Review: 'Spelling Bee' Is A Hilarious S-U-C-C-E-S-S
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Over the years, shows at the Wagon Wheel Theatre have made me laugh, tear up, groove to the music and reflect.
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" definitely goes onto the list of shows that have made me laugh out loud. It could very well be the show at the top of the list.
Smartly written, you'll enjoy every actors' performance and the fast pace of the show. The songs and music are a bit of mixed bag, but they move the musical along and that works for the Wagon Wheel production.
The nine actors in the show are among the top of the 2010 summer season, giving some of their best and most hilarious performances yet.
What also makes this show gut busting is the "guest spellers", four different ones each night. On opening night Wednesday, guest spellers included Lynn Brown, John Elliott, Julie Anglemeyer and Wes Stouder.
When any of the spellers are announced by Rona Lisa Peretti (Sophie Grimm), a little detail of each speller is provided. For the guest spellers, that means a little light-hearted humor at their expense, but they take it in stride.
Announcing Elliott, Peretti said, "John just got back from Margaritaville, and discovered it was his own damn fault."
Being a "babe," it was noted that Anglemeyer is a "direct descendant of the Greek goddess Athena." Brown was sent to the detention office for "terrible dancing," while Stouder is a mini Anderson Cooper because of his "premature grey hair."
The guest spellers is a trick that works, but the whole show works because of the actors on stage for the full show. Many of them play more than one role, as some of them have done all season, but they transition easily back and forth between characters.
Zachary McConnell may play the most roles in "Spelling Bee" with three. Besides playing Mitch Mahoney, he also plays one of Logainne SchwartzandGrubenieere's (Erica Wilpon) dads and Olive Ostrovsky's (Kayla Roy) dad.
It's good to see McConnell more in the spotlight. He has proven he can play any role you throw at him, whether secondary or lead role, and he can sing like Usher.
In Act II, McConnell sings "The I Love You Song" with Roy and Grimm. Their voices together on the song make it beautiful, but when McConnell gets to soar on it toward the end, he just brings it home.
Rona is the emcee for the spelling bee. Grimm plays it so well, she deserves to be at the head of the class. Acting seems like a natural instinct to Grimm when you watch her on stage.
The same goes for Roy. Her role as a little girl with absentee parents is almost heartbreaking at times. And it's easy to forget Roy is a twentysomething woman as she plays her role of a pre-teen.
Chip Tolentino (Nick Laughlin) was last year's spelling champion. Will he win again this year? He seems to get easily distracted by the girls in the spelling bee this year, especially by super-smart Marcy Park (Caitlin Mesiano).
However, you'll enjoy watching Laughlin and Mesiano really bring their adolescent characters to life. Laughlin is far better in "Spelling Bee" than his previous performances this summer. He has the right temperament for the character, especially when Chip is upset at the start of Act II.
Marcy Park speaks five languages. No, wait. Make that six! And she knows karate, can play a musical instrument, etc., etc., etc. Mesiano delivers her lines about as perfectly as Marcy tries to be. So when Marcy learns a valuable lesson about not living up to expectations, it's fun to watch her let loose.
What's a story about a grade school spelling bee without the two weird children?
Matthew Dailey and Dave Adamick take on the roles of Leaf Coneybear and William Barfee respectively. They will keep you laughing. The two men fit in their characters so well, you'll believe they are their characters. It's uncanny.
I've seen Dailey and Adamick in previous shows this summer, but "Spelling Bee" provides the top performances of the summer for them. They are the standard-bearers for these roles.
The youngest child in "Spelling Bee" is Logainne. She's 9 years old, and has two fathers who don't like losers. She's very politically minded for a child so young.
Wilpon, with her red hair in pony tails and pants suit, just delivers the role. Logainne also has braces, so it's got to be hard for Wilpon to deliver her lines clearly enough so audiences can hear what she's saying, but Wilpon does it.
I'm not sure who will have more fun with this show - the audience watching or the cast.
Speaking of fun and great acting, there's Ari Frenkel in the role of Vice Principal Douglas Panch. If you loved Frenkel in "The Music Man" and found him to be entertaining in "The Importance of Being Earnest", you'll definitely want to see him in "Spelling Bee".
If I gave out Best Actor Awards for each season at the Wagon Wheel, Frenkel definitely would be in head-to-head competition for the top prize with Jake Klinkhammer ("Godspell", "All Shook Up", "Cats") and Ben Maters ("Godspell", "The Music Man"). Frenkel's performance in "Spelling Bee" might just push him over the edge to victory though.
Panch gives the words to each speller. He also offers definitions and uses the words in a sentence. While the script is written for that to be funny, Frenkel's delivery gives it that little oomph.
Many actors dream of making it to Broadway, but I'd be willing to bet that Frenkel actually will make it.As for the music in "Spelling Bee", as I said it's a mixed bag. Some songs come and go, their only value being to move the story along. Some of them could have probably even be stripped out. Other songs, like "I'm Not That Smart", "Pandemonium" and "The I Love You Song" are memorable and enjoyable, and well delivered by the cast.
The setting is in a gym, so the stage looks like a condensed basketball court prepared for a spelling bee. The only flaw? The big flag that will block your view if you are in Section 3, Row H, Seat 13 or 14. We had to move because the flag is so big, we couldn't see what the actors were doing on center stage.
There is a funny moment when the flag comes into play with Leaf Coneybear, but otherwise, the flag is just in the way of the stage. I'm sure I missed something because the flag blocked my view for a large portion of Act I.
At the end of the day though, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is a well-done musical that will keep you laughing.
My rating (out of four): 3.75.
"Spelling Bee" runs now through Aug. 28. For tickets, call 574-267-8041, toll free 866-823-2618, or visit online at www.wagonwheeltheatre.com
