When the newer Elgin theater company, Elsinore, picked “Shooting Star” for its second season opener, its members had no idea a movie starring Meg Ryan would be releasing around the same time.
Formerly known as Elsinore Players, the company reorganized as Elsinore, a theater ensemble, in 2022. During its inaugural season, it received seven nominations for the Lou Awards, which celebrate community theatre in the north and northwest suburbs, for its initial two productions, Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and Terrence McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in The Clair De Lune.”
Incidentally, Elsinore founding member Jamie Ewing of Crystal Lake won Best Performer in a Leading Male Role (Play) for his titular role of Johnny at the awards handed out Sept. 17.
Ewing will star as Reed McAllister and Lori Rohr of Palatine, another Elsinore co-founder, will star as Elena Carson in Elsinore’s upcoming production of the play “Shooting Star.” Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays Sept. 29-Oct. 15 at First United Methodist Church in Elgin.
Co-founding member Thomas Neumann of Belvidere is the director.
“I read it and it’s this amazingly beautiful romantic comedy that has so much heart,” Neumann said. “In doing our research, it like, ‘Meg Ryan keeps popping up. Why is that?’ Then Lori sent us the article about her doing the movie and it was like, ‘Well, that’s convenient.'”
The movie was slated to open Oct. 13, their closing weekend, but was pushed back to Nov. 3 because of Taylor Swift’s “Eras” movie.
“We liked to think they heard we were doing it and was threatened by us,” they said. “We joke that the show is about happy coincidences so we had to have a happy coincidence ourselves. This just happened to be the one that landed in our lap.”
“Shooting Star” is about a couple that dated a couple of decades ago. By happenstance, they’re snowed in at an airport and bump in each other.
“What if you bumped into an ex and certain things happened in your past that really kind of altered something in your life that you still think about to this day,” Neumann said. “What would you say, what would you do, how would that be? It explores the minutia of that nugget. It’s literally a what-if show.”
It’s written by the prolific playwright Steven Sietz.
“I think he’s one of America’s most produced playwrights, but this show has not been done a lot,” they said. “We’ve done (shows by) Terrence McNally and Edward Albee, but this is one of those unsung shows by a well-known playwright that not many people get to see.”
Neumann thinks that people will be attracted to that universal “what-if.”
“Even if it’s not a significant other or a partner, there’s always that, ‘I wonder if I bumped into this person from 20 years ago that I met at a party and we never talked again,’ what would happen. How would that alter my life where I currently am? It has a universal question. The show ends and you’re like, “Oh, what if that happened to me? How would I respond?’ they said.
“It snowballs. There are these small, very human things that happens to everyone. It’s not a fairy tale story. Almost everything in this show has happened in every person’s life in one way or another. There’s no hiding from it reminding you of something. You’re going to be reminded of something and then you have to deal with whatever you’re feeling.”
‘Shooting Star’
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 29-30, Oct. 6-7 and 13-14; 3 p.m. Oct. 1, 8, 15
Where: First United Methodist Church, 216 E. Highland Ave., Elgin
Tickets: $18-$22
Information: eventbrite.com and search for Elsinore
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
