By Alayna Een
In the hour before crepuscle*, eager theatregoers weave their way through labyrinthine construction tunnels to the Ragan Theatre (Orem, UT), where the UVU Theatre Arts Guild (TAG) is performing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
This quixotic musical, started as an improv-comedy play created by Rebecca Feldman, grew into a fully scripted musical with the help of William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin (Tony award-winning book of the play). It ran off-Broadway in 2005, had a Broadway run 2005–2008, and has since been performed around the world. No two performances of this show are ever the same, however, as four audience members are called in to join the six elementary-school contestants and the actors are encouraged to improv lines in response to the garrulous contest. A unique and admirable feature of this production is that it is entirely run by students. TAG is student-led, meaning that students come together to select, cast, direct, produce, and perform the play independent of the university. Maren Lethbridge (Director/Set Design) explained that this erases many of the politics of putting on a show and gives students the power and freedom to create the kind of productions that would be most fulfilling for them. But it also involves a lot of sacrifice; TAG members fundraised for the performance rights and the theatre rental to make this production possible and several of them are missing graduation festivities to be in this production. This unity of purpose is a key feature of the show’s success because, as Marta Myers (Logainne Schwartzandgrunenierre) notes, the high level of improv in the show requires the cast members to be in tune with each other, and Lethbridge’s brilliant casting ensures that they are.
The show is set in nondescript Putnam County, where spelling-obsessed erstwhile champion Rona Lisa Peretti (Whitney Call) and harried (and mustachioed) Assistant Principal Douglas Panch (Eirik Affleck) host the annual bee for ten contestants. The plot follows the zenith of the underdogs and the plummet of stars in sesquipedalian sequence as each eliminated student is serenaded off the stage and given a juice-box by the disreputable comfort counselor, Mitch Mahoney (Merick Masters), until the final victor is proclaimed.
The six contestants, sporting the colored shorts, argyle sweaters, long socks, and pigtails we’ve all thankfully grown out of, are preteens not quite old enough for some of the PG-13 comments they make. Dallin Suman (Chip Tolentino/Jesus) embraces the foibles of boyhood and gives his all to the performance, eliciting illicit laughs from the audience. Elijah Wolford (Leaf Coneybear/Carl Dad) shows great acting range with his characters and cape flourishes. Erica Schoebinger (Marcy Park) brings poise and personality to her practically perfect character, slipping easily into impressive splits during “I Speak Six Languages.” Myers convincingly captures Logainne’s consistent lisp, high vocals, and desire to please her dads.
Aspen Thompson (Olive Ostrovsky) portrays the timid and pitiable newcomer and emotively performs the most poignant song in the play, “The I Love You Song,” accompanied by Call and Masters, doubling as her parents. Josh Needles (William Barfée) is the annoyingly capable and rude know-it-all, and his fascial expressions and magic foot are both consistently in character and hilarious.
The lighting, sound, and costume design (Adam Gowers, Andrew Domyan, and Merick Masters) supported the performance. Gowers’ light design creates a clear shift for the characters’ visions and memories, allowing the soloists to shine. Stage manager Maisie Bunker keeps things running smoothly and choreographer Rilyn Gardner-Nicoll makes it look like it isn’t—at least during “Pandemonium.” But then Gardner-Nicoll orchestrates impressive lifts and chorus-line kicks in contrast. Music Director Kiley Todd Drake linked everything together.
Watching this performance, surrounded by butcher-paper signs and DARE posters, I saw nostalgic snippets of my fifth-grade self and I felt a kind of camaraderie with my fellow audience members and the actors as they mingled with us (I’ve truly never encountered a more friendly and earnest cast and crew). TAG’s performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the UVU Ragan Theatre in Orem, UT, is certainly worth seeing for a teenage-adult audience. After over a year of “Pandemonium” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s nice to see constructive chaos back where it belongs—onstage in the capable hands of improv actors.
*twilight
TAG UVU Ragan Theatre presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Music and lyrics William Finn, Book by Rachel Sheinkin, Basis by Rebecca Feldman
UVU Ragan Theatre, 800 W University Pkwy, Orem, UT 84097
May 6–8, 2021, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $12 General Admission, $10 TAG Members, Open seating, Masks required
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