Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Revolution Stage Company

Fresh on the heels of Revolution Stage Company’s sold out and extended Avenue Q earlier this year, comes The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee, and it is just as much, if not even more, fun than Avenue Q, and that’s saying a lot.

First of all, let me say that you will never have as much fun as we did opening night. I’m sorry, you just won’t. You will laugh harder than you have in a long time and you will have a wonderful, wonderful time, but something kinda magical happened on opening night. There was a technical error. It was likely less magical for the crew, but please allow me to explain.

Kelly McDaniel as Rona Lisa Peretti, the emcee and moderator of the Bee, hit her mark, in front of the curtain and began to deliver her “welcome to the bee” speech. And then the curtain starts its “will it or won’t it rise” dance. It lands on won’t. But here’s what happened while the crew worked to fix the issue: Rona Lisa Peretti never missed a beat, never was there a lull where she tried to come up with something to say. She stayed in character, and was so successful that by the time the curtain finally came up, the play continued as if it were just a casualty of a middle-school event. I actually had to ask at intermission if that had been planned. If I’ve been unclear, it was not. Now I want to see McDaniel do standup. I hope she does. Moving on...

The plot is in the title, and there is nothing extraordinary about the story besides a little subterfuge, relying almost entirely on the quirkiness of the characters, the snappiness of their delivery, and the creativity of the production. And this production is not only quirky and snappy, but you will howl with laughter over the creativity of the words and even more so at the sentences Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Nathan Cox) comes up with during the “please use it in a sentence” parts of the Bee.

All of the actors are local, and all are terrific. Each actor embodies those unique traits that define their quirky personalities. If you reach way back into your childhood brain cupboard you’ll likely recall them. Maybe you were one of them. They were definitely not the cool kids, and they absolutely did not care. They were brainiacs, overachievers, and a good bet would have been that a few were solidly on the spectrum. And at today’s Bee they are all hanging their hat on their exceptional spelling abilities.

Speller Role Call: Olive Ostrovsky (Candace Coe) whose parents are too busy to come to, or pay for, the Bee; Chip Tolentino (Carlos Garcia) whose boyhood leaps to manhood every time he looks at Leaf’s sister Marigold; Marcy Park (Keanna Garcia) who is incredibly good at everything she does and hates it; Loggaine Schwartz&Grubenuerre (Christine Michele) who has a lisp and two helicopter dads; Leaf Coneybear (Samuel Moffat) who is definitely on the spectrum and experiences “celestial savant spellings”; and William Barfee (Joseph Portoles) who spells everything out with his “magic foot”. 

That brings us to Mitch Mahoney (Alisha Bates) who was sentenced to the Bee for community service as a “comfort counselor”. Since we’re here, I’ll tell you I could listen to Bates sing a tax return and enjoy it. Her last turn as Gary Coleman in Avenue Q was terrific. But this character never made its mark on me - it’s a bit of a throwaway character there mostly to help those who misspelled a word off the stage. We do get to hear that balls-to-the-wall voice throughout the show, specifically in Prayer of the Comfort Counselor so I’m good. But the character feels underdeveloped and mostly unnecessary. 

Candace Coe was a wonderful surprise. This was my first time seeing her, and I want more. This girl can sing. One of my favorite moments was The I Love You Song and the dream ballet between Olive and Barfee. It was equal parts hilarious and sweet.

Another newcomer to the stage is Keanna Garcia as Marcy. Physically she looks like a young Chloe Sevgny cosplaying Wednesday Addams. Everything about I Speak Six Languages had the house roaring with a few mad skills that I won’t ruin for you. 

They all shine brightly but Portoles was a little brighter in Magic Foot, another show stopper. 

McDaniels is marvelous in her scripted role too, and likely would have been one of my favorite teachers had she been real. And her voice can seemingly handle everything. More of her please.

Another great number is Leaf in I’m Not That Smart, Moffatt is like a golden retriever and we just want to tell him what a good boy he is. Nice work.

Cox is new to the stage, he’s spent most of his career making magic behind it. But this time he steps out and nails the role of the exasperated Vice Principal who’s probably only there because he’s smitten with Rona Lisa. The funniest lines of the night are his, 

One note on Loggaine. Michele uses the lisp to good comic effect when she is speaking, but I couldn’t understand a word when she sang so I have zero idea what her solo was about. 

James Owens has done a great job and once again show us he knows how to stage a musical. A large portion of the Avenue Q cast is also in this production, so you can expect fat vocal blends. While you might think there is very little action in a spelling bee, you’d be wrong. There is never a dull moment on that stage. Big fat kudos to Jaci Davis who once again does a terrific job as musical director.

There is some audience participation but those folks are picked before the curtain rises or in this case, before it tries to rise. A problem Chip doesn't have.

The tech design was all A+   from sound to lights to set to costumes.

There is not a live orchestra, it is tracks. They’re good, and Kelly Maguire’s got mad mixing skills, but I do miss a band. Hopefully, in the future, the young company will be able to give us that too. But it takes time, and a considerable amount of box office as well as patron donations to make a theatre run, and Revolution Stage Company hasn’t even made it to their one year anniversary yet. But they’re doing great things, and The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee is definitely one of them. 

Get your tickets before it sells out. You’ll thank me. 

Revolution Stage Company, 611 Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA

*photos by Nathan Cox 
 

Production:

Gary Powers, Producer

James Owens, Producer/Director

Jaci Davis, Musical Director

Music & Lyrics by William Finn

Book by Rachel Sheinkin

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman

Tech & Design

Lighting Design: Mariah Pryor

Qlab Design: Nate Cox

Sound Design: Kelly McGuire

Costume Design/ASM: Emma Bibo

Set & Props Design: James Owens

Assistant Director/PSM: Gustavo Sanchez 

Choreographer: Allie Mendoza 

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