Get ready for an irreverent look at adolescent Americana that will likely have you reminiscing about your own childhood as the Evergreen Playhouse brings a musical back to its stage.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” debuts at the Centralia theater Friday. The adult-themed comedy brings laughter, drama and real-to-life characters to the stage, said James Alviar, who plays Boy Scout and Spelling Bee contestant Chip Tolentino.
“I think every audience member will find they are a little bit of every one of us,” Alviar said. “They will recognize themselves in one of the spellers up here.”
The musical tells the story of a group of middle school kids competing in a countywide spelling bee at the mythical Putnam Valley Middle School. Live music is provided by Bob McKenzie Sullivan, of Tenino Young at Heart Theater. Each of the main characters have their own strategy for winning, from the allergy-challenged William Morris Barfee (portrayed by Mark Pendleton) who pantomimes the letters of each word with his “magic foot,” to the quirky homeschooler Leaf Coneybear (portrayed by Alex Johnson), whose spelling knowledge seems to come from another place entirely. Then there’s Marcy Park (portrayed by Nicole Galyean) who simply knows all the words (until she decides to dabble in imperfection for a change).
Director Shane Rivers said he proposed the show because he wanted to bring a musical back to the playhouse and the thought of adults playing 10 to 12-year-olds seemed like a great concept.
“I was laughing out loud as I was reading it,” Rivers said.
The “kids” in the story are helped along by adults, Vice Principal Douglas Panch (portrayed by Matt Osborne), former Bee champion and host Rona Lisa Peretti (portrayed by Michaela Hickey) and “comfort counselor” Mitch Mahoney (portrayed by Evan Sullivan), who is there to offer them a juice box and a kind word before escorting them away.
As the pressure mounts, the audience begins to see the very real struggles these kids face in being over-achievers but still being kids. Most of the youngsters’ struggles are dealt with in a tongue and cheek way, such as Logainne “Schwarzy” Schwartzand Grubenierre (portrayed by Taylor Winsett), who worries obsessively about losing and disappointing her overly competitive fathers (flamboyantly portrayed by Sullivan and Johnson). Or last year’s winner Tolentino, whose pre-teen hormones seem to be getting the best of him.
“I liked the message of coming to terms with who you are and accepting yourself for who you are,” Rivers said.
One dramatic point is Olive Ostrovsky’s (portrayed by Danielle Rivers) “I Love You Song” with Sullivan and Hickey in which she grieves for the relationship she wishes she had with her distant parents. Danielle Rivers said she hadn’t been in a musical since 1999 and simply wanted to be part of this cast, though she was not familiar with the show beforehand.
“I started listening to the music from the show and I really fell in love with the ‘I Love You Song’ and I found out it was Olive who sang that and I decided that was the role I wanted to audition for,” Danielle Rivers said.
Spelling Bee is a unique show in that while it is mainly scripted, parts of it are improvisational. Each night, four members of the audience are chosen to become spelling bee competitors on stage.
Osborne is making his debut on the Evergreen stage as Panch, a role he previously played in a production at Centralia College a few years ago with mainly a high school aged cast. He said he was drawn to this production because he was intrigued by the idea of adults playing the roles.
“It’s the songs,” Osborne said of what he loves best about Spelling Bee. “The show itself it’s just funny and well written and it’s just entertaining.”
But the challenge of between 50-60 percent of his lines being ad-libbed is also something Osborne said he looks forward to.
“The people on stage, I don’t know what they’re going to say or what they’re going to do,” he noted.
Rivers said having an unknown factor in a show has definitely been a challenge he has had to work to prepare his nine-member cast for. He noted that no one can know for sure what will happen on any given night so preparation began with choosing a cast of seasoned professionals that not only could fill their roles but who had the ability to handle a little chaos on stage. He said each rehearsal, he has thrown some curve balls at his cast to give them a taste of what is to come but in the end their talents will shine.
“The reality is there’s no way to prepare, which is part of the fun. They have to be on their toes and ready to roll with anything,” Rivers said. “That’s going to be a treat for the audience. Every night is going to be a different show.”
Due to language and adult themes, “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is not recommended for the youngest audience members. Rivers said he would recommend it for ages 12 and older.