“Shooting Star” tells the story of Reed McAllister and Elena Carson. Reed is a mid-level businessman travelling from Boston to Austin to “show the flag” to a potential account that his company will not get. Elena is a 50ish hippie who is travelling from Austin to Boston for a cleansing ceremony. These two were lovers for almost two years back when they were in college. Reed and Elena bump into each other when a gigantic snowstorm strands their flights at an unnamed mid-America airport (read “Denver”). That’s the setup. The remainder of this 90-minute, one-act, two-hander explores the relationship through interaction between Reed and Elana, and the occasional monologue to the audience when one of the two players is elsewhere in the terminal. The essential conflict is between Reed, the realist, and Elana, the idealist stuck in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Through their dialogue, we learn how each has changed (or not), and where they are today. More significantly, we learn to see that the love between these two still remains after all the years, although it has matured. Will this chance encounter bring them together? What do we do with the chances life gives us? These are the questions this play raises.
Does the play work? Initially, I was unsure, especially with dialogue that made the actors sound as if they were reading their stage directions (i.e., verbally describing what they were doing). Luckily, that only happened in the first expository scenes. After that, good direction by David Rose and great acting turned these characters into people, and the story progressed well only broken by the occasional monologues that permitted time to jump forward. In some ways, this is the underlying problem with a -hander: you don’t have the extra scenes or characters that permit exposition in a naturalistic fashion; hence, the dialogues that occur contain much more information than would occur in real life, making them seem (in some sense) unreal. Luckily, for “Shooting Star“, the likeability of the actors and their easy-going nature, combined with their believability as a couple (which is a sign of a good director) moved the fundamental exposition problem to the background, and I quickly got caught up in the story of these two. By the end, the story of these two was known, and they were headed off in new directions, having had character growth because of the encounter.
The actors in “Shooting Star” worked well together, and you could see them as a couple. Elena was portrayed by LA-theatre veteran Michelle Duffy. Michelle always does great work—we’ve seen her in productions such as “Can-Can“, “Mask“, and “Leap of Faith“. In this non-musical role, she’s relaxed, eccentric, and provides a wonderful characterization of a woman still holding on to her ideals from the 1960s. Reed was portrayed by Kevin Symons, who we haven’t seen before but has been in numerous LA productions. Kevin came across as a likeable businessman who really didn’t want to be on this trip; he wanted to be home with his family and didn’t need this distraction from his past. Both were great.
[All actors are members of 
Turning to the technical. The scenic design by David Potts was a typically non-descript airport terminal corridor—soaring pylons and large windows with nary an electrical outlet in sight—, with props and set dressing (provided by Colony regular MacAndME) reminiscent of the recent production of “Having It All” (for good reason, it turns out: a conversation with the Executive Director informed us that the airport seating was borrowed from that production). The costumes by Dianne K. Graebner reflected the characters well: businessman-style for Reed and 1970s eclectic for Elena. Lighting and sound were by Colony regulars Luke Moyer (lighting) and Cricket S. Myers (sound)—and were excellent, as aways. Casting was by Patricia Cullen. Leesa Freed was the production stage manager.
“Shooting Star” continues at the Colony Theatre through October 16. Tickets are available through the Colony Theatre. Discount tickets are available through LA Stage Alliance; they do not appear to be up on Goldstar. After “Shooting Star“, three shows remain in the Colony Season: “Travels with My Aunt“, “Old Wicked Songs“, and the musical “Dames at Sea“. Prorated season tickets are available at prices from $60 to $117. Information can be found at the Colony Theatre website.
Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next weekend we go to the the No Ho Arts Center for Boomermania. The third weekend sees us in Sherman Oaks for “Kvetch“ at the Whitefire (and it is good weekend for Erin to see “Tick Tick Boom!” at The MET Theatre). The fourth weekend of October brings “Annie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on October 22. The last weekend of October brings “Victor Victoria” at the Malibu Stage Company on Saturday. November will start with “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT on November 5. It will also bring “Day Out With Thomas” at Orange Empire (We’re working Veterans Day, but we’re not sure about the weekend yet). It may also bring “Riverdance” at the Pantages (held for November 20, pending ticketing), and “Bring It On” at the Ahmanson (held for November 25, pending ticketing, hottix on sale October 4). Thanksgiving weekend also brings the last show of the REP season, “The Graduate”, on Saturday November 26. Also of potential interest, if time is available, are “A Sentimental Journey: The Story of Doris Day” at the El Portal (Nov 2-20), “Don’t Hug Me, I’m Pregnant” at the Secret Rose (9/30-11/20; Theatremania has $10 tickets with code “PREGNANT”); or “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center (11/19-12/16). Not of interest is “South Street” at the Pasadena Playhouse, given the reviews. The first weekend of December is lost preparing for ACSAC, although I might squeeze in something on Saturday. The next weekend is busy, with a Mens Club Shabbat in the morning, and “Travels with my Aunt” at the Colony Theatre in the evening. The remainder of December is unscheduled, but I’m sure we’ll fill things in for Winter Break. Of course, there is the de rigueur movie and Chinese food on Christmas day. As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.
