Our Next Show...
About the Show
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ABOUT THE SHOW...
Six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is a hilarious musical tale of overachievers' angst chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.
The show's Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.
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Olean Community Theatre
presents
The 25th Annual
Putnam County
Spelling Bee
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Directed by Minna Badanes
Fri JUN 6 at 7:30p
Sat JUN 7 at 2:00p & 7:30p
Sun JUN 8 at 2:00p
TICKETS: $12.00 Adults
$10.00 Seniors & Youth Under 18
at the CUTCO THEATER
Catt. Co. Campus of JCC
260 N Union St / Olean NY
(For Mature Audiences)
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Fri JUN 6 at 7:30p
Sat JUN 7 at 2:00p & 7:30p
Sun JUN 8 at 2:00p
Cutco Theater / JCC-Olean
(For Mature Audiences)
THE CAST
Chip Tolentino...Boris Van Druff
Boris Van DruffLogainne Schwartzandgrubenniere...Tori Lanzillo
Tori LanzilloLeaf Coneybear...Clay Nolan
Clay NolanWilliam Barfee...Bill Steffen
Bill SteffenMarcy Park...Lauren Scharf
Lauren ScharfOlive Ostrovsky...Lea Battaglia
Lea BattagliaRona Lisa Perretti...Tanaka Van Druff
Tanaka Van DruffVice Principal Douglas Panch...Darrell Klute
Darrell KluteMitch Mahoney...Colin Sullivan
Colin SullivanTHE PRODUCTION STAFF
Producer...Jennifer Simpson
Jennifer SimpsonDirector... Minna Badanes
Vocal Director...Mark Lungershausen
Mark LungershausenChoreographer...Laurie Donner
Laurie DonnerConductor...Ruth Fuller
Ruth FullerTechnical Director...Ken Roberts
Ken RobertsProduction Assistant...Carla Campbell
Carla CampbellThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
a review by Richard G. Frederick
There is a wonderful by-product of the Olean Community Theatre’s latest production, which opens this evening. The central feature of the play is a spelling bee, featuring exotic and arcane words like “syzygy” and “acouchi” and “elanguescence.” If you pay attention, the play is bound to make you smarter. Unless, of course, you suffer brain freeze from laughing too hard. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious musical comedy that revolves around a nearly non-existent plot consisting of back stories of the characters, as well as some of their present concerns. What a zany lot they turn out to be!
The adults in charge are Rona Lisa Perretti (Tanaka Van Druff), a local realtor who lives to relive her spelling bee win when she was a teenager some 20 years ago; Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Darrell Klute), the Judge and official word pronouncer, whose deadpan delivery of hilarious material betrays comedic genius; and Mitch Mahoney (Colin Sullivan), the official comfort counselor, who hands out juice boxes to the contest losers, as part of his community service for some past criminal behavior.
Six “adolescents” comprise the official contestants. All are quirky, but some are especially so. William Barfée (Bill Steffen), for example, spells his words out with his foot before speaking. (He explains his technique in song, “Magic Foot.”) Leaf Coneybear (Clay Nolan) has no idea how to spell his words, but goes into a trance and spells them correctly. His musical declaration “I’m Not That Smart” is accompanied by a totally flaked-out dance around the stage and the front rows of the theater. Chip Tolentino (Boris Van Druff) is the defending champion and most normal of the contestants, but an irrepressible moment leads to his early disqualification from the bee. He explains, in the very funny “Chip’s Lament.”
The girls are a mixed lot. Olive Ostrovsky (Lea Battaglia) suffers from parental neglect, which has caused her to seek out a different sort of companion, which she sings about in “My Friend, the Dictionary.” Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere (Victoria Lanzillo) has a pair of obnoxious gay fathers, and is worried about their obsession with winning (“Woe Is Me”). Marcy Park (Lauren Scharf) is the over-achiever of the bunch (“I Speak Six Languages”), but she leaves the bee after a weird sort of religious experience.
In addition to the contestants in the cast, audience members are chosen to round out the competition. This adds a dimension of unpredictability to the play that is both edgy and refreshing. Who knows what might happen?
The relatively small cast, inflated by audience participants, is also charged with creating another half-dozen or so characters, who are parts of the back-stories of the characters on stage. For example, both of Leaf’s parents, Olive’s parents, both of Schwartzandgrubenniere’s dads, and a surprise religious figure show up, all portrayed by the other actors.
If this sounds confusing, it actually makes sense as the play unfolds. When the play was on Broadway, it won the Tony Award for best book of a musical, an indication that the story was tight and played well. This is certainly the case under the direction of Olean Community Theater stalwart Minna Badanes. Arguably, the play could work as a straight comedy without music, which is certainly not the case with nearly all other musicals.
The music is far more than just an accompaniment, however. There are not many tuneful melodies to send audiences out of the theater humming, but the score is smart, the lyrics are clever, and the music is always supportive of the hijinks on the stage. Vocal director Mark Lungershausen does a terrific job of blending cast members’ voices in a number of ensemble pieces, notably “Pandemonium.” This number also highlights the skill of choreographer Laurie Donner, who has everyone moving in different directions on stage—the sort of controlled chaos reflected in the song’s title.
Most of the cast members are featured in solo numbers or duets. Particularly appealing is Miss Battaglia’s “The I Love You Song,” which features Olive’s imagined parents (Mr. Van Druff and Miss Van Druff). All of the musical numbers are ably supported by conductor Ruth Fuller and her small ensemble of instrumentalists.
This production is typical of Olean Community Theater offerings in all ways that are positive. The play is well-chosen, the cast is talented, and the overall production is impeccable. You couldn’t make a better choice for a good time this weekend.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opens Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cutco Theater on the Cattaraugus County Campus of Jamestown Community College in downtown Olean, NY. Performances on Saturday, June 7 are slated for 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with a matinee on Sunday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m.
