Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Music Theater Works

I still remember the word that eliminated me from my middle school spelling bee: restarant. Restauraunt. Resterant? Restaurant! The fact that I and many others remember such embarrassments nearly twenty years later helps to explain why audiences still delight in THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, a show all about the fumbles and follies of budding adolescence. The semi-improvised, fourth-wall-breaking musical now receives a delightful production at Music Theater Works that's heavy on humor if occasionally light on heart. It runs through March 31 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

For many theater fans, SPELLING BEE hardly needs a plot synopsis. Taking place in real time over 100 minutes, ten elementary school children participate in their local spelling bee and compete for a chance to go to nationals in Washington, D.C. Four of these spellers, though, are members chosen from the audience as the show begins (for those with stage fright, don't worry; you have to sign up in advance to be considered). The remaining characters are familiar archetypes: the parochial school perfectionist, Marcy Parks (Mai Hartwich); the boy scout and reigning champion, Chip Tolentino (Brandon Acosta); the dweeb with a perpetual sinus infection, William Barfée (Will Koski); and the lonely latchkey kid, Olive Ostrosky (Rachel Guth), to name a few. While the show's ending remains the same night after night, how the characters reach it varies from performance to performance. Rachel Sheinkin's script includes plenty of opportunities for the performers to show off their improvisational skills, while William Finn's libretto balances clever rhymes with catchy tunes in his signature bouncy style.

Half of the fun of seeing different productions of the musical, or even different performances of the same production, is not knowing what obscure word will be thrown at the contestants next or how they will respond. One of the highlights of opening night came when Logainne Schwartzandgrubeniere (Jamie Dillon Grossman) launched into an impromptu rant about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and the undeniable queerness of American football. Logainne is a would-be political activist with two overbearing dads, and Grossman milks her character's righteous sincerity with such humor and empathy that I want to go back to see what other diatribes she has prepared. As a vice principal with barely contained anger issues, Zach Kunde also shines in his unscripted moments, inventing increasingly strange sentences to illustrate the definitions of words few will ever hear of again.

Like Grossman, many other performers manage to balance their comedic chops with undeniable musical talents, all under the very capable musical direction of Michael McBride. As the sweet but lonely Olive, Guth plays with her dynamics to powerful effect, singing softly of her love for her only companion, the dictionary, before belting out her anger and frustration at her always absent parents (Neala Barron, who also plays the bee's motherly moderator, and Michael Davis Arnold). In fact, all three performers give a beautifully heartbreaking performance of the musical's most moving number, "The I Love You Song." On the lighter end of the spectrum, Joe Lewis endears himself to the audience as Leaf Coneybear, a sensitive homeschooler who would rather frolic than spell. The best proof of Lewis's winsome personality is how closely audience members sit at the end of their seats as he teeters at the edge of elimination; no one wants to see him leave the stage.

While there's much to laugh at while attending this SPELLING BEE, a large part of the show's appeal is how much we fall in love with these kids as they all embark on their own emotional journeys over the course of the show. Guth and Koski have a bittersweet exchange near the musical's conclusion that never fails to make me tear up, and the line is only three words long. Several audience members around me nearly shouted in pain when their favorite speller was eliminated.

But not all of the show's emotional beats land. Hartwich's Marcy is appropriately stoic, but we never really see what motivates her to finally let go of the expectations that have dogged her entire childhood. The ex-con comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney (also Arnold) ends the musical by committing himself to caring for other anxious and depressed kids, but he never gives any indication that he enjoys doing this work. There can be no denying that director Christopher Pazdernik keeps the audience laughing throughout the show while still wanting more. But there were times when I couldn't help but feel that the musical's emotional core had been neglected along the way.

This was my third or fourth time attending the BEE, and it felt like the first, a testament to the musical's cleverly crafted characters and the undeniable talent of Pazdernik's performers. I found myself laughing at jokes I'd heard countless times over the last twenty years, and I still managed to be surprised by the ultimate winner of the event. Music Theater Works's SPELLING BEE feels as fresh as ever, perhaps because it invites us to be our sweet, awkward, imaginative childhood selves all over again.

(For those wanting an equally fun yet more mature experience, Music Theater Works will have two adults-only performances on March 23 and 30.)

Photo Credit: Brett Beiner

 

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