Spelling Bee unusual, fun

By Joe Dwyer     3/31/11 7:00pm

Rice Theater's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is unconventional and unusual in almost every aspect. It's a musical squeezed into a single act that runs a mere hour and a half without a single scene change; yet even with this breakneck pace, the viewer becomes acquainted with a disparate gang of middle schoolers all competing for spelling bee glory and the chance to continue to the national competition in Washington D.C.

 

Even the stage setup is odd for a musical, with the pit orchestra moved from the usual spot in front of or next to the stage onto the stage itself. This works surprisingly well, allowing for some humorous interaction between the actors and members of the pit, as well as serving the functional purpose of reducing competition between instruments and lyrics. It is a common problem with college theater and Rice Light Opera Society productions for the pit to drown out the cast, but this simple maneuver — why more productions haven't done this in the past is beyond me — coupled with fantastic enunciationand projection on the part of the cast members resulted in each musical number coming across crystal clear.

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Putnam County's simple plot is complemented by a small but extremely strong cast of characters, each with their own memorable quirks and traits. William Barfee, morosely played by McMurtry College junior Matt Banks, has a hilariously heavy lisp and relies on his "magic foot" to help him spell out each word as he dances across the stage. Wiess College sophomore Jordan Bunch takes on the role of Leaf Coneybear, an airheaded second runner-up from his district's spelling bee who makes his own clothes and is only appearing at the Putnam County Bee on account of the winner and first runner-up from his district being unable to attend because of a bar mitzvah. Liz Castillo, a Wiess junior, turns in an especially strong performance as the cheery and optimistic Olive Ostrovsky, whose parents' noticeable absence at the bee reveals other problems at home. Sid Richardson College sophomore Adrien Pellerin plays the over-excited incumbent bee champion Chip Tolentino, while fellow Sid freshman Allison Raven puts on the role of Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, a goody two-shoes with a lisp trying to come to grips with the fact that she has two fathers. Hanszen College freshman Michael Hollis and Sid freshman Annie Kuhl round out the undergraduate portion of the cast as the easily irritated Vice Principal Douglas Panch and former bee champion and successful realtor Rona Peretti, the bee's hosts.

Texas State University graduate Chioke Coreathers plays the role of Mitch Mahoney, a parolee whose "comfort counselor" community service appointment requires him to dole out juice boxes and hugs to the eliminated contestants in an effort to feel better. Shepherd School of Music graduate student Avi DePano plays contestant Marcy Park, under heavy pressure to win and succeed in everything at life.

 

As an ensemble, the cast captured perfectly the energy and excitement of young middle schoolers, and their exaggerated costumes, designed by University of Houston graduate student Claire Hummel, helped them look convincingly like carefree children instead of overworked college students. In fact, the costumes went a long way to helping define and characterize each role: Leaf Coneybear wears a patchwork pair of jeans and a towel for a cape, while William Barfee sports taped glasses, argyle socks and black and white dress shoes.

 

The stage design and lighting, done by Matt Schlief and Jones College senior Helen Shaw, are fantastic — the stage nails the look of a school gymnasium down to the basketball hook and climbing room while the lights accent moods during musical numbers and help clearly delineate asides or flashbacks into the bee participants' lives.

And that's where the play succeeds — the asides and flashbacks turn an ordinary story about children competing in a spelling bee into a deeper narrative about the background of each child and what causes them to act the way they do. It may be because they've never been allowed to perform to anything less than the highest expectations, or because their peanut allergy caused them to lose last year's bee, or that their parents don't want anything except a "winner," but these unique anecdotes keep the play moving along and prevent it from becoming flat and superficial.

 

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fantastic musical, a hilarious comedy and a damn good show featuring top-notch acting and music, along with a little audience interaction as well. If you've never made it out to Hamman Hall for a Rice Theater production, there's no better time than now.

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