By Rikki Lee Travolta
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is now delighting audiences at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in a fun, funny, and fantastic Music Theater Works mounting.
Helmed by the wonderfully talented director/choreographer Christopher Pazdernik and featuring a cast of fresh-faced talents, the Music Theater Works musical comedy is a perfect way to escape the doldrums of life. For the modest price of admission, you will be swept away to a world free of worries beyond wondering which cute “kid” is going to be crowned spelling champ. It is a playground where playful songs will have your toes tapping, your head bopping, and your thoughts dancing.
“Spelling Bee” was derived from the improvisational play C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E created by Rebecca Feldman. Based on a recommendation from famed playwright Wendy Wasserstein, Feldman collaborated with William Finn, who is credited with the music and lyrics for the musical to further develop the concept. It would make its way to Off-Broadway in January 2005. Rachel Sheinkin wrote the superbly giddy book. Additional material is credited to Jay Reiss.
After less than three months in its Off-Broadway home, the production was tapped to move to Broadway. The Broadway production opened in April 2005, and was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musial and Best Score. Sheinkin won the Tony for Best Book. The original Broadway cast album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.
The premise is simple: six school children congregate for (as the title suggests) fictitious Putnam County’s annual spelling bee. The school gymnasium in which the spelling bee takes place is beautifully created by scenic designer Ben Lipinski. The details are brilliant, right down to the school mascot panda bear painted in the middle of the gym floor.
Of course this is a musical comedy, so to add to the hilarity, the cast is made up of adults pretending to be school-age children. Each of the six has a wonderfully unique personality, with the bones provided by the script and then fully developed thanks to the exceptional creative talents of the cast and production staff.
None of these contestants are what you’d consider the “popular kids.” It is so heartwarming to see the most unique of students have their time to shine. It sends a clear message that everyone has a place in this world, even those some might consider outcasts.
Will Koski is a riot as William Barfée a socially awkward young man whose secret to great spelling is his “magic foot”. As long as he can use his foot to spell out the spelling words before saying them, he is almost unstoppable in his talents for assembling letters in the right combinations.
From his first entrance to his last moments on stage, Koski is a beacon of talent. His character is richly well-developed. Koski has a dynamic voice and provides gifted delivery of such songs as “Magic Foot.”
Rachel Guth provides her character, Olive Ostrosky, a grounded interpretation that touches the heart. Olive, who had to take the bus to the event because of absent parents, has become a master speller thanks to the religious reading of her favorite book – the dictionary. Guth is an incredible singer and a very talented actress.
Joe Lewis may have the most fun character to play in the show, certainly the most endearing. As Leaf Coneybear, Lewis takes the world on in big-eyed amazement and wonder. A home-schooled kid who wears a homemade superhero cape, Leaf is just happy to be in the contest and the opportunity to prove to his family that he is smart – something they had suggested he wasn’t.
Lewis has a Neil Patrick Harris quality to him. Considering that NPH is a personal favorite musical theatre performer of mine, that’s meant as a very hearty compliment. There is an eternal optimism to Lewis’ character. It’s quite an impressive performance.
While all the characters have their funny moments, Jamie Dillon Grossman is side-splittingly amusing as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenier, the youngest competitor in the bee. Grossman is hysterical with her quirkiness, fidgeting, and slight speech impediment. There’s only one thing she wants more than to please her two dads – to do it fairly on her own.
Grossman is a master of comical facial expressions and well-defined character quirks. Add to that her incredible voice and you’ve got quite the entertainer – all tied up in a cute little compact package.
Brandon Acosta plays Chip Talentino, the returning Putnam County spelling champ. Costumed in the uniform of a highly decorated Boy Scout, Acosta provides a dose of tantrum child to his character who can’t stand the idea of not repeating with another victory. He displays his confidence well.
Mai Hartwich is steely-eyed in her performance as the always serious Marcy Park. Hartwich moves and sings with grace. Her stoic characterization is very amusing, and she maintains the icy demeanor perfectly, right up until it is time for her to show a little warmth in her heart. It is a very nicely balanced performance.
Also adding to the fun, four audience members are brought on stage to sit with the cast and compete in the spelling bee. In addition, there are three adult characters to complement the “child” cast.
Neala Barron, wearing impressively high heels, is Rona Lisa Peretti – a former Putnam County Spelling Bee champ who now runs spelling bee competitions. Barron has a belt that is to die for – combining both power and beauty. She is strong in her character choices and really does great justice to the part. Much like some beauty pageant contestants, Rona is caught living in her past glory days.
Zach Kunde is deliciously funny as vice principal Douglas Panch, in charge of pronouncing the spelling words, providing definitions, and using the word in a sentence. Kunde is brilliant, providing endless laugh-out-loud moments with his largely improvised dialogue.
Adding to the oddball collection of characters at the spelling bee, Michael Davis Arnold portrays the grief counselor for the event. The humor is that he is assigned to the function as a part of his community service. Who better to console children with crushed feelings than someone who is there because they broke some kind of law?
Arnold is a strong actor who can sing like he was born to do it. At one point, his raw yet touching vocals had me exclaiming praise out loud while my toes curled in sheer appreciation. He has that gospel quality that takes a musical theater song and propels it into the stratosphere.
There is one other character in the play, albeit a cameo. We won’t spoil who the cameo is, or why their appearance had the audience ready to pee their pants due to laughing so hard. Talk about a divine comedy moment! You’ll have to experience it for yourself.
As fun as the show is, and it is a hoot, it also has woven into it some great messages. As made note by director Pazdernik, the positive themes can be applied universally:
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- Work hard and be proud of yourself.
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- Winning isn’t everything.
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- Be kind to others.
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- Don’t take life too seriously.
Music director Michael McBride has the cast and orchestra in fine form. Musicians for “Spelling Bee” include McBride and Heidi Joosten sharing time in the conductor/keyboardist obligations, Kevin Disch as a secondary keyboardist, Patrick Rehker on reeds, Rachel Schuldt on cello, and Ben Heppner providing percussion.
Musical highlights of the evening include “I’m Not That Smart”, “Magic Foot”, “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor” and “The I Love You Song”. All of the songs are well-orchestrated and brilliantly sung. The vocal harmonies are incredibly good.
Lighting designer Levi J. Wilkins and sound designer Forrest Gregor do their jobs with the utmost skill. Keely Vasquez provides support as both assistant choreographer and assistant director.
Costume design by Kristen Brinati is exceptionally well done. Brianti has done a great job finding child-like clothes in adult sizes. We were particularly impressed with Barfée’s dinosaur sweater. How Brinati found that in an adult size is incredibly impressive. Hair, wigs, and makeup by Melanie Saso are a positive. Props are nicely done by Ab Rieve.
Understudies for the lead roles include Lili Galluzzo (u/s Rona and Logainne), Dane Strange (u/s Mitch and Barfée), Joselle Reyes (u/s Marcy and Olive), Kevin Parra (u/s Leaf and Chip), and Bryson Howard (u/s Panch). Music Theater Works operates under the leadership of artistic director Kyle A. Dougan. The stage manager keeping the production in flight is Allison Gonzales.
In a time when there is so much strife and bitterness in the world, it’s nice to have an option to escape into a sea of comedy and music. “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is just as bright and cheery as all get out in the creative and vivacious production brought to life by Music Theater Works. Christopher Pazdernik has done Music Theater Works proud, delivering a lovely, funny, and utterly entertaining feel-good show that audiences of all ages will love.
“Spelling Bee” plays on Friday and Saturday evenings, with matinees on Wednesdays and Sundays through March 31, 2025. There is also a Thursday evening performance on Match 28. There are two adults-only performances featuring more mature comedy intonations on March 23 and March 30.
For tickets and information contact the box office at (847) 673-6300 or visit www.MusicTheaterWorks.com.
Photo credit: Brett Beiner
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