A ‘Spelling Bee’ with plenty of laughs, heart
Oh, the adolescent terrors of a spelling competition are nothing compared with the terrors of simply existing as an adolescent.
That’s a message of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a chipper musical prone to moments of darkness as it follows six young students, played by adults, through the rigors of a public display of their ABC’s.
Celebration Theatre Company is staging the Tony-winning musical in the small Pugh Theater of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts — an appropriately sized space for a spelling bee.
Truth be told, with just a few exceptions, I find William Finn’s music forgettable once the curtain falls. The key to a successful “Spelling Bee” really lies in the actors’ ability to make the unrelentingly quirky characters more endearing than annoying, and as directed by Christopher Robinson, the Celebration Theatre Company’s performers are successful.
It also helps that several of them have strong singing voices; music director Kit Cleto has led them all to finding their strengths.
The biggest hindrance — no surprise — comes from the still-necessary masks on the actors. “Spelling Bee” has a lot of character back story to churn through, and many times it’s done in the students’ songs. When you can’t distinguish the words, the story suffers. And, as with many theaters I’ve observed using recorded instrumental tracks, the accompaniment volume isn’t always appropriately reduced to account for the masked singing.
But even with stretches of fuzzy lyrics, the actors convey the personalities of these somewhat peculiar kids.
In particular, Jordan Grant stands out as lonely Olive, neglected by her parents, and her “I Love You Song” is the show’s most powerful music moment, thanks to Grant’s appealing voice and strong backing vocals from Paul Naidas and Hannah McGinley Lemasters,
Like several in the cast, the latter two performers play multiple roles, with McGinley Lemasters getting the mix of forced charm and underlying smarm of Realtor (and spelling-bee moderator) Ms. Peretti just right.
Garrett Williams thankfully doesn’t go too far with nerdiest-of-the-nerds William Barfee, a character that can quickly become overbearing in lesser productions.
And Jared Roys beautifully captures the innocent fragility of Leaf Coneybear, a gentle child growing up in an angry and aggressive household. And he knows how to find the comedy in even the simplest phrase: “I have forgotten the word” he says softly, eyes wide, to the audience’s laughter.
The words are part of the fun — flagellate, hasenpfeffer, capybara — and McGinley Lemasters and cohort Justin Mosseau nicely handle a unique aspect of the show: Guest spellers from the audience. Local references to Parliament House and the Walt Disney World transportation system — delivered in a rising tide of comedic angst by Mary Mackin — hit their marks.
The other show elements work well with the story. Kit Riffel’s choreography is eye-catching. Randall White’s simple but effect lighting goes for solid shades of vibrant fuchsia, lime green and blue whenever characters break into song. Kyle Radabaugh’s set is attractive in its simplicity — and allows for greater distancing among cast members.
Celebration Theatre Company has found enough heart in this oddball little show that I hope when there’s no longer the need for distance, someone gives those “kids” — especially poor Leaf — a big hug.