BWW Reviews: St. Dunstan's 'SPELLING BEE' - Absolutely Hilarious and A Fun Time
St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild's current production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hysterical good time from start to finish. The impressive cast shines on stage with their comedic and musical talent.
The entire company works really well together. They do a great job in their group numbers, especially the opening and closing ones. Their interaction with one another throughout the entire show makes the production. The company is also very skilled at working with the audience members that are picked to come on stage. They do no let anything throw them off and do a great job of turning everything around into something comical.
Sarah Rydewski who plays Olive Ostrovsky is a vocal powerhouse. She plays the shy character so well that her gorgeous voice takes the audience by surprise especially in her number, "The I Love You Song." Jeff Foust plays the eccentric William Barfee and brings a lot of comedic moments to the show with his character's quirkiness and special magic foot. Ramsey Valentyn does a great job playing Chip Tolentino and stands out during his number "My Unfortunate Erection (Chip's Lament)." Christopher Smith is hilarious as Leaf Coneybear. The way he shows Leaf's thought process on stage is done wonderfully and he is one to watch because of the little things he does in the background during the entire show. Lauren DePorre is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre and she is fantastic in both her acting and singing. She is very lively on stage and it is hard to not watch her while she is on it. Bridget Leary plays Marcy Park and she shines on stage during her number "I Speak Six Languages." Gannon Styles does a great job at Mitch Mahoney and his number "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor" is an unexpected highlight of the production. Beth Lackey is absolutely wonderful as Rona Lisa Perretti. She is just a delight on stage in her acting and singing. Alan Canning is hilarious as Vice-Principal Douglas Panch and does a great job interacting with every character and audience volunteers.
Director Marcus Laban did a fantastic job in the intimate theatre space to make it feel welcoming. The staging choices were smart along with the use of space in the theatre. Musical director Deborah Tedrick had a vocally talented cast, but really brought them together to make them sound wonderful as a company. The production is really well done from every aspect and worth seeing.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is hilarious and will not disappoint. The extraordinary cast brings to life characters that the audience cannot help but to root for as they are entertained during the production.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is currently playing through February 1st at St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook. For more information or tickets, call 1.888.71.TICKETS or visit www.StDunstansTheatre.com.
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