Review of 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'

From Cappies: It's just a spelling bee: simple, right? Apparently, it's not; especially when your mom is on a nine-month spiritual quest, you can only breathe out of one nostril, you aren't smart, you've got two bickering dads, you're not "all business," or when you get an unfortunately timed erection. Luckily, Albert Einstein High School's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was there to skillfully show the outcomes of such odd circumstances.The original Broadway cast included stars such as Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Dan Fogler, and the show won multiple awards, including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, plus Best Book (Rachel Sheinkin) and Best Featured Actor (Dan Fogler) at the 2005 Tony Awards. �Despite having only nine speaking roles, the minute cast produced an impressive powerhouse of energy, which they maintained throughout the show.

This energy, however, was particularly evident during the wildly entertaining song "Pandemonium," the fast-paced, exciting number full of color-changing lights, stuffed pandas, and total chaos. Isabella Benning as Olive Ostrovsky tugged at heartstrings as she explained the seats she saved for her busy father and her mother, who went to India. During her emotional "The I Love You Song," Benning brilliantly expressed Olive's longing for her parents to see her at the Bee.Countering Benning's meek, lovable Olive was Samuel Intrater as the blunt, congested William Barfee hilariously utilized every appendage, particularly during his high-energy number "Magic Foot," as well as traipsing to the announcers' desk to correct the pronunciation of his name. Intrater and Benning balanced each other perfectly towards the end of the show when their characters entered the thick of the competition and had to decide whether to let the other win.Also notable, Allegra Levone as Leaf Coneybear, Joey Lambert as Douglas Panch, Steven Franco as Mitch Mahoney, and the rest of the excellent ensemble.

Levone masterfully acted out Leaf's ADD, high-fiving the other spellers, running through the climbing ropes onstage, and playing with finger puppets. Having a monotone is not typically a good thing onstage, but Lambert's bland delivery of definitions, sentences, and difficult words proved his capability as an actor, as well as being uproariously funny. Franco as the parole-serving grief counselor was a delight to watch when he interacted with the losing spellers and a joy to listen to, with his impressive vocal range coming through in multiple songs. Equally as important as the acting, the technical aspects were simple, effective, and expertly produced. The set, pleasantly simple, did not distract from the scene and ultimately benefitted it, particularly when the sliding flats in the back of the "gym" opened to allow a losing contestant to exit. The lighting was wonderfully crisp and clean, with outstanding spotlighting, gorgeous color changes, and a fun mirror ball. Also extremely well-done, reverb effects on the microphones during the terrific slow-motion scene provided an aspect of the moment that would not have otherwise been accomplished.

Perhaps the most smoothly integrated of all elements, the onstage pit, excellent in their own right, did not distract from the action, an issue nearly all onstage pits face, so the audience nearly forgot they were there!Overall, Albert Einstein High School's charming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee definitively ascertained that, even if you lose, "just being here is winning," and their outstanding expertise provided for a laugh-out-loud, memorable e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e.

Image Courtesy of Cappies