Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Entre'Acte Theatrix

Entre'Acte Theatrix presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at The PGA Arts Center. Based upon C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, an original improvisational play created by Rebecca Feldman, the musical was conceived of by Rebecca Feldman, and features music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin, and additional material by Jay Reiss.

The audience is welcomed by our host Ms. Peretti (Lissen Ellington) to the Putnam County Middle School for the 25th annual spelling bee finals. Ms. Peretti, herself a former winner of the Bee, reminisces as she explains the rules and welcomes each of the contestants. Ellington is perpetually perky and prim as real estate agent Ms. Peretti, and helps to keep the show moving at a brisk pace during her scenes.

Ms. Peretti is assisted by Vice Principal Douglas Panch (David W. Lamphier), who has just been allowed to return to the Bee after a behavior incident five years earlier, and two Bee Officials (who double in other roles) played by Patrick Kolta and Megan Cires. Lamphier is decent in the second act, but seems to flounder to keep his place in the first act, when it appears he is bailed out a few times by his attentive fellow cast-mate - Ellington.

The Spelling Bee staff is joined by Mitch Mahoney (James White III), who is serving out court ordered community service at the Bee as a "comfort counselor." What little comfort he offers the children who are eliminated (a juice box and a hug) would seem to be more affection and validation than some of our quirky contestants receive in their home lives. White brings comedy to his portrayal of the street-wise character of Mahoney. He later doubles as Olive's father with Cires as her mother in "The I Love You Song". This trio is the most beautiful song in the show. While Cires has a lovely singing voice that truly does the song justice, White misses a few of his notes, and rides flat on others.

One by one, we meet the six eccentric contestants that make up our main characters. All but one of them are champions of their respective schools. Each student is vying for their chance to make it to the national spelling bee, and you can be sure that each of them takes it all quite seriously. Four pre-selected adult audience members join the other contestants on stage. For a large portion of the show they participate along with the other contestants, coached to always ask for a definition and usage in a sentence. Eventually, they are escorted back to their seats with a conciliatory juice box and a hug after they inevitably misspell a word they are given.

Among the cast of contestants is the long-suffering William Barfee (Robyn Eli Brenner) whose last name is continually mispronounced "Barf-ee" instead of "Barf-ay". Though cursed with a chronic sinus condition and a peanut allergy, he is blessed with a magic spelling foot. Brenner does a good job with the quirky role, and the song "Magic Foot", except for the last three painfully sung notes of his solo.

Olive Ostrovsky's (Mary Grace Tesoriero) perpetually absentee parents leave her only with an oversized dictionary and a love of words as her solace. Tesoriero has some heart-warming moments near the end of the show, but needs to capture our hearts earlier to create the empathy deserving of this character. The ultimate over-achieving Marcy Park (Rachel Ihasz) excels at everything but knowing how to relax and enjoy her own childhood. Ihasz seems to hold back up until her big number "I Speak Six Languages" and the scene in which she intentionally misspells a word. In those moments she turns in the best performance of Marcie I have seen, with wonderfully clear subtext and a palpable through-line.

A neurotic Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Eva Mei Shuckman) is the product of her two over-involved Dads being focused on her success. Shuckman is talented, but her microphone was not always loud enough in the show attended, so some of her performance was lost. Kolta and Halmos regrettably drop the ball in their portrayal of her two gay dads in a few brief scenes intended to be humorous. It was not clear what they were trying to do, some of the audience didn't understand it, and they just weren't funny.

The flighty Leaf Coneybear (Greg Halmos) has both the innocence and the attention span of an 8-year-old, but somehow manages to spell correctly by entering into a fugue state. Halmos is perhaps miscast in this role as he looks much older than the other actors playing children; and he seems to have difficulty connecting to the character, with his facial expressions not always matching his acting choices. He may have been having an off day, as his singing voice was meagre at best, and he consistently was off or late on his choreography, particularly in the song "Magic Foot". He needs to mine for the gold that is buried in the writing of this wonderful character as he missed about 30% of it.

Chip Tolentino's (Rosseroni Paris) raging hormones cruelly distract him from his mission of winning the Bee when his ill-timed erection gets the best of him. Paris gives an enjoyable performance as Chip, and has a strong singing voice. Alas he struggles with his big solo "Chip's Lament" where the key of the song is too high for him; and he cracks on and/or speak-sings some of the notes.

The ensemble sound when everyone is together is quite solid, and all the harmonies sound in place. The choreography is simple but effective. The costuming, lighting, set, and use of tracks vs. live musicians all seem to serve the show well. There were some microphone issues present, but I did note that a couple of the cast members seemed to be aware of it and intentionally project over these issues.

On the matinee attended, a misshap in the ticketing window left a group of 35 people standing outside in the heat, with the lobby doors locked, for too long - and resulted in curtain time being late. While I was concerned that this would result in a crabby audience, whatever qualms they may have felt were quickly assuaged by the inherent charm of the show. The following is one of my favorite quotes from the script:

Panch: "Your word is: phylactery"
Contestant: "Definition?"
Panch: "A small leather box containing Hebrew texts worn by Jewish men as a reminder to keep the law."
Contestant: "Can you use it in a sentence?"
Panch: "Billy, put down that phylactery, we're Episcopalian."

While this production is in need of a stronger directorial hand at the helm, particularly in the establishment of relationships between characters, humorous moments like the one above, mixed with miniature character studies of our unlikely group of adolescent misfits, help to make The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee endearingly appealing.

The original production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ran Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre from February 7, 2005, through March 20, 2005, receiving five Drama Desk awards. It then premiered on Broadway at Circle on the Square on April 15, 2005, closing on January 20, 2008, after 1, 136 performances. The Broadway production received Tony Awards for Best Book (Rachel Sheinkin) and Best Featured Actor (Dan Fogler).

Entr'Acte Theatrix is a 15-year-old, not-for-profit showcase company providing opportunities for emerging theatre artists both on and off stage. Their mandate is to nurture and support the next generation of theatre artists; and to bring affordable, or a no cost audience experience to those not otherwise able to afford it. For more information on the company or their season you may contact them at www.EntreActeTheatrix.org

This Entre'Acte Theatrix production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will be appearing at The PGA Arts Center through July 2, 2017. The PGA Arts Center (Formerly PGA Cinema/Loehmann's Plaza) is located at 4076 PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens. To purchase tickets, please contact the Box Office: 1-855-HIT-SHOW, and for Groups Sales (12+): 1-888-264-1788.

Cast:
Marcy Park: Rachael Ihasz
William Barfee: Robyn Eli Brenner
Olive Ostrovsky: Mary Grace Tesoriero
Leaf Coneybear: Greg Halmos
Chip Tolentino: Rosseroni Paris
Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre: Eva Mei Shuckman
Mitch Mahoney: James White III
Vice Principal Douglas Panch: David W. Lamphier
Rona Lisa Paretti: Lissen Ellington

Leaf's Dad/Carl Dad/Bee Official: Patrick Kolta

Leaf's Mom/Olive's Mom/Bee Official: Megan Cires

Crew:
Director/Choreographer: Carlo Sabusap
Music Director: Anneliesa Trethewey
Lighting/Sound Design: PGA Arts Center
Costume/prop Design: Rosseroni Paris
Stage Manager: Sean Smyth

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