There’s an unofficial theatrical genre that’s called “The
Little Show That Could” — a play or musical with modest requirements that
started life in the hinterlands, finally made it to hit status in New York, and
now has a lively afterlife in community theaters.
A recent example — and a very appealing one — “The 25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” just opened at Geva’s Mainstage and will run
through Sunday, July 27. This musical, which started in 2004 as improvisatory
theater in New York, was turned into a “real” musical and played in
Massachusetts, Off-Broadway, and eventually on Broadway for more than a
thousand performances. I’m not surprised at its success: Its physical demands
are modest, and it is a good time for actors and audience, especially in a
performance as good as Geva’s presentation.
The show doesn’t really have a plot, and doesn’t need it.
Rachel Sheinkin’s book simply follows the eponymous spelling bee and its six
finalists from beginning to end. These six verbally talented adolescents are as
carefully divided into types as the soldiers in a World War II movie. What they
have in common is their intelligence and their various health and family issues
(or as we used to call them, “problems”).
Much of the humor comes from the set-up of the spelling bee. Sheinkin rings
many changes, from the sophisticated to the snarky, on the “use it in a
sentence” line for each bizarre word. And at each performance, a few recruits
from the audience are amusingly worked into the script.
But in addition to all the jokes, you get a sense of what has
been lacking in the kids’ upbringings. One has been continually called dumb by
his family, another has a long list of health issues, one has helicopter
parents, and another has parents who haven’t bothered to show up — Dad is
working and Mom is finding herself in India. (Parents don’t come off all that
well in this show.)
Only one of the contestants gets to win, of course, and on
the way to the finale each of them learns a Life Lesson or two. The show
touches on questions of competitiveness and self-esteem, but mostly “The 25th
Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee” is what used to be called a Charm Show:
funny, entertaining, not a groundbreaker but cleverly made, and a bit touching.
Adding greatly to the charm of “The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is William Finn’s score. If you think
the composer of “Falsettos” and “A New Brain” seems like an odd fit for a show
about six middle-schoolers — well, I thought so too, but I was wrong. The
characters in those shows are lonely, confused, neurotic people, and his songs
for them reflect that brilliantly. A typical Finn song, if there is one, will
set a rapid pile-up of words to a jittery vamp, which occasionally relaxes and
blossoms into a sweet, memorable melodic phrase. As it turns out, this is a
very effective way to characterize these adolescent characters.
They sometimes sound a little too clever, but generally the
songs ring true, and Finn is well aware that even smart, well-behaved spelling
bee champs swear and think about sex. Without Finn’s idiosyncratic music and
lyrics, “Spelling Bee” would be an exercise in cuteness just this side of
Disney; his score adds to the show a nice heaping of spice.
One attraction of this show is its simplicity. It uses
contemporary costumes and needs no set to speak of, just a table, chairs, a
microphone, and bleachers. And Geva’s production looks pleasing — particularly
Amanda Doherty’s costumes, which are nicely balanced in color, and nicely
specific to each character. Melissa Rain Anderson’s direction and choreography
make the whole thing look easy as pie, and Don Kot’s musical direction of a
tricky score is perfection.
Geva hired six theater students from local or regional
colleges to play the spelling bee contestants, and they are all pretty terrific,
single and together: Josh Carey of SUNY Fredonia as a neo-hippie homeschooler;
Tess DeFlyer (Nazareth College) as the girl whose parents never show up to the
bee; Bella McGrath (Nazareth) as the coached and cossetted daughter of two
dads; Rebecca Rand, a recent West Irondequoit High School graduate, as the
overachiever who speaks six languages; Keland Alaka’I Sarno (Wagner College) as
the previous bee’s winner, in the throes of adolescent lust; and Paul E.
Urriola as an allergy-beset young man whose spelling virtuosity is helped by
his “magic foot” (which leads one of the show’s wackiest musical numbers).
These talented performers move like lightning and land every joke, and when
Finn’s music gives them the opportunity, they prove they have strong singing
voices.
It’s the kids’ show, but there is also excellent support from
the professionals playing the adult characters: Ryan Dietz as the vice
principal and reader of the spelling words; Happy McPartlin as a former
spelling bee winner and now “real estate queen of Putnam County”; and Javar
La’Trail Parker as the bee’s “comfort counselor.” “The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee” may not be “My Fair Lady” or “Sweeney Todd,” but it is
definitely a “Little Show That Did,” and an entertaining way to spend a summer
night.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2014.
