…could I get that in a sentence, please? Um…H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S…hilarious! So describes the Quad Cities Music Guild’s current production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee directed by Quad Cities gem: Mike Turczynski.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin. Based on Rachel Feldman's improvisational play C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, it portrays a fictional spelling bee in which six quirky adolescents – played by adult actors – compete under the supervision of three equally offbeat grown-ups.
Spelling Bee opened off-Broadway in February 2005 and transferred to Broadway that May. It played over 1,100 performances before closing in January 2008 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning Best Book of a Musical.
A distinctive feature of the show is that four audience members are invited on stage to compete alongside the cast, while the official pronouncer supplies absurd usage sentences on request.
The action takes place in a school gym where the spelling champs in their individual districts assemble to vie for the Putnam County trophy and earn the right to attend the national spelling bee. Local real estate agent Rona Peretti – a former Bee champ herself – is running the show with the help of school principal, Douglas Panch and a so-called “comfort counselor” who happens to be doing this to fulfill his recently assigned “community service.”
The show encapsulates all the adolescent trauma we went through in middle school as exemplified in the songs “I’m Not That Smart,” “My Friend the Dictionary,” “Woe is Me,” “Chip’s Lament,” and “The I Love You Song.” Although the kids have different iterations of adolescent angst, the common thread seems to be the age-old desire to seek parental approval.
Although this is a comparatively small cast to that of other musicals, they deliver a prodigious performance that rivals any other production. Portraying this motley cadre of kids are QCMG veterans Adrienne Jane Evans as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, Jack Bevans as Leaf Coneybear, Luke Vermeire as William Barfée, Megan Warren as Marcy Park, and Lauren VanSpeybroeck as Olive Ostrovsky. Making his QCMG debut as Chip Tolentino is Brian Heffernan and he more than measures up to the titanic talent of his castmates. Rounding out the troupe as the adults are Jess Fah as Rona, Jeremy Mahr as Principal Panch, and Casey Scott as the counselor. Turczynski hit the lottery with this cast.
Being on the cusp of back-to-school fervor, this is the perfect medium to get back into the swing of things. If you would like to be one of the adult volunteers chosen to join the actors on stage, go to the box office, give them your name and cross your fingers they call on you. Don’t worry, they provide all you need to know. It’s a cinch and a barrel of fun.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee continues at Quad City Music Guild in Moline’s Prospect Park, Friday and Saturday, August 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 16 at 2:00 p.m. If you’re new to Music Guild, be advised that parking at the theatre is limited to the handicapped and to volunteers only. All others can catch a shuttle from the Southpark Mall’s parking lot east of Dick’s Sporting Goods.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.