Read the 9/13 review of The Bus by Brent Hallenbeck of The Burlington Free Press entitled, The Bus is Powerful Work by First-time Vermont Playwright. He calls it ... an extraordinary play ... a powerful, striking piece... www.burlingtonfreepress.com

Listen to an interview with the writer, director and cast of 'The Bus' and hear original music from the show at www.NCPR.org (North Country Public Radio) Go to the arts page and look for Preview: The Bus.

Read the 9/12 Burlington Free Press article entitled, Vt. Filmmaker Takes New Road with The Bus ... by Brent Hallenbeck in the Living Section at www.BurlingtonFreePress.com.

Read the SevenDays article entitled, Holy Role... by Cathy Resmer in the 9/6 issue of SevenDays at www.SevenDaysVT.com (you'll have to do a search as this is a weekly newspaper)

Over the past two months, we've held a series of public readings of 'The Bus' where eight professional actors sat in front of small audiences and read the play in character. Afterwards, the audience filled out a questionnaire and discussed the play. These are a few of their written comments...

"This play reads like a great novel - I can't wait to see it on stage!" ... Chris Tebbetts, Young Adult Book Author, Hinesburg

"Wonderful! Compassionately conceived and written."... Sally Ballin, Volunteer Coordinator, COTS, Burlington

"I was very drawn in - I didn't want it to be over. Very powerful and important." ... Martha Whitney, Instructor of Yoga, Burlington

"You'll come away wondering where you fit into this picture." ... Barbara Emerson, Burlington

Rehearsals began this week in Burlington, Vermont, on a new play by local playwright, James Lantz. 'The Bus' is set to be staged at Burlington's FlynnSpace September 12 - 17 and will be directed by Seth Jarvis.

Set in small-town America, 'The Bus' is the story of two teens caught in the middle of a dispute between the owner of a small gas station and a large church. The play addresses several themes including community tensions caused by a large church and small town homophobia.

An official selection of the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival, Lantz and Jarvis decided to decline their invitation to the prestigious festival in order to premiere the play in Burlington. "There is no way we could take our entire Vermont cast and crew to New York City - it's just too big of a play," Lantz said. "If we had gone to the Fringe, we would've had to pick up our cast and crew down there and we just didn't want to do that. There's a lot of talented theatre artists in Vermont - we're super-excited to premiere our play up here."

Dennis McSorley, a familiar actor on Burlington stages, says of being cast, "I'm thrilled to be in this play because it allows me the chance to bring this story to life - a story that is both timely and timeless. The opportunity to perform a new play by a Vermont playwright is a treat in itself - as it is to be on stage with talented actors I know and respect."

'The Bus' opens at Burlington's FlynnSpace September 12th, tickets are available through FlynnTix. More information is available on the production's website at www.TheBusThePlay.com