
Okay.
Okay.
And you, too, Phil.
Michelle...
Try.
Just try.
MICHELLE: Okay, Shelly.
Let's take it from,
„Last fall,” all right?
Last fall, I memorized
the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet.
A boy from class
played Romeo,
and we presented it
for convocation one day.
Hey, I wish
I'd been there to see it.
I wish I had been there...
I wish I had been...
I wish
I'd been there to see it.
Okay. Let's take five.
Marilyn, you said something
about props. Let's do that.
Dr. Lyman's
breakfast scene
after I get back.
Holling? Prepared?
Me? Yes, ma'am.
Hayden, what's this?
Why, it's a trapdoor,
Mrs. C.
A trapdoor? In Bus Stop?
You know,
I saw Damn Yankees when
I was a little boy in Tacoma.
The devil disappeared
in this poof of green smoke.
It was like magic.
I almost peed my pants.
Here, let me show you
how this works.
Hayden, no.
We'll talk about that later.
Hayden, okay?
All right, Mrs. C.
Wow, look at all this.
It's a cornucopia.
From flea markets and stuff.
Yeah.
Okay,
these are our props.
Oh, this is very thorough,
Marilyn.
Good job.
These brass planters
are for the spittoons.
Oh, they're gonna
read really well.
I'll bring cafe curtains
from home.
These got mildew.
Okay.
Hey, what's this?
A tree.
Yeah. I can see that.
Hayden painted it.
And these are
wagon wheels back here.
Uh-huh.
Marilyn,
this looks like a set.
Oklahoma!
What?
You guys put on a musical?
Maurice.
Really? He did?
It's funny, he didn't say
one word to me about it.
In fact,
he didn't wanna have
anything to do with this play.
It never opened.
Oklahoma?
Uh-huh.
Really? Why?
What happened?
I was still in high school.
Yeah?
We have a lot to do.
We should check our props.
Okay.
Talk about method.
Sophomore year,
we're doing Othello.
Laurence Olivier,
Maggie Smith?
Leonard Maltin's
gives that one four stars.
I love Othello.
I was Othello.
Brutal rehearsal.
What else is new?
Blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, the last scene
with Desdemona, okay?
Where he strangles her.
Everyone's exhausted.
Mmm-hmm.
Drama teacher's
all over my case.
Mmm-hmm.
„Emotional substitution,”
Erick.
„You must come up
with emotional substitution.”
I say,
„Emotional substitution?
I've never murdered anyone,”
right?
There you are.
Just a sec,
I'm in the middle of a story.
Erick, we were supposed to
lay the sisal
in the Roosevelt room today.
Oh, damn.
I'm sorry, Ron.
And yesterday
you were supposed
to make the dump run.
Are you smoking?
I'm just sneaking one, okay?
I'm telling the troupe
about my drama teacher,
you know. What a pip!
Uta Hagen straight-liner.
All the way.
Right down to the black
turtleneck and tights, okay.
Four Erick Hillmans.
One, no mayo.
„Erick Hillmans”?
We named a sandwich
after me.
No, seriously?
Ham on rye.
Come on, Ron, join us.
Yeah, do that.
Pull up a chair.
We'll probably
bore you to death.
Yeah.
Yeah, you probably would.
Where was I anyway?
Emotional substitution.
She says, „Surely,
you must have wanted
to murder someone, huh?”
And I say, „Only you.”
And she says,
„Great. Use that.”
Coffee, Dr. C?
Coffee? Caffeine?
No. No way, Shelly. Thanks.
Thank you, Ruth-Anne.
You're welcome.
Hey, Maurice, hi.
Well, Mrs. Capra,
a beautiful day
in America, isn't it?
Yeah.
You know, I was just
in the barn storeroom
and I saw all these sets
and these beautiful costumes.
You didn't tell me
that you had staged
Oklahoma!
That's where
that stuff is, huh?
Yeah. You know
and Marilyn said that
you never opened. How come?
Well...
That's a long time ago.
Water under the bridge.
I've gotta go.
Dogs are hungry.
Ruth-Anne.
Michelle.
What a day!
I am so exhausted!
We spent all afternoon
working on my humility speech.
Sheriff Will.
Hezekiah Pearson.
That's really what
Will's all about.
Deliverance from evil,
redemption.
Hello, Erick.
I just hope that
I can sleep tonight.
I am so wound up.
I forgot what it's like to
be there among my people.
You know,
let's face it,
I am a theater bum.
Mmm-hmm.
Well, I've been thinking
about Seattle.
The lntiman Theater.
Seattle rep.
I'm older now.
I think maybe that's good.
What are you talking about?
Seattle?
I gave up too soon, Ron.
I think that maybe
I was too sensitive.
My agent wouldn't
return my phone calls.
I got no response
to that mailing.
Losing that industrial film.
Like I couldn't fake
running a lathe?
It just overwhelmed me.
So now you want to go
to Seattle and be an actor?
Well,
who will I be if I don't?
Half a person?
That's what
you're getting now.
I'll be back, Ron.
I'll be back so much
you'll be sick of me.
Oh, brother.
Oh, well, that's supportive.
Erick, this is a Cicely
production of Bus Stop, hmm?
Don't you think
you're getting just
a little carried away?
You don't think
I can do it, do you?
You have never
believed in me.
I believed in you, buddy.
I believed in you
$750 worth.
$750? What is $750?
You're the sheriff,
aren't you?
You didn't...
You bribed Michelle?
You gave her $250 so...
You bought this part.
Erick, no, it wasn't like...
Come on, Erick.
Oh, God. Oh, no.
Hey, man, don't!
Don't do this.
No... Erick!
Men.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
ERICK: Michelle?
It's Erick Hillman.
What?
I need to talk to you.
Could you open up the door?
Erick?
Well, shh, just a second.
I just need to
ask you one thing.
Was it the money?
The money? What?
The money.
Did I get the part
because of the money?
Oh, the money.
It's okay, you know.
He's...
He told me everything.
So you don't have to pretend,
just tell me.
Yes or no.
No.
Maybe.
I don't know, Erick.
Look, I have
bigger fish to fry.
Well, no. Try.
The hatchery, you know.
I had a play to put on,
Erick.
So, it's true.
Okay, maybe
it did give you
a little leg up there.
But you did really good
at the audition, Erick.
And anyway,
casting is subjective.
You should know that.
I was just relieved
that you did as good
a job as you did.
And, hey,
look at Frank Sinatra
in Here to Eternity.
He was great
and people said
they bought him that part.
So you think
I'm Frank Sinatra?
I think you are doing
a very good job, Erick.
Thank you.
I am serious.
And your spirit,
it's infectious.
And you're always
so well-prepared.
I appreciate that.
I appreciate that.
You've told me
all I need to know.
Erick, wait.
Run-through tomorrow,
remember?
Think of the play, Erick!
Think of the benefit!
Think of the baby trout!
MARILYN: Would you keep still?
Sure, Maggie
gets to wear the sequins
and I'm wrapped in this sack.
How am I
supposed to make tips?
Okay. We got
the programs in finally.
They spelled lnge
with an „H.”
We can white it out,
I guess.
Mrs. C, I know
where we can use
the trapdoor.
Cheri's exit to
the head in act two.
Poof. It'd have such impact.
Hayden,
this is a very
naturalistic play.
I don't think so, okay?
Thanks.
Can you take this, please?
Thanks.
Okay!
Where is everybody?
Ed'll be late.
Shaman business.
But I wouldn't
lay bets on Erick.
Holling took him
out to his stupid still.
Still?
Yeah.
You mean where-they-
make-moonshine still?
Yeah.
Okay.
How can they do this?
They can't do this!
This is our run-through!
What am I gonna do?
Hayden, okay,
you play Will.
Me?
Yeah!
No, Mrs. C,
I don't think so.
Hayden,
you know all the lines.
Please? I've seen you.
Can't do it.
Don't ask me. I won't.
But...
Michelle,
we could do our scene.
Your scene? Right.
Your scene. Good idea.
Your scene with Bo. Okay.
Wonderful.
That's a lifesaver.
Chris, can you do that?
CHRIS: It's now or never.
Okay. Great.
Places. Wonderful!
We'll take it
from Cheri's line,
„I'd like you
to kiss me, Bo.”
Ready?
Well, I'd like
for you to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Oh, Bo!
Don't you think this time
when you kiss me,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Oh, golly!
When you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary, ain't it?
Yeah, it is.
Come on, Chris.
I said, when you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary.
(SlGHlNG)
I can't.
You can't?
You got to kiss her, Chris.
Bo kisses Cheri.
You're Bo. She's Cheri.
So kiss her.
Look,
will you just forget it?
Just get yourself
another Bo, all right?
But why?
What's the matter with you?
Why can't you kiss her?
Look, don't you get it?
It's her... It's...
It's Maggie.
It's Maggie O'Connell.
Chris, Chris.
Chris, please wait!
You picked her.
Shelly!
Well,
if everybody else is bailing,
I'm pulling the ripcord, too.
Oh, Shelly, don't go.
I should've quit
before I started.
It said right in the play,
„Cheri, around 20. Blonde!”
Well, you know,
that's true, Shelly.
Maybe there wouldn't be
such a mess.
Man, you gotta feel
like dog meat.
Oh, I do.
Ruining the play. I do.
The play?
No, I mean making
a dude so creeped out
he won't even lay
a wet one on you.
Chris isn't creeped out.
He's not?
No, he's scared.
You know,
the way Bo is scared.
He's scared.
But, you know, he isn't Bo.
And, I don't know,
maybe it's not fair of us
to expect him to act like Bo,
you know?
I gotta go.
Well, not without me.
Wait. Shelly. Shelly.
Like I'm an Elma?
No! Shelly,
casting is against type.
It's bold theater.
It's nobody-left-
in-the-theater theater.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Yeah. Yeah.
Just a second.
Oh, Michelle, come in.
Maurice,
I don't understand!
My play,
it's in shambles.
Everybody quit!
They just quit
and walked away!
Trouble, huh? Here.
Let me take your coat.
I was just
sitting down to some tea.
Would you care to join me?
What did I do, Maurice?
No, I didn't do anything!
I was very supportive!
Very energetic!
What's the matter
with your neck?
Oh, I can't move it.
Please, Maurice.
I... You've got to tell me.
I have to know.
What happened to Oklahoma?
What went wrong?
Well...
Please, Maurice.
What happened?
Nothing, right at first.
They were all supportive
during the casting sessions
and during
the early rehearsals.
Everybody was very happy.
Uh-huh.
I brought in
a keyboard player.
A vocal coach from
the University of Alaska.
Treated 'em all
like professionals.
Was there a blue pinafore
in that basement?
I think so. Yeah.
Shirley Jones wore that
in the film version.
What?
What happened, Maurice?
Michelle,
the theater
is like a virus.
It changes people.
It alters them.
In a place like Cicely,
where you've got
so many independent spirits,
it's even worse,
more virulent.
There are petty jealousies,
creative differences,
all kinds of little spats.
Then finally
there's a suspicious fire
in the barn
of the leading man.
God.
You see, Michelle,
people come up here
to reinvent themselves.
To rewrite the book,
so to speak.
They're not
the kind of people
who easily take direction.
Now I know
that Bo may have
some intimacy issues,
but I'm here to ask you,
what's the big deal?
What's he afraid of?
Love.
He's afraid of love.
I am not afraid of love.
Nobody said you were.
Let me tell you two
something right now.
I might not have
an under-one-roof
kind of thing
going on in my life,
but you call any of 'em,
you call any of the women
I've been carnally
involved with,
and they will
tell you not a peep
about whether I had
to look 'em in the eye.
They didn't care
if I looked 'em
in the eye.
Now, I gotta
look 'em in the eye.
I'll tell you what.
Ron was right there with me.
Colluding.
Letting me live
in my own little bubble.
Letting me blame him.
Is that love?
Love,
like an inheritance due,
that we had to wrangle about
with angry relatives
in order to get our share.
There! There, you see?
I can say the words
perfectly in here.
That was pretty good,
Holling.
Come on, Chris,
we're talking.
That stunk.
You stink.
Fellas, nobody said
I was an actor.
Yeah. Well, lucky you.
(RON CLEARING THROAT)
RON: I guess I got
everything I need here.
Just the birdseed and
calcium stick, Ruth-Anne.
Okay.
Erick hadn't bothered
to feed those finches
of his for days.
Well, now that the play's off,
he'll have lots of time,
won't he?
Yep. If he ever does
come home.
It's so Erick.
Ego gets a little bruised
and he heads
for the high country.
After what you did,
you can hardly blame him.
What, try to protect him?
Try to look out for him?
Since when did that
become such a crime?
You patronized him.
The man needs
a little confidence.
A few successes
under his belt,
that's all.
Yes, as long as
they're his successes.
Ruth-Anne...
I still think that Ed
should have had that role.
Fine, Ruth-Anne.
Do you want
to trade places with me
over at the Sourdough? Hmm?
Do you want to
try living with Erick
for the next six months?
Head injustice collector.
You talk about drama?
What'd she cast him for?
Is she deaf? Is she blind?
Nobody appreciates me
around here.
I'm rotting
in this hell hole.
Then he wouldn't clean
the house for a week.
I thought you said
you were looking out for him.
I was.
Looking out for yourself,
if you ask me.
Well, I didn't.
Klonopin. Klonopin.
Klonopin.
I'm so tired,
I can't even see straight.
Okay. Here we are.
Half a tablet
every four hours.
It's a muscle relaxant.
Very strong.
You know you with
even just aspirin.
You know,
name the last time
I had muscle spasms.
It was when I interviewed
for the lifestyle section
of LA Outlook.
Oh, well,
that was a fiasco.
No kidding.
You didn't leave the house
for 10 days.
The house. The bedroom!
Remember that ratty,
old, blue robe of yours?
Look at you.
I think you're enjoying this.
You're enjoying this. You are.
What? No.
Yeah! I knew
I shouldn't have come here.
Your baby robin,
fallen out of the nest again.
You fixing it's little wing.
So familiar.
So admit it,
this is making you happy.
No.
It's not making me happy.
It's making me sleepy.
Oh, God!
Mrs. Capra! Mrs. Capra!
Maggie sent me over.
She wants you to read this.
What? What is it?
It's the play.
She's rewriting it.
She's rewriting Bus Stop?
Well, just the end
with Bo and Cheri.
She can't do that.
Well,
she thinks that the kiss
is a little bit much
for Chris right now.
So she's making things
turn out different
at the bus stop.
She said
she hopes you like it.
Michelle.
Your neck. Please.
Get some rest, okay?
I'll look at those, Ed.
I'll run back home
and see if she's done
with the rest of 'em.
Potatoes, potatoes everywhere,
not a drop to drink.
Very funny.
Yet untrue.
The still.
There's a reason
they call it that.
Man can hear himself think.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
RON: Erick? Erick, it's Ron.
lnevitable.
MICHELLE: Chris? Holling?
Come on, it's Michelle.
I need to talk to
you guys, all right?
CHRIS: We ain't buying
whatever you're selling,
right, Ricky?
ERICK: Ditto.
Just hear me out,
okay, guys?
Listen, Erick...
What's that
all over your trousers?
That's puke.
That poor bastard.
Oh, don't apologize.
You did me a favor.
Both of you.
Listen, Erick,
I'm sorry, she's sorry.
We're all sorry.
Mistakes were made...
All right, I made them.
She really wants
you in this play.
That's right, Erick.
I do.
Nope.
But you have to.
Do not.
Hell with the trout.
I am not talking about trout.
I know you, Erick.
You're theater people.
There's an audience
out there waiting.
And you have signed
that unwritten contract,
the show must go on.
You have no idea
what you're asking of me.
Well, you can have him.
But you can't have me.
I ain't going back.
I ain't doing it.
You don't have to, Chris.
Good.
No, no, no!
I mean, you don't
have to kiss Maggie now.
See,
she's rewritten the script.
She what?
Yeah. I mean
at least we won't
have to refund tickets.
Right.
Kind of a Bus Stop
for the '90s, you know.
See, here,
Cheri doesn't fall for Bo.
She doesn't want
to enter into another
dependent relationship.
So she goes back
to Kansas City,
hones her singing skill.
And Bo, he goes back
to the ranch to be Bo.
To Montana, where
being Bo is all right.
„It was probably
your parents' fault, Bo.
They didn't
express affection,
so how could you?”
The sins of the fathers.
„Thank you, Cheri,
for being so supportive.”
No!
No, we can't do this.
I know it sounds crazy.
Wrong, maybe, to rework
an American classic.
But if you
think about it...
No!
We can't send Bo
back to the ranch!
What'd that be, huh?
What kind of life is that?
Never finding a meaningful,
personal, loving relationship?
I don't think so.
I'm not gonna
let that happen to Bo.
He's gotta face it, man.
What are you saying, Chris?
I'm saying
he's gotta kiss her.
He's gotta kiss her right.
I'm gonna make sure he does.
Oh, yeah! All right.
Michelle.
The doctor.
Hey, Holling.
Hey, Holling.
Wake up, buddy. Play's on.
We're back on.
The play?
You can take me to dinner
and then perhaps
we can go to lunch together.
See?
He'll be fine.
Everything will be fine.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Well, here's the tables
and the chairs.
The sugar dispensers.
Just like a diner.
Well, it is a diner.
It's Bus Stop.
Oh, hi, Marilyn!
How are you?
Somebody ate our props.
We had six powdered donuts.
Oh, they ate our props.
I'll get another box.
Okay.
BOY: Mrs. Capra?
Yes. Hi.
The roses for Maggie,
well,
they froze in my car
last night. I'm sorry.
Oh! Look, they lost
their little heads.
Well, that's all right.
They look fine to me.
Everybody likes
to get flowers.
Mrs. Capra?
You all right, Mrs. C?
(GROANING)
Oh, right.
Forced perspective.
I was gonna talk
to you about that,
wasn't I?
Oh, well,
they'll just have to duck.
Oh!
MAN: Heads up!
(GLASS CRASHING)
(GRUNTING)
Oh, Michelle,
you all right?
Hi.
Let me see.
I must have dozed off.
Oh, hey, where is everybody?
Ah, they went
home to get ready for
opening night, Michelle.
Yeah, performance,
right?
You never
get used to it.
Butterflies, huh?
I get nervous
when I'm not nervous.
Just think,
in a couple of hours,
all those seats are
gonna be filled
and the houselights
are gonna dim
and the audience...
The animal in the dark.
The animal. Yeah.
Us and them.
Richard Burton thought
that it was a beast
that he had to tame
like a tiger.
But what is theater,
really,
but a group of people
gathered together
to sit bravely and quietly,
and try to solve
their humanity?
That's beautiful, Erick.
And who are we?
The actors?
We are a conduit of change.
People come here
to be altered
and we send them away
knowing something
or feeling something
that they have never
known or felt before.
(THUDDING)
Michelle?
Michelle,
are you all right?
Michelle?
HOLLING: Where am I?
Oh, it's you.
Dear girl,
what a sweet awakening.
SHELLY: How do you feel?
That is an
impolite question.
How long
have I been asleep?
Oh, a couple of hours.
Nature has blessed
me sometimes with
total blackouts.
I seem to remember
absolutely nothing after
we started our performance.
How were we?
Marvelous.
Oh, I'm glad.
Can I get you
something to eat?
Uh, no.
Nothing to eat.
Dr. Lyman, you must have
something to eat, really.
Must I?
Oh, yes! Please!
Well,
for your sweet sake,
I'll have a couple of
three-minute eggs
and some toast
and some orange juice.
But I'm doing this for you,
mind you.
Just for you.
(WHlSPERlNG)
Way to go, babe.
Well, Bo,
I'm gonna go out and help
the driver with the chains.
You stay here
and take care
of your hand.
Cheri,
would I be molesting you
if I said something?
No.
Well, you was so pretty,
and warm-hearted and sweet,
well, I felt like I could
love you and I did.
Bo...
You think
you really do love me?
Well, Cheri, I couldn't
be familiar with a gal
I didn't love.
How you feeling now,
cowboy?
I ain't the happiest critter
that was ever born.
Yeah, well, just 'cause
you ain't happy now
doesn't mean you ain't
gonna be happy tomorrow.
Feel like shaking hands
now, cowboy?
Pretty good, huh?
Mmm-hmm. Not bad.
Well, go on, Bo.
He's only trying
to be friends.
I don't mind.
I just
want you to remember
there's no hard feelings.
So long.
CHRIS: So long.
ERICK:
I'm going home now, Grace.
I'll see you Monday.
Montana's not
a bad place, miss.
Nice fella.
Well, better be
boarding the bus, Bo.
Cheri.
Hi, Bo.
Well, I promised
not to molest you,
but if you was to
give your permission,
it'd be all right,
I'd like to
kiss you goodbye.
You would?
I'd like for you
to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Wait, Bo!
Don't you think this time
when you kiss me,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Well, golly,
when you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary,
ain't it?
Yeah.
It is.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
MAN: Bravo!
Hey, good night, Cheri.
Oh, night, Virgil!
Real nice, Maggie.
Oh, thank you, Holling.
Good night.
Night.
Maggie,
I just wanted to tell you.
You really
slam-dunked it out there.
Well, thank you, Shelly.
You were really good, too.
No, I mean, with Cheri.
I mean,
I probably couldn't do it
any better if I had done it.
Thanks.
Well, just wanted
to tell you.
Oh, okay. Night.
Night.
Hey.
Hey!
That was a lot of fun.
Yeah.
It was.
Well, I guess, I'll see you
tomorrow night then.
Okay.
Okay.
Bye.
All right.
RON: I got it, Erick.
Probably our very own
breck girl.
Our Lady of
the Civic Volunteers.
Do you have to, Ron?
At least someone's
trying to do something
to fill the cultural void
around here.
Well, Michelle Capra,
come in, come in.
It's Alaska out there.
It's invigorating, though.
You'll get used to it.
Yeah.
Let me take your coat.
Okay.
Why don't you go over
and stand by the fire.
Yeah.
Hey, I just want
to thank you guys.
Thank you,
thank you, thank you.
I couldn't get this benefit
off the ground without you.
Oh, we love
supporting local theater,
especially
for such a good cause.
I mean,
the Cicely trout hatcheries.
We're just glad
we have the chance.
Aren't we, Ron?
We are. We are.
And Bus Stop is such a
great choice for Cicely.
It is. Yeah.
With real people.
A small town. A bus
stranded in a blizzard.
Exactly!
What'd we say,
Michelle, $500?
Again, thanks.
And with Ruth-Anne's $250,
just $250 more
and I'm there.
You know, I've done lnge
before in Fort Lauderdale.
Really?
Picnic.
Yeah, and what a blast.
I played Hal, which is
the William Holden role.
Right. Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't forget Omaha.
He was Mitch in Streetcar.
His mother still
got the reviews.
Stellar.
Great!
(OVEN BELL DINGS)
There's the cinnamon buns.
Miss Michelle, you are
staying to tea. I insist.
Okay.
Okay? Yeah.
That man is so
excited about this play.
Oh, me, too. Me, too.
It really gives me a chance
to be in the community,
you know,
to really contribute.
I was a theater arts minor,
you know.
And to mount a play,
to direct, it's just great.
Well, that's great, Michelle.
But I mean,
Erick is really excited.
About the sheriff.
Sheriff Will.
He really hopes
he gets the part.
Oh, fantastic!
I can't wait
to hear him read.
Well, I think the operative
word here is gets.
Gets?
The check, Michelle?
I covered that $250 for you.
It's for $750.
So, gets.
Oh. Gets.
It'll take a minute
for the icing to set.
Gives the tea
a chance to steep.
Sit down. Sit down.
Yeah. You'll...
You're gonna think
you're at grandma's house
with these cinnamon buns.
Hey, maybe
if we twist his arm,
Erick'll dig up those old
reviews of Streetcar, hmm?
CHRIS ON RADIO:
Hear ye, Cicely. Shake it out.
Today is separating-
wheat-from-chaff day,
as if anybody forgot
those sweaty palms
and palpitating hearts
at the Bus Stop auditions.
The whole town's been
bitten by the theater bug,
right?
Who among us isn't
aching at the chance
to get up on that stage,
tread those boards,
hit those marks?
Roar of the greasepaint,
smell of the crowd!
Look at where
the spotlight shines, Ma!
On me!
Speaking of which,
it's about that time
for our stage manager
and costume honcho,
Marilyn Whirlwind,
to post the fateful
cast list.
What'd the great one say?
„All the world's a stage,
and we are but players,”
if you get a part.
Watch the elbow,
buddy.
Sorry.
Holling!
Holling, there's your name!
You're the doc! See?
I told you, didn't I?
HAYDEN: Way to go, Vincoeur.
I just tried out
to please Shelly.
I got the part of Cheri?
She is?
Maggie is Cheri?
The dancehall fox?
You're Elma.
MAGGIE: Oh, yeah!
Shelly, congratulations!
You got the part, too!
We can both be in it.
Elma?
That egghead waitress?
You don't even have to
pretend, seeing as how
you do waitress work.
She is onstage a lot
and more than anybody,
really.
Can anybody see
who got the sheriff?
Erick Hillman.
I did?
He did?
I can't believe it!
I did it!
Ron, I got it, Ron!
I'm sheriff.
That's terrific!
That's terrific!
Good for you!
Good for you!
CHRIS: Hey, everybody!
Who's what?
Did I get anything?
Only the lead.
I got Bo?
Get out.
Who's my Cheri girl, then?
Hey, Bo.
Maggie?
I mean, Cheri. All right!
Really?
Yeah.
The great white way
or bust, huh?
ALL: Yeah!
34-inch waist.
You know, I haven't gained
an ounce since freshman year.
„Gee, I hate to go out
to the cold powder room,
but I guess I better not
put it off any longer.”
Great. Nice work, Maggie.
We'll let you run through it
again, okay? Promise.
Okay.
All right.
Her? Again and again?
Holling?
Yes, ma'am.
It's your line.
(STAMMERING)
Oh, I'm sorry.
Where are we?
How defiantly
we pursue love,
like it was
an inheritance due.
An inheritance due.
Let's see.
Holling, that
wouldn't be real liquor
in that flask, would it?
Yes, ma'am.
It says in the booklet
that Dr. Lyman is a drinker.
Oh, well,
that doesn't mean
that we actually drink.
In the theater we pretend.
We appear
to be drinking.
It's the art of acting.
It's...
That's method, Holling.
You think alcohol.
Taste alcohol. Smell alcohol.
No, no.
Why fake it when
you can do the real deal?
What's realer than that?
Well, Shelly,
if you're drunk,
you can't act
like you're drunk
because you're
too drunk to act.
But if you are drunk then
you don't have to act
like you're drunk.
Besides, it helps me
calm down my nerves.
Okay,
let's say we take a break?
We had a really good morning.
Erick, tell Chris
the fight scene after lunch.
Right.
And let's try it off-book.
Memorized.
Uh...
Good job, guys.
Really. Good work.
It's gonna be good.
It is.
It's happening again.
Oh, maybe it'll be
different this time.
You were really good
this morning, Ed.
A natural.
Oh, you think?
Yeah.
Don't stop there, Ed.
Drilling, rehearsing,
repeating, improving,
that's the secret.
Be righter than anyone else
to begin with
and then beat
the blazes out of it.
No way of
wriggling out of it now.
But it's just like
grade school, you know?
Reciting your page
of Pilgrim's Progress,
and everybody waiting
and watching for you
to slip up.
I just hope Michelle
knows what she's doing.
Making Maggie
a dancehall singer.
You saw her.
Did you believe her?
Well,
she didn't stumble over
any lines that I noticed.
Just think
she would've gone with
a little more experience.
Well, Maggie
has experience, hon.
From college.
That play,
The Glass Menagerie.
With the little
cripple girl, you know?
Holling,
that's just acting.
I'm talking
about presentation.
I mean, I was
Miss Northwest Passage.
Barley Queen. Snow Princess.
If I know anything,
it's how to work an audience.
Stand up straight, smile.
Anyway,
you saw me at tryouts.
And you were good, too!
Good?
I nailed it, didn't I?
Well...
Didn't I?
Well...
Well, I did!
I ain't gonna have
no one interfering
in my ways.
Now, lunge, Chris!
Energy, Erick!
(GRUNTING)
Great! That was great!
Yeah?
That was so much better.
That was fantastic!
When you lunge,
really lunge for him!
And, Erick, just stand
your ground, okay?
Not bad, huh?
Well, he does seem
to be loosening up
a little, thank heaven.
That's why they rehearse,
Ruth-Anne.
...stand your ground
and pop one.
Okay, great. Wardrobe...
Forgive me, Ron.
Hmm?
But I still don't understand
why Erick got that part.
Could've been
his guardian angel
looking out for him, hmm?
Excuse me.
Hey, hey, hey.
Looking good buddy.
You saw?
Yeah. Yeah!
I've been watching you
for about an hour now.
It's the focus. I get
so immersed in, you know...
Thanks for coming, really.
I gotta have a conversation
with wardrobe.
Kathy, thanks.
Did you get a chance
to make those changes...
All right, Maggie,
if we can have you
come sit up here on stage.
Right here.
And, Chris,
we'll take it from
your entrance, „Cheri.”
Okay? Great.
Okay.
Cheri...
(STUTTERING)
Oh, wait, hold on, Chris.
Hayden? lsn't this
doorframe a bit low?
Well, it's gotta be.
It's a shallow stage.
You gotta force
your perspective.
Uh-huh.
We'll talk later, okay?
Chris, again?
From „Cheri”, okay?
CHRIS: Cheri.
Hi, Bo.
I promise not to
molest you or nothing,
but if you
give me your permission,
I'd like to kiss you goodbye.
(SlGHlNG)
You would?
I'd like for you
to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Well!
Wait, Bo.
Don't you think
when you kiss me this time,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Well, golly, when you
kiss someone for serious,
it's kind of scary, ain't it?
Yeah, it is.
Chris?
What's the matter, Chris?
Nothing.
Uh...
Could we do that again?
Yeah. Sure. Okay.
Take it from „Golly.”
Okay, „Golly.”
Okay.
Ready?
Sorry.
Golly,
when you kiss someone...
Well, what?
What?
I think it's the...
The words...
Maybe I need some air.
And some food...
Well, okay.
It's been a long day.
We can stop.
Come back fresh, Chris.
All right?
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Michelle.
Phil.
Please.
Space, remember?
And I'm really busy.
You see?
I know. I know.
No space.
I'm not here
to take any space.
I just came by
to tell you that...
I'm glad that
you're volunteering.
You know, participating.
And a play? Terrific idea.
Really. Right up your alley.
Terrific? You don't think
it's terrific.
Yes, I do.
You think it's boring.
Theater?
Oh, an antiquated art form.
Gives you the creeps.
Hey, no.
Hey, yes.
I know you, Phil.
You'll say whatever it takes.
You just want me
to come home, right?
Okay, okay!
Is that so terrible?
Look, I can't sleep
without you, Michelle.
You know that.
I'm a physician.
How am I supposed to function
if I'm sleep-deprived?
Sorry, Phil.
It won't work this time.
Michelle?
Oh, you two.
We were talking.
No, it's fine.
Chris, come here.
What's up?
It's about the play.
I'm gonna bail.
Bail?
At 1 :00 in the morning?
You can't quit, Chris.
You mean quit?
He wants to quit.
Look, I'm not gonna do it,
I just... I can't do it.
Can't do what?
You were doing great.
'Cause it's that...
It's that scene. The kiss.
I just...
I hit this wall...
Okay, it makes you
a little uncomfortable?
Is that it?
No, it doesn't
make me uncomfortable.
I've been swapping spit
with babes
and doing the two-backed beast
since I was nine.
Nine?
Phil, please.
Well, what then, Chris?
It's that stuff, you know,
scary, serious.
Just...
I can't relate.
It doesn't feel right.
I... It isn't me.
Well, it isn't you, Chris.
It's Bo.
Yeah,
but I'm the one doing it.
He's got a point.
He's an actor, Phil.
He's playing a part.
Those are
the character's feelings.
They don't have to be his.
I don't know.
That's the craft, Chris.
See, you know,
the art of acting.
Forgetting yourself
and becoming someone else.
There's techniques, Chris,
exercises that you can do.
We will work with you.
It'll be fine. You'll see.
Go home. Rest.
Get a good night's sleep.
Trust me on this. Okay?
Okay.
Okay.
And you, too, Phil.
Michelle...
Try.
Just try.
MICHELLE: Okay, Shelly.
Let's take it from,
„Last fall,” all right?
Last fall, I memorized
the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet.
A boy from class
played Romeo,
and we presented it
for convocation one day.
Hey, I wish
I'd been there to see it.
I wish I had been there...
I wish I had been...
I wish
I'd been there to see it.
Okay. Let's take five.
Marilyn, you said something
about props. Let's do that.
Dr. Lyman's
breakfast scene
after I get back.
Holling? Prepared?
Me? Yes, ma'am.
Hayden, what's this?
Why, it's a trapdoor,
Mrs. C.
A trapdoor? In Bus Stop?
You know,
I saw Damn Yankees when
I was a little boy in Tacoma.
The devil disappeared
in this poof of green smoke.
It was like magic.
I almost peed my pants.
Here, let me show you
how this works.
Hayden, no.
We'll talk about that later.
Hayden, okay?
All right, Mrs. C.
Wow, look at all this.
It's a cornucopia.
From flea markets and stuff.
Yeah.
Okay,
these are our props.
Oh, this is very thorough,
Marilyn.
Good job.
These brass planters
are for the spittoons.
Oh, they're gonna
read really well.
I'll bring cafe curtains
from home.
These got mildew.
Okay.
Hey, what's this?
A tree.
Yeah. I can see that.
Hayden painted it.
And these are
wagon wheels back here.
Uh-huh.
Marilyn,
this looks like a set.
Oklahoma!
What?
You guys put on a musical?
Maurice.
Really? He did?
It's funny, he didn't say
one word to me about it.
In fact,
he didn't wanna have
anything to do with this play.
It never opened.
Oklahoma?
Uh-huh.
Really? Why?
What happened?
I was still in high school.
Yeah?
We have a lot to do.
We should check our props.
Okay.
Talk about method.
Sophomore year,
we're doing Othello.
Laurence Olivier,
Maggie Smith?
Leonard Maltin's
gives that one four stars.
I love Othello.
I was Othello.
Brutal rehearsal.
What else is new?
Blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, the last scene
with Desdemona, okay?
Where he strangles her.
Everyone's exhausted.
Mmm-hmm.
Drama teacher's
all over my case.
Mmm-hmm.
„Emotional substitution,”
Erick.
„You must come up
with emotional substitution.”
I say,
„Emotional substitution?
I've never murdered anyone,”
right?
There you are.
Just a sec,
I'm in the middle of a story.
Erick, we were supposed to
lay the sisal
in the Roosevelt room today.
Oh, damn.
I'm sorry, Ron.
And yesterday
you were supposed
to make the dump run.
Are you smoking?
I'm just sneaking one, okay?
I'm telling the troupe
about my drama teacher,
you know. What a pip!
Uta Hagen straight-liner.
All the way.
Right down to the black
turtleneck and tights, okay.
Four Erick Hillmans.
One, no mayo.
„Erick Hillmans”?
We named a sandwich
after me.
No, seriously?
Ham on rye.
Come on, Ron, join us.
Yeah, do that.
Pull up a chair.
We'll probably
bore you to death.
Yeah.
Yeah, you probably would.
Where was I anyway?
Emotional substitution.
She says, „Surely,
you must have wanted
to murder someone, huh?”
And I say, „Only you.”
And she says,
„Great. Use that.”
Coffee, Dr. C?
Coffee? Caffeine?
No. No way, Shelly. Thanks.
Thank you, Ruth-Anne.
You're welcome.
Hey, Maurice, hi.
Well, Mrs. Capra,
a beautiful day
in America, isn't it?
Yeah.
You know, I was just
in the barn storeroom
and I saw all these sets
and these beautiful costumes.
You didn't tell me
that you had staged
Oklahoma!
That's where
that stuff is, huh?
Yeah. You know
and Marilyn said that
you never opened. How come?
Well...
That's a long time ago.
Water under the bridge.
I've gotta go.
Dogs are hungry.
Ruth-Anne.
Michelle.
What a day!
I am so exhausted!
We spent all afternoon
working on my humility speech.
Sheriff Will.
Hezekiah Pearson.
That's really what
Will's all about.
Deliverance from evil,
redemption.
Hello, Erick.
I just hope that
I can sleep tonight.
I am so wound up.
I forgot what it's like to
be there among my people.
You know,
let's face it,
I am a theater bum.
Mmm-hmm.
Well, I've been thinking
about Seattle.
The lntiman Theater.
Seattle rep.
I'm older now.
I think maybe that's good.
What are you talking about?
Seattle?
I gave up too soon, Ron.
I think that maybe
I was too sensitive.
My agent wouldn't
return my phone calls.
I got no response
to that mailing.
Losing that industrial film.
Like I couldn't fake
running a lathe?
It just overwhelmed me.
So now you want to go
to Seattle and be an actor?
Well,
who will I be if I don't?
Half a person?
That's what
you're getting now.
I'll be back, Ron.
I'll be back so much
you'll be sick of me.
Oh, brother.
Oh, well, that's supportive.
Erick, this is a Cicely
production of Bus Stop, hmm?
Don't you think
you're getting just
a little carried away?
You don't think
I can do it, do you?
You have never
believed in me.
I believed in you, buddy.
I believed in you
$750 worth.
$750? What is $750?
You're the sheriff,
aren't you?
You didn't...
You bribed Michelle?
You gave her $250 so...
You bought this part.
Erick, no, it wasn't like...
Come on, Erick.
Oh, God. Oh, no.
Hey, man, don't!
Don't do this.
No... Erick!
Men.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
ERICK: Michelle?
It's Erick Hillman.
What?
I need to talk to you.
Could you open up the door?
Erick?
Well, shh, just a second.
I just need to
ask you one thing.
Was it the money?
The money? What?
The money.
Did I get the part
because of the money?
Oh, the money.
It's okay, you know.
He's...
He told me everything.
So you don't have to pretend,
just tell me.
Yes or no.
No.
Maybe.
I don't know, Erick.
Look, I have
bigger fish to fry.
Well, no. Try.
The hatchery, you know.
I had a play to put on,
Erick.
So, it's true.
Okay, maybe
it did give you
a little leg up there.
But you did really good
at the audition, Erick.
And anyway,
casting is subjective.
You should know that.
I was just relieved
that you did as good
a job as you did.
And, hey,
look at Frank Sinatra
in Here to Eternity.
He was great
and people said
they bought him that part.
So you think
I'm Frank Sinatra?
I think you are doing
a very good job, Erick.
Thank you.
I am serious.
And your spirit,
it's infectious.
And you're always
so well-prepared.
I appreciate that.
I appreciate that.
You've told me
all I need to know.
Erick, wait.
Run-through tomorrow,
remember?
Think of the play, Erick!
Think of the benefit!
Think of the baby trout!
MARILYN: Would you keep still?
Sure, Maggie
gets to wear the sequins
and I'm wrapped in this sack.
How am I
supposed to make tips?
Okay. We got
the programs in finally.
They spelled lnge
with an „H.”
We can white it out,
I guess.
Mrs. C, I know
where we can use
the trapdoor.
Cheri's exit to
the head in act two.
Poof. It'd have such impact.
Hayden,
this is a very
naturalistic play.
I don't think so, okay?
Thanks.
Can you take this, please?
Thanks.
Okay!
Where is everybody?
Ed'll be late.
Shaman business.
But I wouldn't
lay bets on Erick.
Holling took him
out to his stupid still.
Still?
Yeah.
You mean where-they-
make-moonshine still?
Yeah.
Okay.
How can they do this?
They can't do this!
This is our run-through!
What am I gonna do?
Hayden, okay,
you play Will.
Me?
Yeah!
No, Mrs. C,
I don't think so.
Hayden,
you know all the lines.
Please? I've seen you.
Can't do it.
Don't ask me. I won't.
But...
Michelle,
we could do our scene.
Your scene? Right.
Your scene. Good idea.
Your scene with Bo. Okay.
Wonderful.
That's a lifesaver.
Chris, can you do that?
CHRIS: It's now or never.
Okay. Great.
Places. Wonderful!
We'll take it
from Cheri's line,
„I'd like you
to kiss me, Bo.”
Ready?
Well, I'd like
for you to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Oh, Bo!
Don't you think this time
when you kiss me,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Oh, golly!
When you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary, ain't it?
Yeah, it is.
Come on, Chris.
I said, when you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary.
(SlGHlNG)
I can't.
You can't?
You got to kiss her, Chris.
Bo kisses Cheri.
You're Bo. She's Cheri.
So kiss her.
Look,
will you just forget it?
Just get yourself
another Bo, all right?
But why?
What's the matter with you?
Why can't you kiss her?
Look, don't you get it?
It's her... It's...
It's Maggie.
It's Maggie O'Connell.
Chris, Chris.
Chris, please wait!
You picked her.
Shelly!
Well,
if everybody else is bailing,
I'm pulling the ripcord, too.
Oh, Shelly, don't go.
I should've quit
before I started.
It said right in the play,
„Cheri, around 20. Blonde!”
Well, you know,
that's true, Shelly.
Maybe there wouldn't be
such a mess.
Man, you gotta feel
like dog meat.
Oh, I do.
Ruining the play. I do.
The play?
No, I mean making
a dude so creeped out
he won't even lay
a wet one on you.
Chris isn't creeped out.
He's not?
No, he's scared.
You know,
the way Bo is scared.
He's scared.
But, you know, he isn't Bo.
And, I don't know,
maybe it's not fair of us
to expect him to act like Bo,
you know?
I gotta go.
Well, not without me.
Wait. Shelly. Shelly.
Like I'm an Elma?
No! Shelly,
casting is against type.
It's bold theater.
It's nobody-left-
in-the-theater theater.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Yeah. Yeah.
Just a second.
Oh, Michelle, come in.
Maurice,
I don't understand!
My play,
it's in shambles.
Everybody quit!
They just quit
and walked away!
Trouble, huh? Here.
Let me take your coat.
I was just
sitting down to some tea.
Would you care to join me?
What did I do, Maurice?
No, I didn't do anything!
I was very supportive!
Very energetic!
What's the matter
with your neck?
Oh, I can't move it.
Please, Maurice.
I... You've got to tell me.
I have to know.
What happened to Oklahoma?
What went wrong?
Well...
Please, Maurice.
What happened?
Nothing, right at first.
They were all supportive
during the casting sessions
and during
the early rehearsals.
Everybody was very happy.
Uh-huh.
I brought in
a keyboard player.
A vocal coach from
the University of Alaska.
Treated 'em all
like professionals.
Was there a blue pinafore
in that basement?
I think so. Yeah.
Shirley Jones wore that
in the film version.
What?
What happened, Maurice?
Michelle,
the theater
is like a virus.
It changes people.
It alters them.
In a place like Cicely,
where you've got
so many independent spirits,
it's even worse,
more virulent.
There are petty jealousies,
creative differences,
all kinds of little spats.
Then finally
there's a suspicious fire
in the barn
of the leading man.
God.
You see, Michelle,
people come up here
to reinvent themselves.
To rewrite the book,
so to speak.
They're not
the kind of people
who easily take direction.
Now I know
that Bo may have
some intimacy issues,
but I'm here to ask you,
what's the big deal?
What's he afraid of?
Love.
He's afraid of love.
I am not afraid of love.
Nobody said you were.
Let me tell you two
something right now.
I might not have
an under-one-roof
kind of thing
going on in my life,
but you call any of 'em,
you call any of the women
I've been carnally
involved with,
and they will
tell you not a peep
about whether I had
to look 'em in the eye.
They didn't care
if I looked 'em
in the eye.
Now, I gotta
look 'em in the eye.
I'll tell you what.
Ron was right there with me.
Colluding.
Letting me live
in my own little bubble.
Letting me blame him.
Is that love?
Love,
like an inheritance due,
that we had to wrangle about
with angry relatives
in order to get our share.
There! There, you see?
I can say the words
perfectly in here.
That was pretty good,
Holling.
Come on, Chris,
we're talking.
That stunk.
You stink.
Fellas, nobody said
I was an actor.
Yeah. Well, lucky you.
(RON CLEARING THROAT)
RON: I guess I got
everything I need here.
Just the birdseed and
calcium stick, Ruth-Anne.
Okay.
Erick hadn't bothered
to feed those finches
of his for days.
Well, now that the play's off,
he'll have lots of time,
won't he?
Yep. If he ever does
come home.
It's so Erick.
Ego gets a little bruised
and he heads
for the high country.
After what you did,
you can hardly blame him.
What, try to protect him?
Try to look out for him?
Since when did that
become such a crime?
You patronized him.
The man needs
a little confidence.
A few successes
under his belt,
that's all.
Yes, as long as
they're his successes.
Ruth-Anne...
I still think that Ed
should have had that role.
Fine, Ruth-Anne.
Do you want
to trade places with me
over at the Sourdough? Hmm?
Do you want to
try living with Erick
for the next six months?
Head injustice collector.
You talk about drama?
What'd she cast him for?
Is she deaf? Is she blind?
Nobody appreciates me
around here.
I'm rotting
in this hell hole.
Then he wouldn't clean
the house for a week.
I thought you said
you were looking out for him.
I was.
Looking out for yourself,
if you ask me.
Well, I didn't.
Klonopin. Klonopin.
Klonopin.
I'm so tired,
I can't even see straight.
Okay. Here we are.
Half a tablet
every four hours.
It's a muscle relaxant.
Very strong.
You know you with
even just aspirin.
You know,
name the last time
I had muscle spasms.
It was when I interviewed
for the lifestyle section
of LA Outlook.
Oh, well,
that was a fiasco.
No kidding.
You didn't leave the house
for 10 days.
The house. The bedroom!
Remember that ratty,
old, blue robe of yours?
Look at you.
I think you're enjoying this.
You're enjoying this. You are.
What? No.
Yeah! I knew
I shouldn't have come here.
Your baby robin,
fallen out of the nest again.
You fixing it's little wing.
So familiar.
So admit it,
this is making you happy.
No.
It's not making me happy.
It's making me sleepy.
Oh, God!
Mrs. Capra! Mrs. Capra!
Maggie sent me over.
She wants you to read this.
What? What is it?
It's the play.
She's rewriting it.
She's rewriting Bus Stop?
Well, just the end
with Bo and Cheri.
She can't do that.
Well,
she thinks that the kiss
is a little bit much
for Chris right now.
So she's making things
turn out different
at the bus stop.
She said
she hopes you like it.
Michelle.
Your neck. Please.
Get some rest, okay?
I'll look at those, Ed.
I'll run back home
and see if she's done
with the rest of 'em.
Potatoes, potatoes everywhere,
not a drop to drink.
Very funny.
Yet untrue.
The still.
There's a reason
they call it that.
Man can hear himself think.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
RON: Erick? Erick, it's Ron.
lnevitable.
MICHELLE: Chris? Holling?
Come on, it's Michelle.
I need to talk to
you guys, all right?
CHRIS: We ain't buying
whatever you're selling,
right, Ricky?
ERICK: Ditto.
Just hear me out,
okay, guys?
Listen, Erick...
What's that
all over your trousers?
That's puke.
That poor bastard.
Oh, don't apologize.
You did me a favor.
Both of you.
Listen, Erick,
I'm sorry, she's sorry.
We're all sorry.
Mistakes were made...
All right, I made them.
She really wants
you in this play.
That's right, Erick.
I do.
Nope.
But you have to.
Do not.
Hell with the trout.
I am not talking about trout.
I know you, Erick.
You're theater people.
There's an audience
out there waiting.
And you have signed
that unwritten contract,
the show must go on.
You have no idea
what you're asking of me.
Well, you can have him.
But you can't have me.
I ain't going back.
I ain't doing it.
You don't have to, Chris.
Good.
No, no, no!
I mean, you don't
have to kiss Maggie now.
See,
she's rewritten the script.
She what?
Yeah. I mean
at least we won't
have to refund tickets.
Right.
Kind of a Bus Stop
for the '90s, you know.
See, here,
Cheri doesn't fall for Bo.
She doesn't want
to enter into another
dependent relationship.
So she goes back
to Kansas City,
hones her singing skill.
And Bo, he goes back
to the ranch to be Bo.
To Montana, where
being Bo is all right.
„It was probably
your parents' fault, Bo.
They didn't
express affection,
so how could you?”
The sins of the fathers.
„Thank you, Cheri,
for being so supportive.”
No!
No, we can't do this.
I know it sounds crazy.
Wrong, maybe, to rework
an American classic.
But if you
think about it...
No!
We can't send Bo
back to the ranch!
What'd that be, huh?
What kind of life is that?
Never finding a meaningful,
personal, loving relationship?
I don't think so.
I'm not gonna
let that happen to Bo.
He's gotta face it, man.
What are you saying, Chris?
I'm saying
he's gotta kiss her.
He's gotta kiss her right.
I'm gonna make sure he does.
Oh, yeah! All right.
Michelle.
The doctor.
Hey, Holling.
Hey, Holling.
Wake up, buddy. Play's on.
We're back on.
The play?
You can take me to dinner
and then perhaps
we can go to lunch together.
See?
He'll be fine.
Everything will be fine.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Well, here's the tables
and the chairs.
The sugar dispensers.
Just like a diner.
Well, it is a diner.
It's Bus Stop.
Oh, hi, Marilyn!
How are you?
Somebody ate our props.
We had six powdered donuts.
Oh, they ate our props.
I'll get another box.
Okay.
BOY: Mrs. Capra?
Yes. Hi.
The roses for Maggie,
well,
they froze in my car
last night. I'm sorry.
Oh! Look, they lost
their little heads.
Well, that's all right.
They look fine to me.
Everybody likes
to get flowers.
Mrs. Capra?
You all right, Mrs. C?
(GROANING)
Oh, right.
Forced perspective.
I was gonna talk
to you about that,
wasn't I?
Oh, well,
they'll just have to duck.
Oh!
MAN: Heads up!
(GLASS CRASHING)
(GRUNTING)
Oh, Michelle,
you all right?
Hi.
Let me see.
I must have dozed off.
Oh, hey, where is everybody?
Ah, they went
home to get ready for
opening night, Michelle.
Yeah, performance,
right?
You never
get used to it.
Butterflies, huh?
I get nervous
when I'm not nervous.
Just think,
in a couple of hours,
all those seats are
gonna be filled
and the houselights
are gonna dim
and the audience...
The animal in the dark.
The animal. Yeah.
Us and them.
Richard Burton thought
that it was a beast
that he had to tame
like a tiger.
But what is theater,
really,
but a group of people
gathered together
to sit bravely and quietly,
and try to solve
their humanity?
That's beautiful, Erick.
And who are we?
The actors?
We are a conduit of change.
People come here
to be altered
and we send them away
knowing something
or feeling something
that they have never
known or felt before.
(THUDDING)
Michelle?
Michelle,
are you all right?
Michelle?
HOLLING: Where am I?
Oh, it's you.
Dear girl,
what a sweet awakening.
SHELLY: How do you feel?
That is an
impolite question.
How long
have I been asleep?
Oh, a couple of hours.
Nature has blessed
me sometimes with
total blackouts.
I seem to remember
absolutely nothing after
we started our performance.
How were we?
Marvelous.
Oh, I'm glad.
Can I get you
something to eat?
Uh, no.
Nothing to eat.
Dr. Lyman, you must have
something to eat, really.
Must I?
Oh, yes! Please!
Well,
for your sweet sake,
I'll have a couple of
three-minute eggs
and some toast
and some orange juice.
But I'm doing this for you,
mind you.
Just for you.
(WHlSPERlNG)
Way to go, babe.
Well, Bo,
I'm gonna go out and help
the driver with the chains.
You stay here
and take care
of your hand.
Cheri,
would I be molesting you
if I said something?
No.
Well, you was so pretty,
and warm-hearted and sweet,
well, I felt like I could
love you and I did.
Bo...
You think
you really do love me?
Well, Cheri, I couldn't
be familiar with a gal
I didn't love.
How you feeling now,
cowboy?
I ain't the happiest critter
that was ever born.
Yeah, well, just 'cause
you ain't happy now
doesn't mean you ain't
gonna be happy tomorrow.
Feel like shaking hands
now, cowboy?
Pretty good, huh?
Mmm-hmm. Not bad.
Well, go on, Bo.
He's only trying
to be friends.
I don't mind.
I just
want you to remember
there's no hard feelings.
So long.
CHRIS: So long.
ERICK:
I'm going home now, Grace.
I'll see you Monday.
Montana's not
a bad place, miss.
Nice fella.
Well, better be
boarding the bus, Bo.
Cheri.
Hi, Bo.
Well, I promised
not to molest you,
but if you was to
give your permission,
it'd be all right,
I'd like to
kiss you goodbye.
You would?
I'd like for you
to kiss me, Bo.
I really would.
Wait, Bo!
Don't you think this time
when you kiss me,
it ought to be different?
Oh.
Well, golly,
when you kiss
someone for serious,
it's kind of scary,
ain't it?
Yeah.
It is.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
MAN: Bravo!
Hey, good night, Cheri.
Oh, night, Virgil!
Real nice, Maggie.
Oh, thank you, Holling.
Good night.
Night.
Maggie,
I just wanted to tell you.
You really
slam-dunked it out there.
Well, thank you, Shelly.
You were really good, too.
No, I mean, with Cheri.
I mean,
I probably couldn't do it
any better if I had done it.
Thanks.
Well, just wanted
to tell you.
Oh, okay. Night.
Night.
Hey.
Hey!
That was a lot of fun.
Yeah.
It was.
Well, I guess, I'll see you
tomorrow night then.
Okay.
Okay.
Bye.
All right.