The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Another N.I. amateur premier for Newcastle Glees! First staged on Broadway in 2005 it earned good reviews and six Tony
Awards, winning two. A musical comedy – the music and lyrics are by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin with additional
material by Jay Reiss. The small cast consists of 6 adults playing the parts of quirky adolescent contestants and 3 equally quirky
adults running the Spelling Bee final. As this type of competition is typically American, the show was always going to be slightly
foreign to the British psyche. In addition each actor had a very individual character to portray, which gave the opportunity for
continual comedy. The 6 piece band was tightly packed at the back of the stage and the set was a simple school gymnasium with
bleacher seats for the contestants stage left and a trestle table stage right for the officials. Official posters, basketball nets and the
trophy adorned the front sides of the stage. Sound was well balanced and Lighting appropriate and on cue.

Emma-Jane McKnight took the role of competition Moderator Rona Lisa Peretti who was a former Spelling Bee Champion.
She had to take the difficult decisions about expelling those who failed to spell a word right but was always ‘over the top’ cheerful
and always sang her repeated chorus of “My favourite moment of the Bee” beautifully. Lowry Hodgett was hilarious as Vice
Principal Douglas Panch although his ‘tics’ were not strictly PC! An excellent comedian, he never stopped acting even when the
focus was not on him. Probably the most important role in the show, as official word pronouncer he made the most of some
ridiculous words and putting them into ridiculous sentences! Mitch Maloney was described as a ‘comfort councillor’ who was
there on a community service order and a particularly ‘butch’ Emma Taggart fulfilled the role effectively! She managed to look
really tough and intimidating and had no idea how to comfort losers! Emma was very good at quietly guiding the audience
participants when they had to take part in a stage routine (more of that later).

There were six contestants in the spelling bee who shared the bleacher seats with three ‘visiting’ contestants chosen from the
audience before the curtain went up each night – a most unusual aspect to a show! On the night I attended these three coped
so well with being part of the Bee that I honestly thought they were stooges! I was later assured that they were audience
members who had agreed to be involved. All the contestant roles were well cast and individually characterised. Kate Keaveney
played Olive Ostrovsky – a shy 6 th grader whose favourite book was a dictionary as she rarely saw her parents. Despite showing her
meekness to begin with, Katy developed a blossoming character and strong vocals. Francis McKinney was Leaf Coneybear
– a home schooled lad dressed as a superhero and unused to social interaction. Francis was highly convincing as this strange but
rather sweet fellow who was easily distracted (maybe a case of ADHD?) but managed to get spellings correct when going into a
trance. He also played one of Schwartzy’s dads.

Orla Russell wore her hair in bunches as young and innocent Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (nickname Schwartzy). As her role
required, Orla spoke with a lisp and showed her character to be rather neurotic and self-conscious. Revealed to have been brought
up by two overbearing and argumentative fathers, she also showed political awareness and sometimes spoke out with confidence.
Orla was very kind when she befriended fellow contestant William Barfee – played by Mark Tilley. He was excellent in the
somewhat aloof and slightly bullyish character. Barfee’s strange method of spelling with his ‘magic foot’ was well portrayed in tap-
dance and Mark’s comic timing was good. Josh Clarke was Chip Tolentino - an adolescent who was the previous year’s winner of
the Spelling Bee. Josh showed a competitive spirit but was unfortunately embarrassed by the effects of puberty! He sang well in the
opening number of Act 2 (My Unfortunate Erection!) and his comedy was well portrayed. He also played the small parts of Jesus
and one of Schwartzy’s dads – the former role on a hoverboard! Marcy Park (Fiona Keane) is a very experienced and intense
competitor – know-it-all and rather humourless. She speaks six languages, is a champion sportswoman, plays multiple musical
instruments and is getting tired of winning! Fiona portrayed the character of the rather sad individual very well. Her song “I speak
six languages” with the other girls was well sung.

Mark Tilley, who played William Barfee, was also Musical Director for the production. In funny, catchy and touching songs which
sometimes had difficult harmonies the actors were well rehearsed. The orchestra was conducted by keyboard player Andrew
Robinson. As it is a ‘movement’ rather than ‘dancing’ show, Laura Kerr directed all aspects. She admitted to finding the script
unfunny on first reading but she really brought the comedy to life with her direction.

There was a great buzz as the audience was leaving – everyone had a special evening of laughter and entertainment and so did I.
My thanks for the invitation and to all involved in the production.

Sheelagh Hobart

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.