The Christmas Bus 2026
THE CHRISTMAS BUS
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Robert Inman
- Audition dates: October 12 & 13, 6:30pm
- Performance dates: December 4,5,6,11,12,13
- Directed by Stephen Buse
It's Christmas Eve, and Mrs. Frump, the director of the Peaceful Valley Orphanage, is planning what she believes will be the most special Christmas ever for her kids. She's borrowed an old bus and arranged for each child to spend Christmas with a family in the area. The only problem is, she hasn't told the Busybodies (the orphanage board of trustees, who believe Frump has gotten too old and soft to handle the rowdy kids at Peaceful Valley).
With the help of teenage Thomas, the oldest of the orphans and her trusty right-hand man, Frump sets off to deliver the kids—pursued by the suspicious Sheriff Snodgrass and the Busybodies. Along the way, they pick up a passenger: a traveling troubadour who's been on the road trying his luck as a folksinger and is now returning home to his girlfriend (who may or may not be glad to see him). It's an adventuresome ride, culminating in a Christmas even more special than Frump could have ever imagined.
It's a heartwarming Christmas tale with 15 original songs!
CHARACTERS
THE EDITOR (adult), writing a story for the Christmas edition of the newspaper
FRUMP (adult), director of the Peaceful Valley Orphanage
THOMAS (teen), high school senior and mechanical genius
SHERIFF SNODGRASS (adult), local lawman and tireless investigator
THE BUSYBODIES (three women), harpies who make life difficult for Frump
THE KIDS (Frankie, Clara, Donald, Hilda, Eugene, Louann, Casey, Jenny)
THE TROUBADOUR (adult), a traveling folk singer
DARLENE (adult), the Troubadour's girlfriend
IN-PERSON MUSICAL AUDITIONS
We will begin each evening of auditions with the vocal portion. All auditioners must be prepared to sing something. We will have a bluetooth speaker available, so please have your backing track available on your phone or an MP3 on a thumb drive.
We will then move on to acting auditions, where all auditioners will read from the script.
How auditions work:
We skip straight to what other theatres do as callbacks. No appointment is necessary. Come to either group audition time and plan to read snippets from the script with other actors. Generally, it's good to audition for any/all roles in a play.
Before you audition
- Gather a list of ALL schedule conflicts between the audition date and final performance date. This is important. The director will cast the show and create a rehearsal schedule based on provided conflicts. If you (or your child) are cast, it is your obligation to adhere to the rehearsal schedule once it is set.
- If you have never auditioned with us, and/or if you have a lot of theatre credits, we encourage you to bring a photo headshot and/or theatre résumé with you to auditions. We've put together a basic theatre résumé template in Google Docs that you can copy and use as a guide. This is a generic guide only. A résumé is optional for most directors and does not have to look like this!
Rehearsal Information
- Specific rehearsal schedules will depend on the people cast, as well as other things that are happening at the theatre.
- IN GENERAL, we try to rehearse three or four weeknights (often Mon, Tues, & Thurs with occasional Wed or Fri), 6:30-8:30-ish, and Saturday mornings 9:30-noon-ish. But again, there are multiple factors that will affect your rehearsal schedule if cast.
- Actors are only called to rehearsal when their specific parts are being rehearsed, and directors do their best to work with reasonable schedule conflicts.
- Information about the first read-through will be given at auditions.
- If cast, you will receive a rehearsal schedule at (or sometimes before) the first read-through.
- If you (or your child) are called to rehearsal, the director is counting on your presence unless it was already on your conflict sheet.
More information
The theatre is located at 500 S Bosque (Hwy 22), Whitney, TX, 76692. It's next door to Whitney Elementary School's athletic fields, directly across from the cemetery. Parking and the main entrance are on the side of the building facing away from from the street. For more info, call the theatre at 254-694-5105.