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I have to admit to experiencing a bit of trepidation after agreeing to write a review of the current production by the New Bedford Festival Theatre at the Steeple Playhouse. I have been writing art criticism for quite some time but the focus of my reviews has been, with but a single exception, on the static arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and the like.
The one exception was a critique of Your Theatre’s production of “Red,” starring Eric Paradis as the abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and Paul Inwood as his (fictional) assistant Ken. When Paradis asked me to consider writing about it, I readily agreed.
I didn’t know much about theater but I was quite familiar with Rothko and I knew that I could navigate that headspace. The review was well-received and I considered it a one-and-done. Some months later, I was contacted about the possibility of reviewing “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” It wasn’t just a play: it was “musical theatre.”
What the hell do I know about musical theatre? I hemmed and hawed a bit and my wife Elizabeth was having no part of my apprehension. She said, “You can do this.” She might’ve even said “Don’t be a baby.”
I might be misremembering that last part.
In any case, I met with NBFT’s Elizabeth Bettencourt at the Green Bean one morning, and over coffee, she politely persuaded me to take on the task. The Elizabeths had won me over.
I read through the script. In preparation, I watched some poorly videotaped high school production online. I went to a full costume dress rehearsal the night before it opened to the general public.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was originally workshopped and developed at the Barrington Stage Company in western Massachusetts in 2004 as a musical based upon “C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E,” an original improvisational play by Rebecca Feldman.
It features music and lyrics by William Finn. By 2005, it was showing on — and off — Broadway and has been performed across the globe many times over the last two decades.
The premise is simple. Six middle school kids compete in a spelling bee in the “geographically ambiguous” Putnam County for a $200 prize to be applied to their college education. That wasn’t even much in 2004!
The six students are familiar teen archetypes, played both for laughs and pathos, and the young actors are exceptional.
In addition, some members of the audience are selected to participate in the bee. But don’t get your hopes up. The game is rigged.
Shawn T. Simmons portrays Leaf Coneybear, somewhat of the class clown type in a tie-dyed Gilligan hat, that seems to harbor far greater depth than he’s willing to let bubble to the surface. He fumbles about for a bit and then, as if struck by a sudden realization, he takes on a robotic jerky motion as he rotates with the recitation of each letter.
Molly Dupre is Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre. The mouthful of a surname is acknowledgement that she has two dads but no mom. She is dressed primarily in black but doesn’t come across as goth. Rather, she is the shy school girl until she doesn’t want to be shy anymore. She traces her finger across her arm, as if writing the word she needs to spell.
Marcy Park is played by Ren Acevedo and she comes across as the stereotypical nerd in wireframe glasses, a plaid knee-length skirt, knee-high black stockings and a tightly pulled ponytail. But when the moment comes to break into song and dance, her presence is magnified tenfold.
Chip Tolentino, dressed in a Boy Scout uniform, is portrayed by Samuel Wright. He has one of the funniest scenes in the play (and there are many laugh-out-loud moments) when he has to lower the number placard around his neck to hide his “unfortunate erection,” singing that “my stiffy has ruined my spelling.”
Alex Richter plays William Barfée (and no one respects his wish to be called William “Bar-FAY”). He is the quintessential dweeb, with tape around his broken glasses, sporadic jerky movements, and the over-the-top social awkwardness. He spells on the floor by dragging his “Magic Foot.”
Katya Sacharow is Olive Ostrovsky and she seems like a girl who has ambition but not the $25 she needs to pay the entry fee to the spelling bee nor a father who seems to care.
There is a charming moment when Olive tells William “…if you swap the first two vowels in Olive, it’s I love.” William responds “…if you swap the first two vowels in William, it’s William.”
Marcos Mendoza-Cabrera portrays Mitch Mahoney, a parolee who works as a “comfort counselor” and gives a box of juice and a hug to each of the disqualified spellers as he sees them off the stage.
Rona Lisa Peretti (played by Erin Ban, who has a golden voice) and Vice Principal Panch (played with panache by George Kippenhan) are the judges of the bee, and they are as delightfully ridiculous as the contestants.
The musical numbers are funny and memorable. The dancing borders on the acrobatic. It is unexpectedly moving.
I won’t reveal the winner.
But I will reveal this: there is a brief appearance by a certain Messiah and he doesn’t seem to have much use for spelling bees.
For showtimes and ticketing information, contact nbfestivaltheatre.
Ya know, I could get used to this musical theatre thing.
Don Wilkinson has been writing art reviews, artist profiles and cultural commentary on the South Coast for over a decade. He has been published in local newspapers and regional art magazines. He is a graduate of the Swain School of Design and the CVPA at UMass Dartmouth. Email him at dwilkinson@newbedfordlight.org.
