25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The second show of URI theatre's season is the RI premiere
of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". The show is a one
act musical comedy with music and lyrics by 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 grown-ups. The
six adolescents are in the throes of puberty, overseen by adults who
barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that
winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you
a loser. An unusual aspect of the show is that three 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. An added attraction is
the different celebrity spellers at each performance.The 2005 Broadway
production, 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 Paula McGlasson casts the
best people in these 9 roles (an alternate cast performs at different
shows) while Lila Kane musically directs these talented students
wonderfully. Dante Schiarra supplies the topnotch choreography that
entrances the audience. The cast is rewarded with a standing ovation
at the close of the show.
The show is high energy from start to finish. Paula blocks the show
marvelously and has the cast run up the aisles of the theatre a few times.
The important ingredient in this show is audience interaction. The first
cast member eliminated has to sell refreshments in the audience which is
hilarious as the person throws candy, chips and fritos at the
crowd. Paula is aided her task by a marvelous creative
team. Patrick Lynch built the school gymnasium set with a
stage and curtain on it. David Howard design the comical costumes
with lighting by Christian Wittwer and sound by Michael Hyde. Lila
not only directs her 4 piece orchestra but plays the lead keyboards
for the show. Dante's dances are excellent and include the
Charleston, a kick line, a scat dance and a romantic kid's dance. He
is an equity actor who also performed at Theatre by the
Sea. The three adults in this show are played wonderfully.
Katie Travers is hilarious as Rona Peretti, the # 1 realtor in Putnam
County. She is a statuesque red head whose character is very
sweet with the children but stern with Mr. Panch who has a crush on
her. Katie's excellent soprano voice leads "Spelling Bee Rules" and
"My Favorite Moment of the Bee" is before the show when all the
children are filled with the joy of competition and how everyone has a
chance of winning the bee. The character reveals that she won the third
spelling bee years ago. Katie and Shannon Hartman as young Rona
on the auditorium stage set while they both spell 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 Katie in
"Honk" in 2006. Ben Rose is very funny as Mr. Panch, the vice
principal who has a crush on Rona Peretti. He returns to the contest
after a five year absence by getting better on a high fiber diet and
Jungian analysis. Panch is the announcer of the words that need to be
spelled and his funny definitions and usage in sentences are extremely
comical. Ben's topnotch baritone voice is heard in several numbers
including the "Goodbye" numbers and in "Pandemonium". I last reviewed
Ben as Andrew Carnes in "Oklahoma" last year. The ex-convict, Mitch
Mahoney who is now doing community service as the comfort
counselor is played excellently by Kyle Viverito. Mitch who is
dressed as a Guido from New York, hands out juice boxes to the losing
students. Kyle's fabulous tenor voice soars in his song "Prayer
of the Comfort Counselor" and "Pandemonium" reprise which is a scat
number while the company does a dance to it. Katie and Kyle also play
Olive's parents in the most poignant song in the show "I Love You Song"
with Micah.
All the students cast as the children do a tremendous job in their
roles. Olive is played by Micah Tougas who I reviewed as Luisa in "The
Fantasticks" at the Granite Theatre in 2006. She is a pretty
brunette. Olive is a newcomer to the Spelling Bee. She
sings "My Friend, the Dictionary" and has a gorgeous soprano
voice. Micah has many funny moments in the show but the touching song with
her parents who are in her imagination to help her to spell, is a show
stopping moment for them. The dance Olive has with William is touching,
too. Leaf who has hippie parents and makes his own clothes, is
played beautifully by Jon Paul Rainville who I reviewed in "Small
Tragedy" with Benjamin and Autumn last year. He sings "I'm Not
That Smart" because his family doesn't think he is smart but
implies that is because Leaf is easily distracted. Leaf spells
the words correctly while in a spooky trance. Jon Paul also plays the
overbearing father of Logaine. William Barfee who was a Putnam County
Spelling Bee finalist last year but was eliminated because of
an allergic reaction to peanuts is wonderfully played by Benjamin Grills
who wears glasses and 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. Ben sings "Magic Foot" where
he spells the words out on the floor with his foot while doing a song
and dance with the cast. Andrew Burnap is marvelous as Chip
Tolentino who is a boy scout and champion of the 24th
Annual Spelling Bee. He has the funniest song in the show called
"Chip's Lament" which is also known as "My Unfortunate Erection".
Andrew makes this song a hoot as he sings it was his penis not his brain
that is at fault. Logainne is played by Betsy Rinaldi. Her character has
two gay men as father's, is a bit of a neat freak and speaks
with a lisp. Logaine gets upset when her father deliberately spills
coke on the stage so the magic foot can't be used. Betsy sings
"Woe Is Me" which is about the problems she faces with having two dads. I
last reviewed Betsy earlier this year in "The
Foreigner". Autumn Gillette who is a pretty blonde, plays
Marcy Park who is the poster child for Over-Achievers.
She marches to the mike and knows the definition of the word before
Panch can give it to her. Marcy wears a Catholic girl's
uniform, attends "Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows", speaks six
languages and is not allowed to cry. Autumn sings "I Speak Six
Languages" which tells of her prowess at everything. She has a funny
scene with Jesus who appears to her in a moment of crises.Not wanting to
spoil the ending, I can't say anymore about the show. The final
scene lets the audience know 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, you competed in years ago.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE( 3 to
13 December, 2009)
URI Theatre, Robert Will Theatre, Fine
Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI
1(401)874-5843 or www.uri.edu/artsci/the/