Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Delaware Theatre Company

New Light Theatre, in partnership with Delaware Theatre Company, has mounted a Putnam County Spelling Bee that proves once again why this company has become one of Delaware’s most conscientious and community‑minded artistic engines. Their mission — bringing light to the darkness by creating theatre that raises awareness and support for causes that improve the human condition, while offering emerging artists professional opportunities — is not a slogan. It’s a practice.

Aisle Say has watched them partner with nonprofits such as Attack Addiction and Jewish Family Services. They do not merely produce shows; they produce civic oxygen.

And now, they’ve turned their attention to a musical where children treat a spelling contest like a spiritual awakening, a therapy session, and a municipal emergency all at once. To call these characters “eccentric” is a modest understatement. These kids narrate their life stories with the urgency of prophets who’ve been waiting centuries for someone to ask them to spell capybara — or, in one memorable case, abot, the same word my sister Liz once faced at Candlelight. Both contestants got it wrong. Both received hugs. Both were escorted gently from the stage. Spelling Bee giveth, and Spelling Bee taketh away.

Director Lena Mucchetti aced the casting — and as Denzel famously said, that’s half the battle won. The opening number was mellifluous, a clean overture to the proceedings, and the acting and vocal work across the board were superior.

The Spellers and Their Mythic Burdens

Rona Lisa Peretti (Alexandra Wilder) Wilder “spells” it all out in My Friend, the Dictionary, presiding over the Bee like the goddess of civic procedure, patron saint of laminated rule sheets. If there is a ringleader in this circus of neuroses, she holds the baton.

William Barfée (Angel Sigala) Sigala’s Barfée — “with an accent aigu,” as he reminds us — is a cranky mage whose spellbook is his sinus cavity. Magic Foot becomes a dance number for the ages, even though Barfée appears physically allergic to ballet. Sigala makes the contradiction hilarious.

Leaf Coneybear (Charlie Barney) Barney’s Leaf is a woodland oracle who receives visions only when he’s not paying attention. His lament, I’m Not That Smart, is sung with such earnest bewilderment that you want to hand him a helmet and a hug.

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Hannah Parke) Parke adds melody and mayhem, channeling a child raised by two generals who mistake spelling for combat readiness. Her intensity brought to mind Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber — but with better diction.

Chip Tolentino (Adam Hoyak) Hoyak’s Chip faces his tragic downfall in My Unfortunate Erection, a number that reminds senior citizens (this one included) of the days when wardrobe malfunctions were a rite of passage.

Vice Principal Panch (Connor McAndrews) McAndrews plays Panch as a disgraced oracle who once misinterpreted a prophecy and now reads words off index cards. His dry wit lands every time.

Olive Ostrovsky (Felicity Mundy) Mundy’s Olive is a petite, glowing votive candle wandering through a thunderstorm of louder personalities. Her work in My Friend, the Dictionary is tender, and her presence in The I Love You Song is quietly devastating.

Marcy Park (Yi Ming Sofyia Xue) Xue explains her gifts succinctly in I Speak Six Languages, delivering the number with the precision of a Swiss watch and the exhaustion of a child who has mastered everything except joy.

Mitch Mahoney (Cookie DiOrio) For Aisle Say, DiOrio is the most intriguing figure onstage. Initially, Mitch appears to be a custodian with a ’tude, but in The I Love You Song she sheds that persona like a gang member reading bedtime stories. Her bio in the program is worth a read: she made her debut as Lolian in Kinky Boots and stole the show. Her vocal range is stratospheric.

A Note on the Ensemble

The ensemble shaded the current president — a reminder of how pervasive autocracy and grift have become in America’s sense of right and wrong. Even in a spelling bee, the zeitgeist leaks through.

Through October 4

Tickets: Buy: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

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