Theater with audience involvement is hit-or-miss. Especially when the participants are onstage for extended periods of time as a part of the show.
But the Department of Performing Art’s presentation of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on March 29 made audience involvement a huge hit, entertaining the crowd without interfering with the production.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” tells the story of six plucky students trying to win the county spelling bee. Through flashbacks, sidebars and segues, the audience sees the story of each student, what the spelling bee means to each of them and how they grow through the competition.
As each character grants another glimpse into their life, it’s hard to root for one character. Each gives you a reason to want them to win.
The most exciting and enjoyable number to watch is “Pandemonium.” At this point, everyone is still happy and enjoying the bee, and the audience members are actively involved in the number.
The most touching song is “The I Love You Song,” sung by Olive Ostraovsky (Jennifer Haining) to her parents, showing the deeper side of a quirky, quiet character.
Another particularly entertaining number is “My Unfortunate Erection,” where Boy Scout Chip Tolentino (Matthew Rubbelke) sings about — what else — his unfortunate erection mid-bee due to the beauty of another contestant’s sister.
The only unsatisfactory portion of the show was the use of some sound effects, which occasionally interfered with the dialogue or left an actor a touch too quiet. Some lines were lost behind laughter, and some ensemble vocals were a bit too quiet to understand.
The best part of the production was the actors. Every single actor embodied his or her character to the fullest, from the overstressed student learning that losing is OK (Julie Nolan) to the oddball middle child realizing he is smart (Logan Sutherland). Not a single actor let the ball drop; there was no weak link to this production.
There were, however, some true showstoppers. Rona Lisa Perretti (Erin Hannigan) and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Paul Lysek) were an outstanding comedic duo. They had a chemistry flowing on stage that left the audience roaring in their seats.
During the show, four volunteer audience members were brought up on stage to join the cast in a spelling contest. The opening night of the show featured none other President Neil Kerwin, who delivered a brilliant performance based on the words he was given to spell.
Cast members made up jokes on the spot about the audience members spellers brought on stage and used relevant AU events and clichés to play off Kerwin. Some other audience members thought they were a bit harsh, but the rest of the crowd loved it.
Kerwin himself was a good sport, adding a bit of dramatic flair to his spelling and graciously accepting a box of apple juice as he left the stage.
(For those concerned, Kerwin was the last audience speller left on stage and managed to spell some difficult words, doing the presidency proud.)
thescene@theeagleonline.com
