Andrew Lloyd Webber was once quoted as saying, “Musical theatre history is littered with bad reviews for now classic pieces.”
That is not to say that Vanguard Theatre’s recent production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is of the same pitch and import as something like the opening day of Phantom of the Opera, but it does remind the conscientious critic to exercise a bit of measured caution in their treatment of any production.
Such considerations still apply with a work like “Spelling Bee,” especially given the caliber of performance which the community here at UTM has come to expect from our Department of Visual and Theatre Arts.
“The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee” ran Nov. 7 – Nov. 10, in the process drawing a signficant audience of both students, faculty and community members. The show was directed by Kevin Shell.
The offering, a musical with music and script by William Finn, Rachel Sheinken and Rebecca Feldman first produced in 2005, follows the events of the titular spelling competition in which a cast of middle schoolers are competing for admiration, honors and the coveted trophy.
Throughout the course of several musical numbers arranged in an uninterrupted menagerie of lights and sounds, characters are slowly eliminated from the competition as we delve into each main character’s background and personality. Along the way, several supporting characters provide comic relief and help to drive the plot forward.
The first thing one might say about this show was that it demonstrated a good working relationship between the departments of music, theatre, and dance. The orchestra, under the direction of Dr. John Oelrich, was flawless. The choreography in the show, while nothing overly complicated, was still expressive and lively enough to be interesting and well-executed by the phenomenal cast of lead actors.
In terms of vocals, freshman Music major, Mckenzie Bell, was a standout as Rona Lisa Peretti. Other notable vocalists included Hunter Burton, a sophomore Fine Arts major, as the Little League star pitcher Chip Tolentino, Katelynn Payne, a freshman Computer Science major, as Olive Ostrovsky, and especially Jarvis Banks-Lee, a junior Music major, as comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney.
On choreography, the movement on the number “Pandemonium” was excellent, combined with lights and music it created a choice unity of effect. And for individual footwork, if my pun may be pardoned, Drew Melebeck demonstrated his rug-cutting abilities admirably in “Magic Foot.”
The vocals, choreography, and music were also helped along by a fantastic set design and a well-executed use of lighting to signal very smooth scene shifts.
Overall the show was quite funny, with humorous example sentences delivered over the course of the show by Vice Principal Panch, played by Lymonte Thomas, getting the bulk of the laughs.
“Spelling Bee” also wasn’t afraid to deal with deeper social issues, particularly in highlighting a variety of different dysfunctional styles of parenting which have touched the lives of most of the play’s characters.
Despite it’s excellent musical direction, simple but effective choreography, and good sense of comic delivery, “Spelling Bee” was also not a perfect production. The vocals sometimes left something to be desired, most notably the number entitled “The I Love You Song.” There were also minor hiccups with sound, particularly with actors not speaking into the microphone directly at times.
I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the most unique aspect of “The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee,” and that is the audience participation. Several random audience members were hand-selected to come onstage and participate in the bee. I spoke to one of them afterwards, Lydia Greub, a freshman Theatre major who came in all the way from MTSU to see the performance. “It was so fun,” Greub said. “I liked how interactive it was. It was really funny, it was just a good time.”
That sentiment seemed to be the majority report of the crowd filing out of the theatre that night, and in this writer’s opinion the perfect way to summarize “Spelling Bee.”
While I have had misgivings with some of Vanguard’s performances in the past, their most recent fare gives me hope for theatre’s coming into its own here at UTM.
very good read good to get some good news about our kids with so much wrong in the news. And congratulations McKenzie you go!!