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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (New World Stages, Off-Broadway) - ★★★★★ REVIEW
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- [00:00]
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- [00:52]
Mickey Jo
Acast Powers the World's Best Podcasts Here's a show that we recommend.
- [01:00]
Chris Duffy
We all have bad days and sometimes bad weeks and maybe even bad years. But the good news is we don't have to figure out life all alone. I'm comedian Chris Duffy, host of ted's how to Be a Better Human Podcast and our show is about the little ways that you can improve your life. Actual practical tips that you can put into place that will make your day to day better. Whether it is setting boundaries at work or rethinking how you clean your house, each episode has conversations with experts who share tips on how to navigate life's ups and downs and downs. Find how to be a better human wherever you're listening to this.
- [01:34]
Mickey Jo
Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com I'm here today to let you know that the New York return of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a rapturous, joyous, jubilant piece of theater that is jubilant. J U B I L A N T and and Theatre T H E A T eh? Well actually it depends Language of origin oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to those of you listening to this review on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I am usually based in the uk, but a few times a year I head over to the US to go and see as much theatre as possible. And last month during a marathon trip to New York City, I was so excited to catch the New York return of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which recently commenced an Off Broadway run at New World Stages. This is a transfer of a regional production which premiered at another venue in a different state. We'll call it a big theater in Washington because I'm currently all out of mouthwash and that's all I'm willing to say. But it is in any case a substantial New York homecoming for the show, which was seen on Broadway two decades ago and in that time I gather that it has been performed a lot around the US that it's been done in high schools, regional theaters. I in all of that time have not seen it even once. This was my very first time at the Bee, my first experience of seeing this show because it is scarcely done here in the uk. On occasion there will be a production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and it had a UK premiere production at the Donmar Warehouse directed by of all people and prepare for this revelation. Jamie Lloyd, very much not in the striking style with which he has come to be associated in the years since, but having heard only really a little of the score and having gathered details about the premise and the comedic tone, I was very excited to go and see this show. I'm going to tell you all about it today. We're going to talk about the material, but since it is mostly character driven, we're going to talk about all of these fantastic performances. And since it is a show which includes a certain amount of extensive audience participation, I would love, as always, to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below. But on this occasion, I want to know not just what you thought of this particular production, but whether you have seen other productions of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. And I'm particularly intrigued to hear from anyone who got to be a guest speller on stage. Which words did you spell correctly? Which words did you spell incorrectly? Let us know in the I'm talking through my feelings about the show, and if you enjoy listening to those, make sure to subscribe here on YouTube or follow me on podcast platforms. In the meantime, let's kick off the bee. The spelling bee that is. Well, the review of the of the musical about the spelling bee. Don't kick bees. We need them. We need them for the environment. Let's talk about the show. The 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fascinating show in terms of its origins because almost all musicals are based on something. There is an entire entire cohort which are based on films, increasingly so there are many which are based on plays that music has been added to to turn them into musicals. There are some which are based on books or the lives of individuals and real historical events And Spelling Bee, I suppose, falls into the category of those based on plays, but it's based on an improvisational comedy play created by Rebecca Feldman called Crepuscule. That's C R E P U S C U L E Crepuscule, A word to which the show pays tribute, I gather, in its opening moments. And I don't know to what extent the show is a faithful adaptation of that original source material, or whether it was just sort of a springboard for the notion of this being a theatrical possibility with perhaps similar, perhaps different characters. In any case, The Musical, the 25th annual Platinum County Spelling Bee features a book by Rachel Sheinkin and a score that is to say music and lyrics by William Finn, a brilliant musical theater composer who sadly passed away earlier this year, whose greatest work may have been the musical that became Falsettos. He also wrote a New Strain, and he's a really fascinating choice for Spelling Bee and I think a key ingredient in terms of the identity that it was able to attain because you could write a similar sort of a musical conceptually with a much sweeter, more juvenile and bubblegum sounding score. There's something deceptively sophisticated about a lot of the little chapters of this score that William Finn has written, and that's fine. Fairly emblematic of a lot of his work. He plays with these ideas of melodic simplicity and complexity pursuant to the emotions of the characters who are singing these songs. He writes a fantastic musical monologue, often one infused with a certain quantity of hysteria, which you hear a lot of in the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. And he toyed with similar notions of simplicity and complexity at odds with each other in his lyrics as well, as well as this sort of signature wit with a slightly twisted quality to it as well, all of which is absolutely perfect for these young characters. And it would have been a mistake, I think, to write a more simpler, more juvenile score for them, because these are oddball students, each of them, I believe, representing different districts competing in the county spelling bee. And while they are quite different in their personalities, each of them is, in one way or another neurotic. They're also, for the most part, very intelligent, very academic. And so the way that William Finn was able to characterize them with these lyrics as sort wise and thoughtful beyond their years, works very well with that, I think. Now, the show was developed at Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts in 2004. It then arrived off Broadway in early 2005, where it won a couple of awards, transferring very quickly to the Circle in the Square Theatre. On Broadway, which is one of Broadway's more intimate, more versatile playing spaces, allowing them to incorporate something into the show, which at the time, I guess, was pretty groundbreaking and in many ways continues to be. Because while the show is depicting a spelling bee competition between all of these different students, there are four more participants who are invited to come on stage from the audience who have signed up prior to the beginning of the show for the current Off Broadway run. You can do this in the lobby area just outside the theatre at New World Stages. And I believe, from what I have heard anecdotally, that they are prioritizing people who have not seen the show before, as well as, unless it's some sort of extraordinary coincidence, anyone in attendance at that performance who happens to be a celebrity. And those four are invited up onto the stage and they sit among the cast on this static set where they are guest spellers in the Bee. And structurally, this is what the show is. We are acquainted with our adult characters as well as our adolescent characters. There are judges, there is also a counselor on standby to provide emotional support to losers of the bee who exit the competition as soon as they spell a word incorrectly. Comfor comfort counsellor, I believe is the official title. Comfort Counselor Mitch Mahoney. And what this is basically, in a single act, is a competition musical the likes of which I thoroughly enjoy. You have the same thing in subsequent shows, like six, but also those that came before, like in a sort of a more evolved and complex sense, A Chorus Line, as well as the recent Ride the Cyclone, which has become a cult hit fan favorite show, which is what spelling bee was in its day in the mid 2000s. And a part of that can be attributed to the chance to go back and hope to get on stage and be participatory, be included in the production of your favorite show. But also, I think the show at the time struck at a really youthful and vibrant comedy, which continues, I think, to grant it, a really wide audience appeal. Much of the reason why Spelling bee works as well as it does is these characters. But also it's something very easy to laugh with, with an immediately clear premise, even to those of us visiting from countries where spelling bees aren't necessarily the norm. You understand what it is. And they go out of their way to explain the rules and how it's all going to work, which I guess is also for the benefit of the guest spellers who have been brought on stage. But in terms of the dramatic structure each of these different characters are going to take in turn to attempt to spell these words. They can ask for definitions, they can ask to have it used in a sentence, they can ask for the language of origin. And they remain in the competition as long as they continue to spell these words correctly, for which they use various different meth. And as we progress through the show, they take in turns not only to spell, but also to sing. Occasionally, these are inner monologues, repressed thoughts. Occasionally these are things that they simply are desperate to express, either to the judges, their fellow spellers, or out to the audience who understand that they are guests at the Bee, which is a great and fun way of contextualizing the whole thing, which really pays off in this production, directed by Danny Mefford, when one character points out into the audience and requests that a seat be saved for her dad, who sadly is running late. Or when another character appear among the audience and delivers what becomes one of the comedic highlights of the show. Now, the script is hysterically funny. Both it and the score do a fantastic job of separately characterizing all of the personalities who we encounter on stage. There is also a occasional improvisational element, because the actor playing Ronalisa Peretti, one of the judges and hosts, I guess, of the Bee, shares a fun fact about each of the spellers on stage as they are stepping forward to take their turn. For the characters written into the show, these are preordained, but for the participants from the audience, they are not. So there's a fun moment of improv as these audience members get to hear fun jokes about them, inspired perhaps by, like, what they're wearing, if it's a celebrity, then by their career. And the great joy of the show is the juxtaposition between how seriously they all take it, judges and participants alike, and how increasingly ridiculous it becomes. Familiar of like the dog competition centric comedy film Best in Show, this idea of cartoonish personalities desperately trying to win in this arena about which they are so, so passionate. With Mitch Mahoney being the one who eventually gives voice to all of this as he shares his bubbling up thoughts about how ridiculous all of this seems. And while Rona is the one who shares the fun facts about the participants, it is Vice Principal Douglas Panch, sat alongside her, who offers each of them the words to be spelled. Their definitions, as well as the usage of each of them in a sentence becomes more and more comic and ridiculous and occasionally a little adult. And these increasingly chaotic cartoonish characters and the insincerity of the whole thing sets us up as the audience to be caught entirely off guard when a hugely emotionally sincere song arrives later on in the show. The I love you song performed by Oliver Strowski, one of the participants alongside visions of her absent parents. In true William Finn style, it is very haunting and emotionally moving and pretty uniquely at odds with everything else that is happening musically throughout the show. For that reason, it has always been a well loved standout moment of this score. Performed brilliantly in this production. Let's talk about these.
- [12:42]
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- [13:01]
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- [13:33]
Mickey Jo
Performances. So we first meet the brilliant Lilli Cooper as Ronalisa Peretti, who is a former spelling champion herself and is now overseeing the bee with ultimate composure and this very refined personality and what you can only imagine is a lovely telephone voice. Even as the bee descends into chaos, she attempts at all times to maintain a certain dignity and even delights in some of the emotional devastation happening during the competition. She occasionally reflects and sings about Rona's favorite part of the bee as she talks about some of the events which are unfolding, commentating on it and as if it's sports. Reminding me a little bit actually of the Elizabeth Banks character from the Pitch Perfect films. Anyway, Lily is just fantastic in this role. I love the mannerisms and the quality of the voice. There's also something in the wider context of the production quite special about her playing this character because I think it speaks to the generational progression from the original production to now. Because Lilli Cooper in the mid-2000s became known to musical theater fans for playing the young character not the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, but in another youth centric musical, Spring Awakening. And the fact that she is now in another one of those types of shows, but playing one of the adult characters, I think it's a sort of a nice tribute to Both the show and her career. Something similar happened at Heather's with Carrie Butler, who became known for playing those young characters as well. Then going into that show playing the teacher character. Same thing when she did Bat Boy. So there's that to appreciate about her casting as well. But as always, she sounds absolutely gorgeous. The vocal tone of Lilli Cooper is just so delicious. And her constant composure, even when getting big laughs for these improvised lines about the audience members on stage, is so winning. But my favourite thing is when she drops the mask of it all a little bit, when she is challenged by one speller who takes issue with a comment that she made when she says marcy park is all business, intended as a compliment about Marcy's very focused, unemotional approach, but something that rattles Marcy to such a point that it entirely throws her off her game. When Rhona shares another anecdote about Marcy as she is walking forward to spell a subsequent word, she turns to her and asks what else it says on the paper. If it says all of these other things about her challenging life. And this is my favorite moment from Lilli Cooper is after maintaining this very sort of Mary Poppins esque voice the entire time, she pauses for a second after Marcy says, does it say this? Does it say this? Does it say this? She looks back at Marcy and just blankly says to her, no, it doesn't say that. In a very dropped voice. I thought that was hysterical. Of course, sat alongside her at that stage. Right, judging table is Jason Kravitz, an actor who has appeared on stage, but who has been extensively seen on screen. He is playing Vice Principal Douglas Panch, another character who begins with professionalism and who eventually succumbs to his own frustrations. And the indignity of his professional position comes to light with frequent references to some sort of past shameful incident. But he's brilliantly funny, especially in the delivery of the definitions of the words and their usage in various sentences. The way that he reads out those lines, it's so great. And it's the exact comedic tone and characterization that you would expect for this role. It feels quintessential. It's perfectly self deprecating, which is why it's nice to have Matt Manuel on stage as Mitch Mahoney, bringing a very different kind of comedic tone, something more contemporary, playing a character who is perhaps refreshingly startled by the extreme emotional reactions being experienced by these students. In that way, he is closer to us as the audience on stage. Looking around at all of this dispensing juice boxes and hugs and saying, what is this? He was brilliantly funny, but in a more grounded way. And generally the adult characters are a little more dry, which is what allows the spellers themselves to be more extreme and colorful and bizarre and offbeat. And there are six spellers who I will tell you about now. Autumn Best plays Logan Schwarzenegn, which honestly is harder to spell than any of the words that they offer them during the spelling bee itself. A high achieving young girl with a deeply, deeply comic lisp and parents with extraordinary expectations. She sort of offers, I think, the baseline for the intensity of competitive spirit among all of these spellers. And the frenzy that she portrays through her eyes is fantastic. Also, the way that she is costumed to look like this absolute juvenile cartoon is just brilliant. I do want to quickly talk about some of the creatives here because Emily Rebholz's costume design been so great for each of these characters. You can tell immediately that not only are they each very distinct, but it just beautifully complements their personalities and the fact that they're basically all a little odd. We also have to mention Teresa L. Williams scenic design. And it's a high school gym and it's a static set, but it's so detailed and so thorough. I have no idea how they create sets like this on Broadway and Off Broadway stages, but it looks great. It has an upper balcony level where the band are playing on stage, which is always fun. And it is theatricalized brilliantly by David Weiner's lighting. Any back to these characterizations we were talking about Logan, who has two parents with enormous expectations, in contrast to another participant, Olive Ostrovsky, played by the rising star, Jasmine Amy Rogers. It is Olive who sings the I love you song later on in the show in response to the fact that her mother is away having this spiritual journey and her father, though he is meant to be in attendance, has not arrived. And she is actually unable to provide the entrance fee for competing in the spelling bee. And Olive's determination to still try and smile and do her best through twinkling eyes, eventually reflecting on her sorrowful circumstances when singing the I love you song, imagining the words that she longs to hear spoken by her parents. It's all quite sad, but also moving and endearing. And Jasmine is perfect for this. She was the shining light of Boop the musical on Broadway with this extraordinary capacity of for heartfelt vulnerability and honesty. She has a sensational, powerful voice, undeniable star power. But beyond that, it's the affecting work that she can really deliver through subtlety and nuance and this sort of tearful quality. It reminds me of the likes of like Bernadette Peters singing Time Heals Everything. You don't get this all the time. Like a lot of people can just play sad on stage, but Jasmine has this way of sort of opening up her heart for an audience and every time I've seen her do this on stage, it's been breathtaking. She's a standout among a fantastic company in this show, but also truly one to watch over the next few years on Broadway, as in fact are most of these performers, including the brilliant Philippe Arroyo, who is playing Chip Tolentino, who is the returning champion speller. As such, that little bit less nervous perhaps than the other participants, but also prone to distraction as a result of the the pubescent phase that he is going through. He is the one who appears among the audience selling concessions, singing a hysterically funny song. The climax of which, and I am using the word climax is so brilliantly directed and delivered so well from him with this facial expression. I refuse to spoil the details of this for you, but what he does in that moment is just comedy brilliance. I loved him very much in and Juliet, playing the character of Francois and making that character work for me in a way that it never really had previously. I think he's a very exciting and versatile young talent with a natural gift for comedy and it's very exciting to see him in this, a very different role, full of this adolescent confidence and ultimately.
- [21:50]
Progressive Insurance Advertiser
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- [22:09]
Dr. Horton Advertiser
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- [22:42]
Mickey Jo
Despair. Then you have Justin Cooley playing perhaps quite a similar role to the one that he became known for on Broadway as the original Seth Wheaton in the musical Kimberly Akimbo. Now he is playing Leaf Coney Bear, an oddball among oddballs, whose large family is in attendance to support him, who makes his own clothes and who has arrived at the Bee as a result of multiple individuals from his district who beat him originally having to drop out. Which means he brings a very refreshingly different energy to the proceedings. While everyone else is this academic, focused, overconfident, overachiever, he is easygoing and laid back and perhaps that little bit less academic he gets offered these words, some of which he manages to spell incorrectly as something of a fluke, more than one of which is a rodent. But one thing I think Justin is always going to be on stage is deeply charming. And this kind of like, wait, what quality that he has is so great. Now, I mentioned Marcy park earlier, a hyper intellectual young student who speaks multiple languages and sings about speaking all of those different languages, but takes issue with the way that she is perceived and characterized by Rona. She is played by Liana Rae Conception, with a performance of this seemingly unemotional character that finds fun in the intensity and the commitment and this sort of like Rachel Berry but about spelling bees kind of equality. It is just pretentious enough, just obnoxious enough. As is our final speller, William Barfy, as he is introduced to us. Barfay, as he continues to correct them, played by Glee alumnus Kevin McHale, who I have already seen on stage this year and already thought was a revelation in the Frogs with his brilliant comic timing. It is even more abundant in this. He almost walks away with the entire show. He is such a hysterically brilliant standout. I think it's a fantastic performance. I mentioned before that each of them used different techniques in order to help them visualize the words as they are are spelling them with some of them writing them on their arms with their fingers. And he quite uniquely spells out the words on the floor of the stage using his magic foot, which he sings a song about. It's a sort of a jazzy little number. The charm of him is this utter confidence that he has while also sharing these self deprecating revelations about his slightly miserable life. And there's a sweet quality that emerges in the show of connection between all of these different students, who are all maybe in their own way a little lonely and a little isolated, who are brought together by this shared passion that they have for spelling. But it's his facial expressions and the vocal affectation. He already has this fascinating quality and tone to his voice, but he just puts so much mucus on the top of that, so to speak. And the way that he, like, scrunches up his nose and has glasses positioned down at the very end of it. It's so great. It's such a vivid characterization. We laugh at everything he says, regardless of whether or not it's a punchline. Because he's just such an entertaining presence on stage among all of the Glee alumni, it has taken Kevin McHale quite a long time to make it to the New York stage. It is bizarre that he didn't get there sooner. He is perfect for musical theater and he needs to do so much more of it. Which brings me to the end of my thoughts about the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at New World Stages. I had the biggest smile on my face as well as laughing hysterically throughout this show. I think it's just joyous, this feels, and obviously it's my first time seeing it, but like a pretty perfect production of this source material. I think it's the perfect little Off Broadway space for it. I hope that it extends. I hope that they have multiple cast changes and I hope that that it gains momentum and becomes this beloved fan favorite supported off Broadway hit. It deserves to be. I think young audiences will continue to delight in this show. I think an entire generation of young theater goers ought to be discovering this. But it's also really fun to go and watch as an adult. I think maybe young people feel a little reflected in the personalities of these admittedly very hyper characters, but there's perhaps also between them and the sort of still figuring their lives out, adults on stage, something to both recall and relate to for older members of the audience as well. And that's if you are in the audience the entire time and not finding yourself on stage trying to spell with them. And there's not a lot of musicals where you get to do that. So if you haven't already, I urge you to go and check out the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in New York at New World Stages. This is one of my biggest New York musical theatre recommendations right now. I can't wait to go back to the show. I thought it was a delight. Of course, if you have been already to this or a previous production of Spelling Bee. Like I said, I want to hear all of your thoughts and what your experience was like in the comments section down below. If anyone was a speller, tell us which words you spelled. If you can spell them correctly. Now, hopefully you've learned from the experience, though in fairness, they do eventually have to come up with wildly challenging words just to get everybody off stage. Anyhow, I hope that you've enjoyed listening to today's review. If you have, as always, make sure to subscribe or follow me on podcast platforms. Stay tuned for more reviews coming very, very soon in the new year. And I hope as always, that everyone is staying safe and that have a Stagey Day S T A G E Y D a y for 10 more seconds I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day. Subscribe.
- [28:21]
Progressive Insurance Advertiser
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states, Weight Watchers.
- [28:42]
Mickey Jo
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- [29:00]
Mickey Jo
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- [29:21]
Chris Duffy
We all have bad days and sometimes bad weeks and maybe even bad years. But the good news is we don't have to figure out life all alone. Alone. I'm comedian Chris Duffy, host of ted's how to Be a Better Human podcast and our show is about the little ways that you can improve your life. Actual practical tips that you can put into place that will make your day to day better. Whether it is setting boundaries at work or rethinking how you clean your house, each episode has conversations with experts who share tips on how to navigate life's ups and downs. Find how to be a better human wherever you're listening to this.
- [29:55]
Mickey Jo
ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcast everywhere. Acest. Com.