Reviewed
by Judy Richter
They're the bane of sixth grade and junior high -- the spelling bees that decide which ace spellers get to advance to another round of competition. The higher the level of competition, the more intense. We read about kids who memorize pages of the dictionary and whose parents drill them every day -- not as much fun as riding your bicycle around the neighborhood after school.
Enjoying
its West Coast premiere at the Post Street Theatre in San Francisco, "The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee " captures much of the flavor of that competition
-- the angst, the anxiety, the disappointment, the elation -- as six young
adolescents (played by young adult actors) try to spell words that some of them
(and probably most of the audience) have never heard before. They're joined by
four volunteers from the audience, good sports who join in some of the action
before being eliminated, as they invariably are. Featuring smart music and
lyrics by William Finn, Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin and direction James Lapine, the show is both humorous and
poignant as the audience gets to know more about the six kids as well as their
families. In fact, the show is as much about being a teenager and coping with
all that entails as it is about spelling words correctly.
Presiding
over the proceedings are the poised emcee, Rona Lisa Peretti (Betsy Wolfe), a former Putnam County
spelling champ and now a successful Realtor; and vice principal Douglas Panch (Jim
Cashman), who
gives the contestants the words along with definitions and sentences using the
words. For the most part, he delivers the information in a deadpan fashion even
when the definitions or sentences are silly or satirical. The other adult
character is Mitch Mahoney (an imposing James Monroe Iglehart), who is getting in his
community service hours by serving as the comfort counselor, the guy who gives
the losers a hug and a carton of juice before escorting them off the stage.
The
six contestants are Chip Tolentino (Aaron J. Albano), a Boy Scout who becomes
embarrassingly distracted by a girl in the front row; Leaf Coneybear (Stanley
Bahorek), the
son of hippies who's not quite sure how he got there; Olive Ostrovsky (Jenni
Barber), whose
mother is in India trying to find enlightenment and whose father is late for
the contest; Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Sara Inbar), the lisping, politically aware
daughter of two gay dads; William Barfee (Jared Gertner), the disheveled Jewish boy who
spells out the words with his foot; and Marcy Park (Greta Lee), the Asian American girl who
attends a private school, speaks six languages and sleeps only three hours a
night. In short, each character is somewhat stereotypical of some of the
brighter kids one might meet today.
Beowulf
Boritt's set
places the action in a high school gym with an improvised stage and bleacher
seating for the contestants. The lighting is by Natasha Katz, the character-right costumes by
Jennifer Caprio and
the sound by Dan Moses Schreier. Choreography is by Dan Knechtges. Jason Sherbundy directs the four onstage musicians
from the piano.
This
ensemble show can get a little too silly and chaotic at times, but for the most
part it's great fun, especially when it adds quips that relate to the news or
San Francisco. Its open-ended run in San Francisco is likely to continue for
quite a while.
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