The Verdict: Just about as good as community theatre gets!
One of the consistent characteristics of Runaway Stage's productions over the years has been the company's success at casting talented leads in its shows - while the ensembles can be inconsistent in terms of quality and professionalism (this is community theater after all), Bob Baxter has generally done a great job of attracting top talent to fill the lead roles in almost every show I've ever seen there.
Which makes The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee just about the ideal show for RSP - it features a small, cohesive cast where everyone's a lead! And Spelling Bee does not disappoint. It is a very funny show, put on with great skill by the small cast, and it makes for an extremely entertaining couple of hours.
What the show is "about" is summed up in the title - it all takes place at a spelling bee, featuring Putnam County's top juvenile spellers (with adult actors playing the kids). The six children (augmented in humorous fashion with nightly guest spellers chosen from the audience), two administrators and one "comfort counselor," interact throughout the show, often changing personas to participate in the back-stories of other cast members.
The energetic and talented cast features several outstanding performances. The standouts among the "children" were Tristan Rummery (as flower child turned zombie speller Leaf Coneybear), Christina Day (as the meek and conflicted Olive Ostrovsky) and Tony Wichowski as the spelling savant William Barfee, who's uniquely effective "magic foot" technique only accentuates his bizarre mannerisms and personality quirks. But Marcy Goodnow as the success-driven Marcy Park, Danielle Hansen as the pressured-to-succeed-at-any-cost Logainne Schwartzandgrubenenierre, and Scott Woodard as last year's champion Chip Tolentino all have strong moments.
Kristen Wagner shines as Rona Lisa Peretti, the adult supervisor and onetime spelling bee champion, who's personal self esteem seems way too caught up in the happenings of one this particular spelling bee. Dan Masden and Rudy Brown, as Vice Principal Douglas Panch and the comfort counsellor Mitch Mahoney are also very good. Marsden, as the uptight vice principal with a chip on his shoulder and a, um, shady past, also stands out as one of Logan's fathers in a couple of numbers. Brown could be a bit more intimidating in the role Mitch Mahoney, if only so that his nicer moments would come across as more of a transformation.
The story? Well, there really isn't one. Kids spell unusual words in between songs about their lives. There are lots of very funny bits...each speller's approach to the microphone is accompanied by a funny quip from Rona. On the night we attended, for example, we were told that one of the guest speller's had nicknamed herself "Frodo." Well, maybe you had to be there.
The genius of the show, though, is that the authors managed to capture the various angsts of childhood through characters that, though wandering very close to the edges of stereotype, are recognizable while still unique. Each child is able to express his or her character in song, usually relating it to childhood pressures that are familiar to all. Logan's struggles to please her two demanding gay fathers without losing her innate goodness, for example, and Olive's struggle to earn the love and recognition of her busy yuppie parents are particularly trenchant.
Some of the kids' struggles are less gripping than the others. Chip's earlier than expected departure from the Bee, spurred by his emerging hormonal preoccupations, is a bit painful to watch. His big song "Chip's Lament," ought to be funnier than it is. I can't help thinking that the authors thought this would be one of "those" big breakthrough moments on stage, when old taboos are broken. But it's been over thirty years since Val sang proudly about her Tits and Ass in A Chorus Line, so a character singing about his unfortunate erection comes across as more icky than innovative.
But there were few quibbles like that about the show. It was a nearly perfect marriage of material and local talent, and RSP is to be commended. I laughed all the way through it, but still was able to touched by the human elements. Well done!
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