Tony Award-winning ‘Spelling Bee’ opens Aug. 7
The Gaslight Theatre cast of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ includes, first row: Bruce Graham as Leaf Coneybear. Second row: Eyanna Wawrzynek as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre; Keri Adolfson as Marcy Parks. Third row: Ericka Palladino as Olive Ostrovsky, Dane Bower as William Barfée, Adam Reinheimer as Chip Tolentino. Fourth row: Matthew Murphy as Douglas Panch, Kristen Long as Rona Lisa Peretti and Christian Lynch as Mitch Mahoney.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Jumping, twirling, and grabbing the microphone, the cast of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ rehearses a number called ‘Pandemonium.’ Gaslight Theatre will present the Tony Award-winning musical at King’s College Aug. 7-9 and Aug. 14-16.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
How many names of South American rodents can you expect one student to spell?
Would a dad be willing to cheat, maybe by spilling soda on the floor, just to help his child win a bee?
And, when words become difficult, can a “magic foot” really help you?
Those are just a few of the questions audience members might consider as they laugh their way through “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a Tony Award-winning musical that Gaslight Theatre Co. will present Aug. 7-9 and Aug. 14-16 in the George P. Maffei II Theatre at King’s College.
Among the six main spellers at this fictional championship bee are William Barfée, who taps out the letters of each word with his “magic foot” as he spells aloud. “It’s not a tap dance but more like a wiggle and a limp,” said veteran actor Dane Bower of West Wyoming, who portrays young William. “My ‘magic foot’ is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever had to do onstage.”
Then there’s Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, the youngest speller in the bee, who speaks with a slight impediment. Eyanna Wawrzynek of Kingston, who has that role, has been preparing by “talking to my husband all day, every day, with a lisp.” One of Logainne’s two dads is the person who decides to spill a bit of soda, hoping to sabotage William Barfée’s foot and give his daughter an advantage.
As for the home-schooled Leaf Coneybear, he’s the speller asked to come up not only with C-A-P-Y-B-A-R-A but A-C-O-U-C-H-I, two animals from the Amazon Rainforest. And for Bruce Graham, a math and physics major at Vassar, who has that role, the names of those animals shouldn’t be all that difficult.
After all, about seven years ago, Graham correctly spelled T-E-R-G-I-V-E-R-S-A-T-I-O-N (it means evasion, equivocation, or changing one’s loyalties) to win a school bee at Wilkes-Barre Academy. The actor expected to attend the regional bee after that, but COVID-19 interfered.
While characters in the Putnam County bee don’t have to contend with a pandemic, they do face all sorts of other challenges.
Marcy Parks, who sings about speaking six languages and playing rugby, “has a lot of pressure on her,” said Keri Adolfson of Throop, who has that part. “She talks about sleeping just three hours a night, and not being allowed to cry.”
Chip Tolentino, played by Adam Reinheimer of Kingston, is over-confident about holding on to his championship title from last year — until he’s distracted by the sight of a pretty girl.
“It looks like I’m going to be wearing the Boy Scout uniform tonight,” Reinheimer said as a castmate brought the tan outfit to the auditorium for him to try on before a recent rehearsal.
Ericka Palladino of Exeter plays speller Olive Ostrovsky, a sweet and shy speller who longs for more attention from her parents. Mom has gone off to an ashram in India, and Dad is supposed to come to the bee with money for Olive’s entrance fee. Sigh. He never shows up, but maybe another grown-up will come to her rescue.
Playing the three adult roles in the cast are Kristen Long, as bee host and former bee champion Rona Lisa Peretti; Matthew Murphy, as vice principal and bee pronouncer Douglas Panch, and Christian Lynch, as Mitch Mahoney, the person who comforts kids with juice boxes after they misspell a word.
Contributing to the fun of the show, director Allie Liguiori said, is a chance for several audience members to join the spellers onstage as part of the bee, free to spell or misspell words as best they can. “People who are interested can sign up beforehand,” she said.
The show has one intermission and an estimated runtime of 1.5 hours. Free on-site parking is available. General admission tickets ($20) are on sale online and will be sold at the door, where cash and cards are accepted. For more info, see gaslight-theatre.org.
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