Wagner College Theatre Stages SPELLING BEE, Closes 12/5

The Wagner College Theatre's second Main Stage production of the year is "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," a one-act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The 2005 Broadway production was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book.

The show centers around a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the bee, run by three equally quirky grown-ups.

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. During the 2005 Tony Awards, former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton competed.

Who will be invited on stage at Wagner? And what will happen next?

The show has many possible outcomes, depending on whether the audience participants are good spellers or not. If the audience spellers do well, the show goes in one direction; if they do not, it goes in another. The cast and crew have to be ready for anything.

Wagnner's "Spelling Bee" is guest directed by John Carrafa. Carrafa performed with the Twyla Tharp Company for ten years. His work on Broadway began as a performer and assistant to choreographer Twyla Tharp for the stage musical version of "Singin' in the Rain" (1985). He did the choreography for the dramatic play "Love! Valour! Compassion!" (1994), and recently both choreographed and directed "Good Vibrations" (2005). Carrafa has twice been nominated for a Tony Award for his choreography for the revival of "Into the Woods" (2001) and "Urinetown" (2002), for which he also received a Drama Desk nomination and is the winner of the Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award.

Carrafa says that "Spelling Bee" is "about taking young people seriously. Their problems have as much impact on their lives as those we experience in our adult lives. Young people should be carefully listened to."

Cast members take the stage on alternate evenings. Seniors in the cast include Jacqueline Nuzzo and Sammi Cohen (Rona, the moderator), Sal Pavia and Michael Dinneen (Chip), and Jill Butterfield and Danielle Matarese (Logainne).

NOTE: Although the show is about youngsters, there is mature subject matter that makes "Spelling Bee" less suitable for young children.

The Wagner College Theatre's Main Stage production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs from Wednesday, Nov. 17 through Saturday, Nov. 20, and resumes after the Thanksgiving break, from Wednesday, Dec. 1 through Sunday, Dec. 5. The curtain rises at 8 p.m. (except Sunday, Dec. 5), and 2 p.m. matinees are staged on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 & 5). For tickets, visit or call the box office at 718-390-3259.