September 2018

15 news/westerner
Fall play director,
David Harmon,
provides rehearsal
notes to the
cast of “Peter and
the Starcatcher”
in advance of
next week’s performances.
September 17, 2018
RENOVATION
bringing newrhythms
DES PLAINES THEATER TO REOPEN IN 2019
NINA PALMER
PLAY REVIVES FAVORITE STORYBOOK CHARACTERS
BY LUCY ELLSWORTH
reporter
Following the backstories of
well known characters from “Peter
Pan,” students will stage its unofficial
prequel next week. This year’s
fall play, “Peter and the Starcatcher,”
premieres at 4 p.m. next Thursday,
Sept. 27, followed by performances
on Sept. 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. in the
auditorium.
The show is tailored for both
younger and older audiences, adding
new details and characters that demonstrate
the events leading up to the
story of Peter Pan.
Director David Harmon said,
“The audience is up on our stage.
It is an intimate performance venue
and different from our larger musical.”
In addition to the performances
at Maine West, this production of
“Peter and the Starcatcher” is a candidate
to be featured at the Illinois
High School Theatre Festival at
the University of Illinois. This lasts
three days in January, featuring the
best performances of high school
theatre programs across Illinois. Performing
at this festival is the theatre
equivalent of a sports team going to
state.
“Sharing their talents and efforts
would represent our program well
and be a tribute to their leadership,”
Harmon said.
This opportunity will also bring
its own obstacles. “The additional
challenge of mobilizing our show
and performing it in a new, adapted
environment promises to be exciting,”
senior Maxwell Romza, the actor
portraying Peter, said.
Actors have been hard at work
rehearsing for about five weeks,
learning British accents, lines, and
stage directions while adding in
props, lighting, and music. In addition
to the cast, the directors have
put a lot of work into the makings
of this play.
“We attend almost every rehearsal
from start to finish, writing down
important notes,” senior student
director Jacqueline Sepulveda said.
These notes are one part of the process
of transitioning from a script to
a finished product.
Spending a significant amount of
time together has served as an opportunity
for the cast and crew to
bond with one another. “It’s nice to
be in an environment where we’re
producing something for others to
enjoy,” sophomore Rose Kurutz
said, who has the role of Captain
Scott.
With a story sure to engage and
entertain the audience, “I can’t imagine
this play being anything less than
a must see,” Romza said.
BY NABAH SULTAN
reporter
After four years of being
shut down, the Des
Plaines Theater plans to
reopen as a live music
theater in the next year. Rivers Casino
has partnered up with the City
of Des Plaines in order to finance
the renovations as part of their
community service agreement.
The venue was purchased by city
hall for $1.2 million in July, with
the River’s Casino contributing
up to $2.2 million
for acquisition and
renovation.
Now,
there are
plans to
turn the
once movie
theater into
an area for
live entertainment—
mostly music.
“We are still in the beginning
stage of the renovations. We are
working on securing an operator to
hire and let them operate the theater,
bring more people in, and to
help design it in a way they know it
will make the theater profitable. At
the moment, we are gutting the interior,
getting it ready for the architect
and to hire contractors,” Director
of Community for the City of Des
Plaines Mike McMahon said.
As it transforms into a live music
and performance venue, the
theater carries with it a long tradition
of entertaining residents, going
back to when it first opened in 1925
by William B. Betts as a vaudeville
performance hall. The building was
later purchased in 1935 by members
of the Balaban family who used it
primarily as a movie house. Horror
erupted in 1982 when a fire nearly
destroyed the theater, but it reopened
a couple years later with two
auditoriums, each seating around
275 people and screening secondrun
films.
Since then, there have been
many visitors, chomping on popcorn
while making memories.
Tom Stettner, a Special Education
Teacher and Maine West alum, has
great memories created at the Des
Plaines Theater. “Three of my football
teammates and I would often
go,” Stettner said. “We definitely
did not see new releases when they
were popular because it was common
practice to wait for a movie to
reach the Des Plaines Theater
and it was cheaper
there. When
we reached our
teen years, it was
a popular place
to see movies
that your parents
wouldn’t
want to watch
like ‘Jaws’ or
‘Cujo.’”
Work began
once more in Oct. 2010, intending
to condense the theater of
twin auditoriums to just one single
screening room. Finally, a year later,
the theater reopened with new renovations
seating 700 people.
Just three years later, the Des
Plaines Theater closed due to building
code violations. “With the new
development, residential and commercial
in the downtown area, it appears
to be an opportune time for
the theater to reopen. We can look
to other towns that have saved their
local theaters as role models of success
as well as things that have not
worked out right,” Stettner said.
The theater could once again
be a place where local Des Plaines
teens can go to relax on the weekends.
“I think it’s a good idea
because it’s going to bring more
people to downtown Des Plaines
and it’s going to be a good place for
children, teens, and adults to come
together,” sophomore Anna-Christina
Gonzalez said.