The Christmas Bus

Theatre fans already know Mrs. Frump, Sheriff Snodgrass, Darlene, the Traveling Troubadour, a group of “hooligans” from an orphanage and a “wheezing, clanking, groaning” bus.
Blowing Rock Stage Company produced the story of The Christmas Bus as their holiday production in 2003, a world premiere for author Bob Inman, who actually found himself a featured performer in the play.
Already established as one of America’s most popular best selling authors, Inman’s warm, comical and truly inspirational stories have been shared in Home Fires Burning, Captain Saturday, Old Dogs and Children, Crossroads, and Dairy Queen Days - the latter two also presented on the stage as world premieres from B.R. Stage.
The unique history of The Christmas Bus, however, is that it began as a theatre production and now is a new book published by Novello Festival Press of Charlotte.
Lyle Baskin, who designed the set for the production when it was produced in 2003, suggested to Inman that The Christmas Bus should be a book.
From that suggestion, not only did Inman rework the story of the Peaceful Valley Orphanage to book form, but convinced Baskin to do the colorful illustrations.
“So here are the story and characters in another form, brought wonderfully to life through Lyle’s own imagination,” says Inman in his acknowledgments. “I’m also indebted to Ken Kay for helping give birth to the story.”
It was Ken Kay, Artistic Producing Director for Blowing Rock Stage, who directed the 2003 production of The Christmas Bus.
Christmas is coming to the Peaceful Valley Orphanage where kindly Mrs. Frump is in charge of a gaggle of rowdy kids.
Frump decides that her orphans need real homes and real families to fill the emptiness in their lives. So on the day before Christmas, she loads th kids onto a rickety old bus and sets off to deliver them to their destinations.
Trouble is, she hasn’t asked permission from the Busybodies on the board of trustees, who think Frump is too old and frazzled to handle her brood. Along the way, they pick up a traveling troubadour on his way home to a girlfriend who may not be very happy to see him.
Soon, what began as a simple bus ride turns into a harum-scarum adventure as Frump and her orphans are pursued by the Busybodies - and the suspicious Sheriff Snodgrass.
“My story was born in a van traveling from Denver to Breckenridge, Colorado, several years ago,” says Inman. “It was a few days before Christmas, and the van was filled with tourists heading to the ski slopes.
“Except for one - a young man carrying a battered guitar case and a duffel bag,” Inman continues. “He shared his story with the rest of us: a year on the road trying to make it as a folksinger, with a girlfriend left behind in Colorado. She was mighty upset that he went, but he just had to try. Over the year, they had lost touch. Now, he was going back. Would she be glad to see him? Maybe not. Maybe there was someone else. But he was taking the chance because he still loved her and missed her and needed her even more than his music.
“He was the first passenger out of the van. It pulled up in front of a small house and he climbed out, guitar case and duffel bag in hand, and trudged up to the door. He knocked and it opened a bit, revealing a young woman. They carried on an animated, sometimes heated conversation. Those of us in the van couldn’t hear, but we crossed our fingers and held our breaths and maybe even prayed a little. Come on, lady. He love you. Let him in. And then she did. And we clapped and cheered and maybe even shed a tear or two. The folksinger disappeared inside with a wave, and we drove on into the night. It was Christmas, and maybe all wasn’t exactly right with the world, but this sure was.
“As I savored the experience, my imagination took over,” Inman continues. “The folksinger became the Traveling Troubadour and the van became a bus full of singing orphans and a warm-hearted, frazzled woman who loved and took care of them and led them on the adventure of their lives.”
In what is sure to become a modern Christmas classic, Robert Inman weaves a heartwarming tale of love, laughter, and serendipity. With delightful illustrations by Lyle Baskin, The Christmas Bus will appeal to every member of the family. Available in bookstores around the country, The Christmas Bus is already on the performance schedule for Blowing Rock Stage Company in 2007 - this time on the stage of the Mariam and Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Christmas Bus, autographed by Mr. Inman and Mr. Baskin is available at the Performing Art Center, as are a number of other books by Bob Inman. Currently playing at the Center is Bob Inman’s Dairy Queen Days, a world premiere directed by Ken Kay for Blowing Rock Stage Company. That production continues through Sunday, October 22 and tickets can be reserved by calling 295-9627