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THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
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The first show of Company
Theatre's 31st season is "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling
Bee". The show is a one-act musical comedy with music and lyrics
by Massachusetts native, William Finn and a book by Rachel
Sheinkin. The show centers around a fictional spelling bee set
in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. While
the title tells you the plot, the play is character driven. Six
quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three
equally-quirky adults. The children are in the throes of
puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape
childhood themselves. The kids learn that winning isn't
everything and losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. An
unusual aspect of the show is that four real audience members
are invited on stage to compete in the spelling bee alongside
the six young characters. Another amusing aspect of the show is
that the official announcer of the words, Mr. Panch provides
ridiculous usage-in-a-sentence examples when asked to use words
in a sentence which makes him as helpfully unhelpful as
possible. The 2005 Broadway show directed by James Lapine, was
nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book.
The show's Tony Award winning team created the unlikeliest of
heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a
spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit
in at the same time. Director Nathan Fogg picks the best
performers for these 9 roles while musical director Michael
Joseph taught them the intricate melodies and Nathan
also supplies the topnotch dances that entrance the audience. A
spontaneous standing ovation greets the talented cast at the
curtain call in a show that will warm your heart during this
bitter winter season.
This is a high energy show
from start to finish. Nathan blocks the show excellently, having
the audience spellers enter from the aisle of the theatre and
has them interact with the cast members beautifully including
several dance numbers, too. The important ingredient in this
show is audience interaction. The first cast member eliminated
has to sell refreshments to the crowd. It is hilarious as the
person throws candy and peanuts into the audience. Bob
Grazioso and his crew built the school gymnasium set which is
very realistic with a stage and curtain on it. Jenn
Spagone designs the comical costumes with lighting by Michael
Clark Wonson and sound by Bob Grazioso. Michael conducts and
plays in the 5 piece orchestra and taught the cast the harmonic
blend of the songs. The musical numbers shine under his
guidance. Nathan's dances are fantastic and include a kick
line, the Charleston, a foot dance and a romantic child dance
ala Fred and Ginger. The performers double up on some of the
roles in this show. The three adults in the show are
excellently played. Paula Markowicz is hilarious and shines as
Rona Peretti, the #1 realtor in Putnam County. She is a lovely
red head whose character is warm and sweet with the children but
stern with Mr. Panch who has a crush on her. Paula has a
fabulous soprano singing voice and she sings the lead in
"Spelling Bee Rules" and "My Favorite Moment of the Bee". (Her
favorite moment before the show is when all the children are
filled with the joy of competition and how everyone has a chance
to win it.) Rona reveals that she won the Third Annual spelling
bee years ago by spelling syzygy during the opening song "The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" which sounds like
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". I first reviewed Paula as
the mother in Company Theatre's award winning "Ragtime" back in
2003. This show is proof that she can handle comic as well as
dramatic roles with ease. Alex LeBaron is a natural born comic
as Mr. Panch. He is the vice-principal who has a crush on Rona.
Panch returns to the contest after a five year absence after an
"incident" at the 20th Bee and is getting better on a high fiber
diet and Jungian analysis. The character is the announcer of the
words that need to be spelled and his funny definitions and
usage in sentences are hysterical. The ex-convict, Mitch Mahoney
who is now doing community service as the comfort counselor is
played fabulously by John King. He is dressed like a Guido with
tattoos from Jersey Shore. Mitch hands out juice boxes to the
losing spellers. His topnotch tenor voice soars in his song
"Prayer of the Comfort Counselor" and "Pandemonium" which turns
into a Charleston with the whole cast doing a wild dance to it.
Paula and John also play Olive's parents in the most poignant
song in the show, "I Love You Song" with Colleen.
All the performers playing
the children, do a tremendous job in this show. Colleen
McDonough, a pretty blond plays Olive, a newcomer to the
Spelling Bee. Olive loves to study words and their definitions
and read the entire dictionary as a child while sitting on the
toilet. Colleen has a fantastic soprano voice which she uses in
"My Friend, The Dictionary". She has many comic moments in the
show but the show stopping number with its poignancy is the "I
Love You Song" she does with Paula and John as her parents in
her imagination who help her to spell. They sing it in three
part harmony. Colleen also has a touching dance with
William. Leaf is wonderfully played by Paul Brennan. Leaf has
hippie parents, is home schooled, makes his own clothes
and dresses like a superhero. His powerful voice soars in
his solo, "I'm Not Smart" which is reminiscent of "The Kite"
from Charlie Brown. His family doesn't think he is intelligent
enough to compete in the Bee but it because he is easily
distracted. When Leaf spells the words correctly, he is in an
eerie trance which is comical. Paul also plays Carl, the
overbearing gay father of Logainne William Barfee who was a
Putnam County Spelling Bee finalist last but was eliminated
because of his allergic reaction to peanuts is excellently
played by Jose Merlo who is dressed like a nerd. William has a
famous method which brings him to spelling glory even though he
only has one working nostril and a touchy personality by
continually telling people how to correctly pronounce his last
name. Jose sings "Magic Foot" where he spells the word out on
one foot while doing a song and dance with the cast. Darren
Bunch is terrific as Chip Tolentino who is a boy scout and the
winner of the 24th Annual Spelling Bee. He has the funniest song
in the show called "My Unfortunate Erection". Darren makes the
song a hoot as he sings that it is his penis not his brain that
is at fault and blames Marigold Coneybear for it. Logainne is
played beautifully by Bethany Boles. Her character has two gay
men as fathers, is a bit of a neat freak and speaks with a lisp.
Logainne becomes upset when her father deliberately spills soda
on the stage floor to try to screw up William's magic foot.
Bethany's comic song is "Woe Is Me" which is about the problems
she faces with having two dads. Sarah Belliveau plays Marcy Park
who is the poster child for Over-Achievers. She stalks to the
mike and knows the definition of the word before Panch can give
it to her in a sentence. Marcy wears a Catholic school uniform,
attends "Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows", speaks six languages
and is not allowed to cry. Sarah sings "I Speak Six Languages"
which tells of her prowess at everything while she is backed up
by Bethany, Colleen and Paula doing a Supremes type harmony and
dance on top of the desk. She has a funny scene with Jesus
(Darren) who appears to her in a moment of crises. Not wanting
to spoil the ending, I can't divulge any more details of the
show. The epilogue tells what happened to everyone in the show.
So for a fantastic contemporary musical be sure to catch "The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". It will bring back many
memories of spelling bees when you were in grade school.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (10 to 14 February, 2010) Company Theatre, 30 Accord Park Drive, Norwell, MA 1(781)871-2787 or www.companytheatre.com
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