Jordan Biagomala
A scene from Capital City Theatre's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."
As audiences file into the gymnasium of Kinikiwaunamac High School for the The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, we can almost smell the overcooked hamburgers and French fries from hot lunch, and pairs of sweaty socks, discarded after a game of dodgeball during P.E.
Scenic designer Mike Lawler has transformed the Overture Center’s Promenade Hall into a school gym that could exist in any small town in Wisconsin — complete with a basketball hoop, spirit banners and creaky wooden risers. The pep band, dressed in matching t-shirts (actually the five-piece orchestra, led by music director Andrew Abrams) lines the back wall of the gym, ready to provide accompaniment during the event. And two spelling bee proctors take their places at a folding table, looking over lists of words to test this year’s contestants, who are competing for a chance to go to the national tournament in Washington, D.C.
Capital City Theatre sets the stage so well for its first musical of the season that at least one former spelling bee champ (yours truly: fifth grade, Milton East Elementary, 1980) was beginning to get nervous butterflies in her stomach. Fortunately, the four members of the audience who were called up onstage to join the competitive spellers on opening night seemed to take the challenge in stride. And the rest of the audience was happy to follow the journeys of the six oddball students as they struggled to spell words like “strabismus,” “vulpine,” “phylactery” and “capybara,” which are put into sentences by the slightly off-balance vice principal Doug Panch (a very amusing Patrick Fernan). Bizarre color commentary was provided by local realtor and bee alum Rona Peretti (an affable Lisa Spierer, complete with the fake smile of a beauty pageant contestant).
A strange combination of heartwarming musical, crass adolescent comedy and interactive improv show, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee debuted on Broadway in 2005 with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin. Since then it has toured the country, allowing each venue to customize parts of the show to make them more location-specific — which is the only way a joke about Stoughton’s lutefisk tacos would make it into the script. Some of the gags reflecting local color work, some are just cheesy (get it?). But taken together, the production is a funny look at the pressure kids feel to succeed, their complicated family dynamics and the sheer awkwardness of being a brainy young teen.
The cast of quirky kiddos is played expertly by musical theater veterans from Chicago and New York, some of whom are reprising these roles from previous productions. Most give considerable depth to their initially cartoony characters; the horny boy scout Chip, the practically perfect Asian American girl Marcy, the chubby and conceited nerd William, the whimsical recluse Olive, the homeschooled free spirit Leaf and the desperate-to-please cutiepie Logainne, who’s being raised by two dads.
Jake Morrissy is mesmerizing as Leaf. With his homemade red cape, finger puppets, wide eyes and distinctive gait, Morrissy gives this misfit kid a profound sense of awe that’s eventually coupled with confidence. His spelling technique, which resembles an alien possession, is as funny as it is endearing, and he shines in his solo, “I’m Not That Smart.” The actor is equally adept as Logainne’s type-A dad, who’s hell bent on her winning the competition.
With a face full of freckles and her curly hair brushed into two pompoms, Hilary Fingerman brings a muppet-like energy to her character, a tiny girl with a huge heart and equally huge ambitions.
And as the slovenly and stuck-up boy who uses his “magic foot” to spell words, Steven Mooney is pitch perfect. Every snide comment and condescending gesture lands with great comic timing, but Mooney also allows us to see the softer side of William Barfee. (It’s pronounced Bar-FAY!)
In addition to the nerdy word kids, a chair is reserved onstage for the large and intimidating Mitch Mahoney (a scene-stealing Edwin Bates) who acts as a “comfort counselor” to fulfill the community service requirement of his parole. At first incongruous and then weirdly touching, he offers each eliminated contestant a hug and a juice box as they exit the stage. Bates shows off his impressive vocal dexterity in the “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor,” and his knack for quick changes as he switches character to the more emotionally available of Logainne’s two dads.
While a couple of the “kids” are not as vocally strong as the others and the choreography rarely goes beyond standard swing choir moves, Spelling Bee succeeds in unexpected places — particularly the heart wrenching “I Love You Song” and in the joy several students find when they realize that winning is not the most important thing.
