On April 3rd through April 5th, the Colonia High School’s spring musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, took the stage by storm and by letter. The Thursday through Saturday show begin at 7 pm and Sunday is a matinee show at 2 pm at Colonia’s auditorium.
The music and lyrics written by William Finn were added to Rachel Sheinkin’s book, thus producing a very funny musical. The play was originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine in 2005.
This comedic musical is original and every night is expected to be different from the last. Since certain parts of the plot involve the audience, it is interactive. This allows improvisation from the cast members. They are also using guest spellers for each performance, so each night will be unique and different.
There are thirteen cast members in this year’s musical, although four of them play more than one role. The spelling bee is hosted by Ms. Rona Lisa Peretti (played by Emma McAndrew) and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (played by Richie Dare). The spellers in the bee are Marcy Park (played by Chelsea Chesney), Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre (played by Kelly Hedden), William Barfee (played by Wilmond Vano), Leaf Coneybear (played by Andrew Santiago), Chip Tolentino (played by Mark Sterling), and Olive Ostrovsky (played by Tiffanie Arokiaswamy). The characters that are a part of the spelling bee, though they are all very unique, have one thing in common, they all love to spell. The cast members do an outstanding job of playing their roles seeing as most of the characters are eccentric and far from the average person.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is set in Putnam County, Massachusetts. The characters each have their own individual back stories and they’re all very eccentric and unique, so putting them all into one spelling bee turns into a wonderfully amusing musical.
“[The audience] can expect to laugh a lot; it’s a very funny show,” stated freshman Alexa (Lexii) Turk, who plays Carl Grubenierre, the overbearing father of one of the spellers.
The school has put on 12 spring musical productions since 2002 since Mrs. Stephanie Platko became director. Mrs. Platko teaches public speaking and drama at the high school. She is assisted by a lengthy list of helpers who construct the sets, gather the props, make the costumes, tease the hair, and advertise the play. Although this is a smaller cast, when you add in the concession workers, greets, crew members, pit band, hair/ make-up staff and costumers there are 70 students who made this product a success from behind the scenes.
Like any competition, there are winners and there are losers and this bee has both. By the end of the show, the overall theme that the spellers learn is that it’s okay to want to do what you’re good at, as long as it’s for yourself. Many of the spellers have issues at home and by the end of the bee they all come to realize that they all are just happy to have been a part of the Bee. This musical shows us how different people can come together for a common interest or passion.
The cast and crew have worked six days a week on this production since December and you can see how hard they’ve worked to put everything together. They are a dedicated group of students that love what they’re doing and it shows in their performance. “All [problems] get left at the door. We care about the show more. The show comes first and personal problems come second,” commented junior Matt Cowan, who plays Mitch Mahoney.
This incredibly funny show will leave people remembering the songs and stories of each character. However, the show is written for mature audiences and is not recommended for small children.
