Review: MAD Theatre Presents THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at the Straz Center's Shimberg Playhouse

“It’s a tough age for boys…and girls.”  --Rona Lisa Peretti in SPELLING BEE

“People think we're automatons/But that is exactly what we're not..." --The spellers in SPELLING BEE

Elementary school and middle school have never been easy.  I should know.  Not only did I survive them fifty years ago (in the Stone Age, or since that was the 1970s, the Stoner Age), I also went on to teaching middle school for several decades.  For kids, severe changes in both body and in personality are knocking at the door, and there’s a certain amount of angst during those pre-teen years; it’s no wonder so many middle school students refuse to smile in their black and white yearbook photos.

Few musicals this century capture this special time in a young person’s life:  Maybe Billy Elliott, School of Rock, and 13: The Musical fit the bill, but residing at the top of the list is fan favorite THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, the current hit courtesy of MAD Theatre.  It runs at the Straz Center’s Shimberg Playhouse until February 10th. 

This marks at least my 15th time experiencing SPELLING BEE; thankfully it’s one of the few shows that I don’t mind seeing over and over.  Unlike so many other overdone musicals, it’s a different show every night with a different dynamic.  And this is done by design.  It’s scripted, with hilarious and touching songs, but the addition of audience spellers--four individuals handpicked beforehand who add their own amateur charm to the proceedings--as well as ad-libs from the official word pronouncer keep it new and alive.  Not every musical with audience participation works so well. 

But THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE also boasts vibrant and oftentimes infectious music and sharp lyrics by William Finn as well as an incisive yet quirky book by Rachel Sheinkin.  It also includes characters that we not only connect with but actually see in ourselves.  There’s Leaf Coneybear, the ADHD boy with siblings named Landscape and Pinecone, who feels like he’s not smart enough. Or Olive, the young girl whose dad is never there.  There’s progressive Logainne, the high-gear competitor whose same-sex parents drill the win-at-all-costs attitude in her by practicing bad sportsmanship in order to get ahead.  Add to this Marcy, a girl so smart and talented, so good at everything, that she can never cut loose.  There’s the nerdy kid with a peanut allergy, Barfee, who is the proud owner of a savant spelling foot.  And there’s the Boy Scout, Chip, the bee’s past winner, who oozes unbridled horniness and who tries to hide his mast that suddenly grows full staff at the most inopportune time.  Each role is gorgeously rendered, and each character is honored with at least one solo number displaying his or her inner thoughts and hopes.  We know these kids because we were these kids. 

SPELLING BEE might be a comedy--the audience was especially receptive on opening night, with peals of constant laughter--but there’s also a sadness underneath it all.  These children are outsiders, living in their own personal hell, and they only really get to shine when strutting their spelling acumen in this Bee. And when they lose, it hits them like an Apocalypse of sorts...they're suddenly human, experiencing pain, and life doesn't guarantee that that pain ever truly goes away.  

MAD Theatre, one of our top-tiered Bay Area community theaters, celebrates their 25th Anniversary with a bang-up production of this beloved musical.  Part of the show’s success here rests with the director, Casey Vaughan, a former high school theatre teacher who obviously understands these kinds of kids.  Her energy, verve, and imaginative staging--along with the often-ingenious choreography of Evan Lomba--hoists this SPELLING BEE to new heights.  They have assembled a triumph with a talented cast that displays no real weak link. 

Dylan Fidler, sporting a bicycle helmet and a Sonic the Hedgehog cape, is having a hell of a good time as Leaf Coneybear.  You feel the young actor’s joy of performing, and Coneybear’s hyperactivity works well with him (he can’t sit still, or stand without flailing his arms in a wave to friends and family, with a joyous grin Joker-smeared on his face, or having the audience touch his hair in his big solo, “I’m Not That Smart”).  The high point of his performance is when he becomes otherworldly as he spells words like “capybara,” and his eyes actually roll into the back of his head, making him look like a possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist.  It’s frightening and hilarious at the same time; I don’t usually laugh out loud, but I did here!  Mr. Fidler is so entertaining that audience members cried out “No!” when he was ultimately expelled from the Bee.   

Chris Cordero is out of control as Chip, the horny Boy Scout who flirts with everyone in his sight (especially audience members) and even stares through toy binoculars to constantly ogle the opposite sex.  I’ve seen this role played either shy or cocky, but nothing like Mr. Cordero’s off-the-chart interpretation.  Even though Chip has earned an abundance of Boy Scout merit badges, you sense that  nary a nice thought has crossed his mind.  He swaggers across the faux-gym floor, groin first, naughtily putting his finger in his mouth like a child who’s never outgrown his oral stage.  He drops his hat so Olive can bend down to pick it up as he stands behind her and gawks with his tongue-wagging at her backside.  (You have a feeling that the phrases “restraining order” and “sexual assault allegations” may be a major part of his vocabulary when he becomes an adult.)  Mr. Cordero’s gyrating, untamed Chip is so wired that he threatens Mr. Fidler’s Leaf as the show’s most electric presence.  His stunning confessional, “My Unfortunate Erection (Chip’s Lament),” starts Act 2 with a veritable bang; he’s so uncontrollable that he even showers himself with goldfish crackers. The lady behind me was screaming with laughter.

Mr. Cordero also makes a cameo appearance as Jesus Christ,  zipping across the stage on a scooter. You have to see it to believe it.

Taylor Skolnick is quite a find as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, the lisping competitor who formed her elementary school’s “gay/straight alliance” (we know Putnam County is not located in the state of Florida).  Her “Woe is Me” is simply sensational. With her pig-tails and oversized glasses, she’s such a force, with so much stage presence, that we find ourselves rooting for her.    

Richard Brown is certainly strong as Barfee, but for those of us who have experienced so many SPELLING BEE productions, it is what we expect from the snorting pre-teen with a magic spelling foot...quite good but not Next Level.  Dressed in bow tie and suspenders, bespectacled with his hair slicked back, he’s a hoot during his “Magic Foot” number. We’re reminded that Barfee is a one of a kind character, the likes of which are not found in any other musical. 

Jillian Koehn as Marcy Park is quite effective in her song, “I Speak Six Languages,” even scoring a basket during it, but with the crazy antics of Leaf and Chip surrounding her, the part seems to recede into the background during much of the show.

Gabrielle Ray exudes so much heart as Olive Ostrosky, and her storyline is both heartbreaking and uplifting. There is something so natural about her, and she provides a nice contrast to the Tasmanian Devils around her.  Of the child spellers in this SPELLING BEE, she is my favorite.   

There are also three adult characters in the show, and usually these don’t hold a candle to the spelling participants.  That’s not the case here.  Jay Morgan is always commanding onstage, solid and sturdy.  His wondrous perfect-for-the-radio speaking voice gives the spelling pronouncer, Panch, just the right oomph needed.  He’s the anchor of the musical, and he had me in stitches when he imitated Logainne’s lisp near the end.

Jamie Lynn Gilliam is fantastic as Rona Lisa Peretti, the former Bee champ  who is reliving past glories with the current spelling bee.  There is a sweetness in her as she waves to the audience, always in character even when she’s walking offstage.  Ms. Gilliam also possesses a phenomenal singing voice, and from the very first moment, she carries so many of the key vocal moments (SPELLING BEE can be a notoriously difficult show vocally).

My choice for Best in the Entire Show goes to DJ Schuett as Mitch Mahoney, the tattooed ex-con who wears a “Definitely Not on Drugs” t-shirt and helps the kids handle the loss with a hug and a juice box.  Mitch has never been one of my go-to characters, never one of my faves...until now.  His song, “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor,” with a splendid parachute dance with the entire cast, became another highlight, where I wrote the word “Wow!” next to the words “Mitch’s vocals” in my notebook.  And Mr. Schuett, along with Ms. Gilliam’s Rona and Ms. Ray’s Olive, make the hauntingly beautiful “I Love You Song” so moving and lovely, a soul-crushing ode to a girl’s imaginary life with her absent parents. Just glorious.  And yes, that’s my favorite moment of the BEE. 

Music director Megan Zeitler guides amazing vocals from her cast with outrageously wonderful harmonies, and she also pulls off the impossible: For the first time in a musical at the Shimberg Playhouse that I can recall, the music doesn’t drown out the performers.  (This is also due to Ryan Coss's sound design.) The musicians work wonders here, including Xander McColley on the piano along with Ms. Zeitler, Julia Ford on reeds, Nico Remy on drums and Hannah Phillips on the cello.

The audience participants during the night I attended—Cory, Mariella, Sidney and Jesse—held their own with the cast, even joining in the song “Pandemonium.”  And it’s wonderful seeing them try to spell wickedly naughty words.  Sidney, by the way, became such a champion speller that Rona had to admonish her: “Sidney needs to get the next one wrong so we can get on with the plot.”

Although the show originally premiered in 2005, there are enough added-on tidbits to keep it current, such as references to Gasparilla and Margaritaville.   Logainne’s rant on Barbie's recent Oscar snubs was a bit more problematic for me, mainly because the speller mistakenly tells us that Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" wasn't nominated when inactuality it was (as was "I'm Just Ken," which was the target of her wrath); why was Ms. Schwartzandgrubenierre spreading misinformation? 

Most of SPELLING BEE works wonders, but I wish the entire audience—and not just the cast—stood for a very raucous Pledge of Allegiance. And the wretched pre-show music—KIDZ BOP—must be addressed.  I guess it's appropriately nails-on-the-chalkboard annoying, but I know its horrid jaunty, poppy sounds will await me in hell if I am not a good boy. 

The set, aided by Joshua Eberhart's lighting, is simple enough--a mini-gym with wooden risers and a basketball hoop and backboard.  There’s an unfinished feeling to some of it, including the sparse flyers on the wall for the Art Club, Chess Club and Math Club.  There’s even one plugging Urinetown, which just so happens to be MAD’s next show.  The whole thing is appropriately depressing in its smalltown ordinariness, like any Putnam County middle school gym would be.  I particularly like the homemade Spelling Bee sign that Mr. Morgan’s Panch has a difficult time keeping attached to a back wall during the opening number, so he lets it slide into a crumpled pile on the floor where it remains for the duration of the show.   

If you haven’t seen THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE before, then you owe it to yourself to see it now.  And even if you’re like me--close to being SPELLING BEE’d out after fifteen or so ventures to Putnam County--then this is worth your time and money because it’s never the same show.  And MAD Theatre’s production is superbly paced, wonderfully acted, and quite entertaining.  Its director, Ms. Vaughan, has certainly kept it fresh and new and more fun than anything else out there.  It’s a W-I-N-N-E-R. 

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