The subtle undertones

After a brief hiatus from rehearsals my first full week back was a roller coaster of emotions. At first glance this musical is pretty straight forward and extremely silly. The true beauty of the script lies in the undertones. Some of the songs are meant to shock or to cause theatre goers to chuckle and guffaw. But many of the songs embody things that are not perfect in the world and in the lives of our characters. There is a depth and subtlety to the dialogue and the song lyrics that make me reflect. One of these songs tackles the issue of parents who put too much pressure on their child to succeed at everything and be perfect all the time. One is about a family dynamic in which one child, from a large family, believes he's not smart enough. Not good enough. And then there are songs that show the inside of a 12 year old mind (scary!!). The more we work through the numbers and add choreography and inflection the more I realize this script is not just to make people laugh or to poke fun at a mundane activity (sorry spelling bee champions). This show is also reflective of society, parents, and the "tween" stages. Otherwise known as puberty.

Meet the Characters

As this show is not as well-known as some other musicals I thought I would take a moment to share with our readers some of the lovable characters in the show. Our actors have provided this brief description of their character. Remember this is a very SMALL example of the awesomeness that is The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Chip Tolentino – The hardened champion

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere – The eager to prove herself spaz

Leaf Coneybear – The home-schooled enthusiast

William Barfee – The confident introvert

Marcy Park – The misunderstood perfectionist

Olive Ostrovsky – The lonely and extremely driven optimist

Rona Perretti – The perkiest, dissatisfied-with-life realtor

Douglas Panch – The passionless administrator

Trish Mahoney – The gansta with a heart of gold

Carl Grubenierre – The hard-ass gay dad

Dan Schwartz – The supportive but pushy parent

Olive’s mom – The fruitful traveler

Jesus Christ – The Messiah

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