Review: Rivertown Theaters Presents THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

The first thing that came to my mind when I found out that Rivertown Theaters was doing SPELLING BEE was "Oh! That's that show where Celia Keenan-Bolger wore the pink overalls!" I don't know why that's the first thing that came to mind, but it was. Maybe because I'm a fan of hers. Maybe because it reminded me for some reason of my neon blue Tweety Bird overalls I had when I was a kid (I kid you not... My mom actually let me out of the house wearing that). Maybe because those overalls reminded me of a time in life when things were simpler. Happier. Less complicated.

But here's the thing... THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE tells us a story about a group of seemingly genius kids who should be living the simple life. Their lives, unfortunately, are anything but simple. They're either feeling pressure from their parents to be the perfect and the smartest, or they have parents who are absent from their lives. They have crushes on one another and don't quite know how to handle it (as most middle schoolers). They are misunderstood. They are determined and brave. They are shy and anxious. They have more complicated and emotionally charged lives than any child should. But, they are also just real kids. They represent real kids going through real struggles, but who are, at the end of the day, just goofy kids who want to have fun and do something they are good at.

Aside from being a really great story, they way that the story is told is very innovative. The use of flashbacks, combined with the current events of the spelling bee, is quite creative and very humorous. It also kept me on my toes as I had to keep track of where we were in the main storyline when each flashback was over.

I have to hand it to the cast of this production. One of the reasons I always loved PETER PAN is that the cast gets to go back and re-visit their childhood in a new and exciting way. This cast, while in a vastly different production than PETER PAN, got to do exactly the same thing but at an even deeper level.

The two standout cast members for me were Price Provenzano who played the role of William Barfee, and Hannah Rachal who played Logainne Schwartzandgrubeniere (say that name three times fast!). They were both absolutely hysterical, and I really connected with them because they both brought out sides of myself as a child... the perfectionist and the goober. That's the great thing about the characters in SPELLING BEE... every single audience member can identify qualities in the characters that they had as children and recall what those days were like.

Thanks to Rivertown and the cast of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE for a fun evening, and a great show! Be sure to check out their website www.rivertowntheaters.com for tickets and more information about their upcoming shows!

ARTICLE MAY ALSO BE VIEWED HERE: http://www.nolabackstage.com/single-post/2016/05/07/BWW-Review-Rivertown-Theaters-Presents-THE-25th-ANNUAL-PUTNAM-COUNTY-SPELLING-BEE