'Spelling Bee' - Clever, Delightful & Disappointing

'The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' is a fun filled musical comedy currently bringing joy to audiences at the Broward Center.

'Spelling Bee' starts off so very promisingly, and the first hour is pretty much full of sheer delight. Unfortunately, the show goes seriously downhill by its last half hour and dissipates a lot of the fun that came before it.

This musical comedy of competitors in a spelling bee, as well as some faculty and parents keeps trying to bring the audience 'in' and in fact four audience members are chosen from volunteers to be a part of the show. That is the MAIN fun of the show, along with some local references to make the show very pertinent to today's headlines and the locale in which it is playing.

Sadly, once the last audience participant has left the stage, 'Spelling Bee' seems to lose its way and its ability to continue to entertain us. The show was conceived by Rebecca Feldman with book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. Their work is witty and wise and often simply outstanding. However, all involved with the creative team fail in a very major aspect. They never really make us care for any of the spellers. We really have no great interest in who wins or loses the spelling bee; none of these characters ever latches onto our hearts.

I have heard of at least one critic refer to this show as A CHORUS LINE of the younger set. Not by a long shot. A CHORUS LINE is about dreams and is full of characters with whom we seem to bond. There is no bonding here and there is certainly no Michael Bennett stage magic to cover the flaws.

The music and lyrics by William Finn start out winningly and do not maintain that winning level. There are welcome sections where Mr. Finn's work shines and are briefly reminiscent of his superior prior works. This show is not William Finn's baby, and it shows. We find ourselves wanting more songs, more music, better songs and better music. The man who gave us Falsettos and A New Brain does not triumph with this score. Perhaps he did not have the chance to strut his stuff. His work certainly suits the material, however, too often we need Mr. Finn's work to lift the material.

James Lapine's direction is inspired and even invigorating in the show's first hour. Like the other creatives on this show, Mr. Lapine seems to lose his way during the show's last half hour. James Lapine is a puzzlement to me. His work on FALSETTOS was deliriously exciting. He also has some great times in 'Spelling Bee.' His works with Stephen Sondheim, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and INTO THE WOODS, are reminiscent of his work on this show. In the Sondheim works, you tend to know something masterful is going on up there. However, under Lapine's direction, along with moments of musical theater glee, come great lapses of boredom and tedium.

The young cast is uniformly excellent and one wishes there were a moment or two where some of them had the opportunity to goose bump us. It never happens. I must clarify that this is a very good show. Not every musical can be MY FAIR LADY or THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. To its credit, this show does not try to be.

I just wish there had been more intoxicating music, better and more exciting choreography from Dan Knechtges and I wish all involved had made the last third of this show as enjoyable as the beginning. 'Spelling Bees' final performance at the Broward Center is March 25.

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