The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Directed by Be Boyd
Choreography by Be Boyd and Tony Pracek
Starring Amanda Wansa Morgan
Theatre UCF, Orlando, FL
The problem with high school is it seems so important at the time, but as soon as it’s over no one else cares. The Spelling Bee is sort of like that; even a national win might not really change your life. Ms. Peretti (Morgan) won way back when, and now she’s the top Realtor in Putnam County. Sure, spelling is important in Real Estate, but not much more so than in any other profession. But her win did have an effect; she relives that win vicariously every year as a judge and organizer of the local Bee. It’s populated by the by the sort of misfits and distorted personalities that all high schools lay claim to: Olive Ostrovsky (Katherine Darby) has been abandoned by her parents, Marcie Park (Willow Draper) has a tiger mom and failure is never an option, Logainne S. (Leigh Green) has two daddies and a speech impediment, and William Barfée (Austin Palmer) is a tall mucous laden boy with one foot firmly on the Asperger’s Spectrum. And let’s not forget Leaf Coneybear (Pracek), the socially maladapted home schooled hippy child. He makes his own capes and says “hi” to his siblings Dandelion, Bark, and Pine Cone and he happens to be the dance captain for this fine show. These kids spell words that even the New York Times crossword editor won’t touch but in the end only one can win. And winning isn’t all that important, finding a place in life is.
This show draws additional spellers from the audience since we can’t have too many of the “real” spellers kicked out until they each get their big moment. While everyone had fun and cut out finely exaggerated characters, Mr. Palmer and Mr. Pracek might possibly have been the most fun. One thing that really impressed me was Raleigh Mosely II as the comfort counselor Mitch, he’s notionally here to close out some mandated community service, but he has a stunning gospel singing voice and ought to have a church or a record deal or both. As the guiding angel of the show, Ms. Morgan was kind, firm and in control, she even handled over-sexed Vice Principal Panchi (Carlos Ashby). He has a crush on her and a chip on his professional shoulder, but even he added additional energy to the already sugar high show. This is a great summer comedy, and has a strange split schedule so it will be around for another month. And don’t be afraid of signing up as a volunteer, they soft ball you by asking you to spell “cow”, then kneecap you with Zymurgy.” You can spell Zymurgy, right?
For more information on Theatre UCF visit http://www.theatre.ucf.edu
