The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a Tony Award winning musical telling the story of six adolescent youngsters (played by adults) who, while competing in the Spelling Bee, learn that winning isn’t everything, and losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser!

The audience found themselves watching a competitive spelling bee, and some of the audience were also invited to join in which added to the whole entertainment of the evening.

 Each of the “competitors” had a story to tell which was to affect the way they performed within the competition.  We were introduced to each of the characters in turn - the unloved boy who spells with his foot, William Barfee – or is it Barfay? - (Richard Lloyd) who develops a crush on Olive; the dejected over achiever Marcy Park (Emily Taylor) who isn’t allowed to cry; Olive Ostrovsky (Lisa Simpson), who made friends with her dictionary at a very young age and who is pining for her mum who is away “finding herself” on a spiritual trip; Charlito “Chip” Tolentino (Ben Tomlinson) the boy scout with uncontrollable lusts as he finds puberty strikes at the most inopportune moments; Logainne SchwartzandGrubennierre (Lauren Clarke) the youngest contestant who has two fathers and a lisp to contend with; and homeschooled hippy, Leaf Coneybear (Adam Folkard), who also makes his own clothes!.  The proceedings were being overseen by the “adults” Rona Lisa Perretti (Caroline Bayfield), her co-host Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Bruce Sturrock) and the comfort counsellor completing his community service who hands out juice boxes to the losing contestants, Mitch Mahoney (Phil Yeadon).

The set was simply brilliant, the lighting was superb and the excellent sound allowed the soloists to be heard over the band who were under the excellent direction of Tom Kyle.

There were loads of laugh-out-loud moments throughout the whole piece as well as many tender moments, with the performance of “The I love You Song” being perfectly poignant and beautifully moving.

The entire cast portrayed their characters with great professionalism and skill, and gave each character an identifiable personality.  They were all equally outstanding in their portrayals of their characters.  This was amateur theatre at its absolute very best.

The fantastically talented production team of Royston Bayfield (Director), Donna Woodman (Choreographer) and Tom Kyle (Musical Director) must be congratulated on this superb production.

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