COMMUNITY— noun. “a unified body of individuals such as: people with common interests living within a particular area broadly; a group of people with a common characteristic or interest; a body of persons with common interest scattered through a larger society; a group linked by a common policy.” Stand Up For…Theatre’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is fostering a real sense of dedication and commitment to the local theatre community, propelling its mission of stopping hate and spreading love and acceptance for all those who see it. C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y. With a real focus on their message of “anti-bullying” and showcasing examples of how to spot bullying, particularly in the most easy-to-miss situations where you might be the bully, this musical production, as directed by Christopher Pence with Assistance from Ed Higgins, is a fun evening out for everyone in and around the theatre community.
TEAMWORK— noun. “work done by a group acting together so that each member does a part that contributes to the efficiency of the whole.” Community theatre is a labor of love and Stand Up For…Theatre (SUFT) has a whole bunch of loving laborers coming together, truly demonstrating cooperative teamwork to get the set, costumes, lighting, and choreography of this show up and running. T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K. It takes a village, and SUFT has one. Cathy Pritchard, Grant Myers, and Lee Anderson (all having hands in the show’s sartorial selection) give these iconic characters their quirky, individualized looks, each costume speaking to the personality of the character. Andrew Vida illuminates the show, finding a balance of natural indoor-style lighting for most of the production with a few subdued, blue-washes for moments that happen in fantasy sequence. Ed Higgins has fixed up a basketball court backdrop to give the illusion of being in a school gymnasium (which the cast pokes Easter-Egg style fun at during the beginning of the show “…I’ve never been in an Art Museum Gymnasium before…”) and Higgins even takes it a step further and paints the court-lines on the floor to round out the look. While Spelling Bee isn’t known for its big splashy dance routines the way something like A Chorus Line or The Producers are, Choreographer Lilou Altman puts some fun moves into the show, particularly during “Magic Foot” and “I Speak Six Languages.” And Vocal Director “Scratch” Doug Lea has this ensemble of nine coming together in strong, solid harmonies. Bringing a group of community theatre performers, with varying degrees It truly is an effort of well-organized teamwork that gets this show up and running.
ASPIRING— adjective. “desiring and working to achieve a particular goal; having aspirations to attain a specified profession, position, etc.” Making his directorial debut, Christopher Pence has aspiring ambitions for making this SUFT production of high quality and caliber while maintaining the company’s essential missions statement of standing against bullying.” A-S-P-I-R-I-N-G. Pence puts together a solid production for his first time directing and there’s a strong emphasis on highlighting Stand Up For…Theatre’s mission. There are signs hung on the ‘judge’ table that say “No Bullying Zone” and “24 days since we’ve had a bullying incident.” (Pence even guides the Rona Lisa Peretti character to sigh with slight disappointment and rip up the sign, saying “it was a good run” once Chip and Barfee have their little “loser” confrontation in the second act.) Pence also pushes for a lighter tone to dial down some of the bullying between kids. The character of Marcy Park is often perceived as snotty and rude and demeaning when she dismisses others and Pence pushes the actress in the role to take more of an awkwardness and swotty-nature rather than the harsh and frigid ‘all-business’ approach. There’s cute little moments (and some audible ad-libbing) added by the various student characters throughout which puts a nice touch on the show as a whole. For a first show, it looks like a musical, sounds like a musical, moves like a musical, and Pence is showing aspiring promise for future endeavors.
SURPRISE— verb. “to strike with wonder or amazement especially because unexpected.” As Comfort Counselor Mitch Mahoney, Bryan Brown takes the whole audience by surprise when he belts out during “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor.” S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E. (I wanted a better word but “Ace-in-the-Hole” and “Trojan-Horse” just felt like they belonged to a different show.) Brown has a phenomenal voice that really hits those notes in a wild and passionate way during the aforementioned solo given to his primary character. You also get to hear him blending gorgeous, albeit tragically sorrowful, harmonies during “I Love You” as Olive’s absentee father, and you get to sample his acting talents, with the versatile juxtaposition from Mitch Mahoney, whose all hard-ass and brass, to the snappy, sassy ‘Two-Dad’ configuration when it comes to the scenes with Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre.
ALOOF— adjective. “removed or distant either physically or emotionally.” The character of Vice Principal Douglas Panche can be taken in a great many directions; Christopher Long takes a more aloof approach, letting his anger flare-up only when he’s ‘hangry’ in the moment. A-L-O-O-F. More subtle than a straight-forward deadpan approach, Long keeps Panche very distant, both from the kids he’s reading words to and from Rona while they’re sitting together at the judge’s table. It’s a unique approach and fits the mold that Director Christopher Pence has set forth for the overall tone of this particular production.
BLITHESOME— adjective. “cheerful; having or showing a good mood or disposition; gay or merry.” Lorelei Kahn has a blithesome spirit from start to finish in the role of Rona Lisa Peretti, smiling and singing with a delightful sense of earnest goodness pouring out from her kind-hearted soul. B-L-I-T-H-E-S-O-M-E. Kahn does a stupendous job of navigating the character’s range, which sits right at the break-line of her own natural range, so you get moments of pure, energetic push when it comes time for a big belt, and you get a solid, seamless transition into that higher-sound of her head-voice for those super-soprano moments during some of her songs. Kahn also delivers this beautiful balanced sense of maternal-authority. It’s not matronly but it’s not sappy-gushy either. It’s that one teacher we all had in school who wanted us to succeed and pushed us but was also there if we needed a band-aid or a little extra help with our homework. What’s the word for that? Whatever it is, Kahn is pouring it into this character in spades.
CONSCIENTIOUS— adjective. “meticulous, careful; governed by or conforming to the dictates of conscience.” As Marcy Park, Lexi Kay presents a much more conscientious character on stage than I’ve previously seen in over a dozen productions of Spelling Bee when it comes to the ‘all-business-parochial-school-girl character.” C-O-N-S-C-I-E-N-T-I-O-U-S. With a hint of swotty, know-it-all-ness, Kay still brings the backstory of the Marcy Park character to the foreground without being mean about it. Kay’s much more awkwardly dismissive in confrontational moments like when she tells one of the characters that she only remembers “top-ten” from Nationals. Kay also has a serviceable voice that works well for “I Speak Six Languages.”
VERSATILE— adjective. “embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills; turning with ease from one thing to another; changing or fluctuating readily: variable.” Tackling both the role of Chip Tolentino and Jesus, Mica Weiss showcases readily just how versatile they can be. V-E-R-S-A-T-I-L-E. Weiss has masterfully embodied the awkwardness of a young lad experiencing all of the embarrassments of puberty. The scratchy-screeching-vocal cracking during “My Unfortunate Erection” is absolutely hilarious and appropriate, and Weiss’ body language and overall expressive nature during that number just seals the deal as a comedic win. There’s a moment when something happens to Chip, I don’t want to be a S-P-O-I-L-E-R, but Weiss just throws their body to the ground… twitch-n-corpse style and it’s hilarious. When Weiss appears later as Jesus, the vocal timbre and intonation that they use is just sublime. Truly a remarkable performer, Weiss is nailing in both roles.
FILIBUSTER—noun. “the use of extreme dilatory tactics (as by making long speeches) in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly.” In this production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for some reason, Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Jessica Long) gets a chance to deliver a filibuster just before “Woe is Me (Reprise)”. F-I-L-I-B-U-S-T-E-R. I’ve seen over a dozen different productions of Spelling Bee and nowhere in there do I ever recall Logainne getting this ramble-on moment of Filibuster, but I’m not mad about it. Jessica Long takes to the stage like a true politician in that moment and she starts spouting off this half-comic/half-improvised rant about inflation rates. And it’s hilarious. She’s going at it like a cat attacks catnip and while it feels completely superfluous to everything else happening around her (a fact that you don’t realize until you’re pulling out of the parking lot and going “hey, wait a minute…”) she’s so engaged with it you find yourself falling into it too. Long has a perfect handle on the lisp-impediment for the character, not over-exaggerating it in a mocking way but presenting as a normal part of kid life (it’s written into the script and re-addressed in the epilogue.) Long also has great stage presence, particularly when singing her “Woe Is Me” number.
CEREBRAL— adjective. “appealing to intellectual appreciation; primarily intellectual in nature.” Of all the students at the bee, William Barfee (Lucy Blumberg) is by far the most cerebral, magic foot or not. C-E-R-E-B-R-A-L. Blumberg picks a wild combination of inspirations to fabricate her version of William Barfee into existence. There’s the necessary nasal vocal affectation, which pulls a lot from Squidward J. Tentacles, and there’s a physicality that Blumberg is playing up that lends itself to Carl from Up. Leaning into the nerdy nature of the character, Blumberg really makes those little interactive moments with Olive quite touching and earnest. And when the pair of them start geeking out over various word-and-letter rearrangements it’s just too cute for words. Blumberg holds her own popping out that big fancy number “Magic Foot” and really has all eyes on her during that routine (except for the very tail-end of it once the singing has stopped and Bryan Brown is juggle-stacking all of the gold-shimmer top hats on his head.)
NEURODIVERSE— adjective. “having, relating to, or constituting a type of brain function that is not neurotypical.” Johnny Dew is playing an earnest, truthful representation of a neurodiverse character on stage with his portrayal of Leaf Coneybear and truly presenting this in a normative and positive light. N-E-U-R-O-D-I-V-E-R-S-E. There is something really beautiful and almost indescribable about the way Johnny Drew just lets the honest, simplicity of this rendering of Leaf Coneybear shine. He doesn’t try to play him dumb for comedy, he doesn’t try to specify a particular path of neurodiversity (ADD, ADHD, Autism, etc.) he just lets the character exist in all of his natural and heart-warming glory. Following to the letter the mission statement of SUFT, Drew (by way of directorial visions from Pence) leans heavily on this wild-looking sock-based-hand-puppet to help navigate his character’s existence. And Drew rocks around the stage on heelies. Just gliding his heart out as he spins and twirls and has fun with the role. It’s just so honest and innocent; it’s truly lovely to watch. Not to mention that Drew has an exceptionally beautiful voice with quite a range, making it perfect for singing “I’m Not That Smart.” You’ll just fall in love with Johnny Drew’s Leaf Coneybear and want to give him the biggest hug, really and truly.
PITIABLE— adjective. “deserving or exciting pity; lamentable; of a kind to evoke mingled pity and contempt because of inadequacy.” Kristen Demers wholly embodies the emotionally tumultuous track that is inlaid to the character of Olive Ostrovsky, really creating a tragic individual who is both pitiable and in desperate need of a big ol’ hug. P-I-T-I-A-B-L-E. I know I’ve said like a dozen times now that I’ve seen over a dozen Spelling Bees but I’ve never wanted to leap so badly from my seat and just crush-hug Olive Ostrovsky by the end of “I Love You” the way I did watching Demers last night. It’s wholly heartbreaking. That song is lyrically dissonant and has hauntingly beautiful scoring, but my god is it brutal. If you listen to the actual lyrics— and even if you can’t hone in on every single one because this is your first time watching Spelling Bee and there’s a whole host of other things to absorb during that number— you’ll see plainly both on Demers’ facial expressions and her body language that she is the product of this tragic, broken home, and she just so desperately wants to be loved. And being under-ten and realizing that love from her parents is a fantasy that she’s never going to achieve is just such a gut-punch that she delivers with such sincerity and open honestness; it’s hard to stomach. There’s this overarching demure nature to Demers as well, internalized, awkward and deeply uncertain of herself; it really flushes out this character in a way that all too often gets overlooked. But it’s not all wallowing in the mire of tragedy; there’s a great sense of pride and achievement in the way she presents Olive too, and a little bit of awkward humor in her adorable interactions with Barfee. Her scene at the mic with the ‘louder please’ is to die for because it’s exactly like innocently-weaponized-malicious-compliance that kids so often when trying to follow instructions that they don’t fully understand. Demers possesses nuance and really keeps her facial expressions controlled to the moment so that you never feel like she’s playing a caricature; it’s really impressive.
JOLLITY— noun. “as in festive; joyful or festive activity; the state of being jolly.” You’ve got two weekends to venture on out to the DoodleHATCH and catch the jollity that is SUFT’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” J-O-L-L-I-T-Y. So don’t delay; get your tickets to support a wonderful theatrical incubation program and see this labor love and the village that built it get their BEE on!
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes with one intermission
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee plays through February 25th 2024 with Stand Up For…Theatre at DoodleHATCH— 8775 Cloudleap Court in Columbia, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.
