We have decided to do The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. And I am well aware that I am eating the words I spoke shortly after Spamalot that it would be YEARS before we would do another musical. There is a bit of a back story to this decision.
We were slated to produce God of Carnage. A wonderfully smart script by Yasmina Reza. With Jud handing the project over to me I wasn't sure that the timing was right for this production and my heart wasn't really in it. I spent a month or so reading through scripts to see what spoke to me. It was a fruitless search. I read script after script and nothing fired my interest. Not because they weren't wonderful or potential scripts, more because I was looking for the same kind of feeling I had when I began preparing for Motherhood out Loud. If you are familiar with my blogging during that show you know that was a tall order as I was so passionately connected to that show. After a heart to heart with Tony Mannen he asked me to listen to the soundtrack for Putnam. I got to the song "I'm not that smart" before I went to YouTube and watched a video of the show. I loved it. LOVED IT. I felt like the show had RAT Players written all over it.
So what I wanted to be years between musicals became months as I announced auditions. In all honesty this is not a well known show and I wasn't sure what kind of response I would get to the audition announcement. It's a small cast, but as a director I'm always anxious about whether or not I'll be able to find actors to be in my shows. Needing actors that have to be able to sing VERY well on top of our other high standards was a little nerve wracking. However, the response I got from people who heard about auditions was incredibly encouraging. Also, right away Amy Wilkinson offered to be my Musical Director which was HUGE for me as I knew I wanted someone fantastic to collaborate with.
There is the story. 2014 will just have to go down in our company history as the year of cheeky musicals. No, we do NOT intend to produce musicals from now on. In fact in January we will be back to our roots with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
In the meantime Amy and I will see auditioning hopefuls tonight and tomorrow. Casting will be done by Friday and we will tumble headlong into our fall production. Sharing our experiences as we go. :) Mark your calendars now as seating will be very limited.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
September 11, 12, & 13, 2014 (matinee will be announced after auditions)
CSI Fine Arts Center
Tam
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