Review: Stages St. Louis High-Spirited THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Delights

Stages St. Louis opened their 40th Anniversary season with one of the most adorable and wittiest ensemble theater pieces written in the past 25-years. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is the award winning, silly, and relatable musical comedy about a group of quirky middle schoolers competing to win a trip to a national spelling bee competition.

Directors Ron Gibbs and Gayle Holsman Seay put together an ensemble of nine of the most gifted St. Louis actors working today. Most are making their Stages St. Louis debuts.

Gibbs and Seay delight with their skills structuring, directing, and choreographing a comedic ensemble piece. They give each of their actors’ license to create and put their own original spin on on a group of awkward, eclectic, and very funny characters.

They cast six local twentysomething thespians to play gawky middle school spellers. Watching Matthew Cox, Abigail Isom, Alexis Kinney, Bryce A. Miller, Michael Schimmele, and Sarah Wilkinson age down to adopt adolescent mannerisms of insecure middle school students is a joyous treat.

Their abilities to disappear into offbeat characters through their comedic physicality and vocal tics is a credit to their talents, the collaboration of their directors, and Cat Lovejoy’s playful costumes. They capture the photogenic memories and savant-like intelligence of competitive spellers each with their own hilarious compensation for remembering the correct order of the letters in the words.

While Cox, Isom, Kinney, Miller, Schimmele, and Wilkinson are young adults, they are by no means inexperienced actors. Many have won local acting awards, Schimmele has a recent Broadway credit as a principal performer in one of the smash hit Disney musicals, and several have worked in principal roles in regional productions outside of the St. Louis market.

Cox’s Leaf Coneybear is the oddball among the other eccentric spellers. He did not win his way to the finals, so he doesn’t exactly belong. He is aware that he’s included as a stroke of luck. His low self-esteem, compliments of his not always supportive family, is captured in his embodiment of Leaf. He portrays Leaf as delightfully daffy and aloof by tapping into his inner child.

Kinney (Olive Ostrovsky) is the biggest surprise in the cast. Her “I Love You” song is a real moment. The only thing outshining her massive acting talent is her enormous singing voice. She is a force and appears much younger than her actual age. It’s a transformative portrayal of a young teenager by a much older actor.

Abigail Isom’s Logianne, the little girl with the all too long last name, and Sarah Wilkinson’s Marcy both feel pressured to be perfect by overly demanding parents. Isom’s “Woe is Me” and Wilkinson’s “I Speak Six Languages” numbers funnily convey their intellect and how paternal expectations can weigh too heavily on young psyches. Wilkinson’s ability to build her character's many talents into a three-minute song impresses.

Bryce A. Miller’s “Magic Foot” number is a highlight, and Gibbs and Seay’s playful choreography is in on the joke, as is all of their choreography. Their kinetic “Pandemonium” dance appropriately allows the actors to run amuck like energetic elementary schoolers at recess. There is so much going on during “Pandemonium” that it would require multiple viewings to catch all of the kid’s rollicking shenanigans.

Miller is a deft comic actor. His impish delivery of the song, and his portrayal of William Barfée is laugh inducing. Seeing Miller joust with Christopher Hickey about the pronunciation of his name and the definitions of words is beyond amusing. His Barfée wants to win and may lack confidence, so he gives him a cocky arrogant edge as a defense mechanism.

Schimmele has one of the funniest bits of the night, pun intended, and he sells the comedy like the pro he has become. “Chip’s Lament” is filled witty puns, and Schimmele milks every laugh from the somewhat naughty song.

Christoper Hickey, Jennifer Theby-Quinn, and Omega Jones fill adult roles in the ensemble as the school's edgy vice principal, the spelling bee moderator, and comfort counselor completing community service post-incarceration. All three are strong comedic performers, award winning actors, strong improvisationalists, and stellar singers. Jones wows with his soulful R&B solos. He’s a comfort counselor with a Teddy Pendergrass voice.

Rachel Seabaugh’s middle school gym set design hold a few fun and surprising reveals that are supported by Sean M. Savoie and Hankyu Lee’s lighting and sound design. The whimsical design work adds to the productions spirited levity.

Stages St. Louis frolicsome production of The 25th Annual Spelling Bee is gleefully irreverent carefree fun. Gibbs and Seay capture the script’s humor and the heart that is carefully tucked inside the comedic playfulness.

Don’t miss The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Stages St. Louis through June 28, 2026. For more information visit stagesstlouis.org.

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