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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by admin on Jan 18, 2006, 8:35am

Okay, now when the first comment I come across from an audience member on my way out is concerning the blandness of the show, I know it can’t be a good sign, but I’m led to think that it’s the show itself which is hard to make outstanding than any particular fault of the production team. If I was to name any fault with the overall design, I’d choose the sound, as it was hard to hear the singers properly at times, and many of the words were hard to distinguish, an easy trap to fall into when portraying children.

However, now that I’ve got that behind me, on to the good. The lighting was excellent, with some very clever touches added, and clever use was made of the set. There’s only so much you can do with a school gymnasium, but they did what they could to make it as effective as possible. Especially clever was the use of the ‘stage’ area of the gymnasium, with a curtain that was opaque to hide changes of that part of the set and lit to be translucent, most memorably for ‘The I Love You Song’, when it gave a beautifully exotic Indian atmosphere. The costumes were also appropriate, each fitting the respective characters well.

The cast was well-chosen and made a good team. As Ms Rona Lisa Peretti, Marina Prior was delightfully over-the-top, leading the show well. Bert Labonte was right in his element as Mr Mitch Mahoney, the Comfort Counsellor, along with his cameos as fathers of Logainne and Olive in turn, and Tyler Coppin rounded off the adult trio well, carrying his character believably.

As for the ‘children’, I was disappointed at first when David Campbell, playing Chip Tolentino, was the first eliminated from the competition, but he made up for it splendidly with his ‘snack time’ solo, ‘My Unfortunate Erection’ and then again when he made an unexpected return as Jesus.

Christen O’Leary again proved her aptitude for playing children in the role of Logainne Schwarzandgrubeniere, the youngest contestant. She portrayed Logainne’s determination, trials and joys with beautiful sweetness and always good comic sense.

As Leaf Coneybear, Tim Wright was comically simple, gaining good rapport with the audience and performing his pieces well.

Playing William Barfee, Magda Szubanski had a head-start on the others thanks to her well-known and -loved name, but did credit to the role, getting just about all there was to get out of it, with never a bland moment.

Natalie Mendoza’s character of Marcy Park was a strange one, and I was unable to decide how much of that was the writing and how much her characterisation, but it worked, even if she did fade into the background at time against the other, more exuberant characters.

And finally, Natalie O’Donnell was a sweetheart as Olive Ostrovsky. Her shyness and wistfulness but cherry innocence were played consistently throughout the show, and she sang strongly. A wonderful choice for this role.

Overall, it was full of laughs. Perhaps not quite child-safe, but worth seeing. I worried at first about its lack of interval, and I did see a bit of coming and going during the show, which is a shame, but I suppose it’s not really any longer than the first act of Les Mis.

Oh, and if you really want to feel involved in things, front row centre seems a good place to be ;) If you’re not up on stage spelling, that is!

However, if you’re in the Arts Centre and want to see a show, I’d go for Dusty, but not by much.

One last thing. Spot the glaring spelling mistake in the programme ;)
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by admin on Jan 23, 2006, 1:06pm

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/com....5001562,00.html

A review from The Australian. Nice and positive.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts-revie....7553740918.html

And one from The Age.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Jan 25, 2006, 11:40pm

Ok, now I left Sally in the foyer waiting for autographs, so barring her living closer or me rambling on, I should get in first. (Stange, I feel oddly competitive tonight)

What a laugh riot. That was great. I don't think it would hold up to repeat viewings, as the jokes I knew didn't really have any affect on me. The music was good but forgetable, with the comedic highlights shining through, and the emotional stuff affecting, but a little long.

I showed up early to take in the volunteer selection process (from afar). They have a questionnaire. I was certainly not going to fill one out, but then I bumped into a person I did a drama course with, who started talking about it, and before you know it, there I was circling boxes and making lame replies to bland questions. Thank goodness I didn't get selected, but I recommend lumping someone you know into it, as Amy got selected, and the poor girl was the first disqualifed (fun to watch). The fourth audience contestent actually screwed up (she correctly spelled the word she was supposed to get wrong), and with that, who needs scripted jokes. Personally, I would have gotten wrong the word I was supposed to get right (Jihad), so I guess its lucky I didn't get picked.

The staging was all excellent. I don't think I had any trouble hearing them, but then practice makes perfect.

Now, the cast/characters:

Marina Prior almost seemed wasted, not drunk, just wasted. Her character, while important, was kinda sidelined, despite all efforts to give her an arc. Her performance though was marvelous as usual.

Bert Labonte was a treat, but his character was almost useless. Tyler Coppin got a couple of moments that capped of his purposefully boring voice the rest of the time.

Now for the kids, Christen O'Leary was the best at making me forget she was an adult, but then she's had so much more practice. David Campbell and Natalie Mendoza were both delightfully over the top with their stereotypes.

Tim Wright was solid, but I didn't really take to his character. Natalie O'Donnell was completely lovable as usual. Olive is the third character of hers out of three I've fallen in love with, (none of them adults). I even think it was her that made me fall in love with William Barfee, despite Magda's facinating (in a good way) performance.

I would have stayed with Sally for autographs, but my brother was having trouble enough with the parts of my fanboy side he'd seen so far.

That's all, except to say that I was very happy that two of my favourite words were used, syzygy, and Christina Ricci.

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by tamsinann on Jan 25, 2006, 11:52pm

Actually, I didn't hang around - realised my tram was due any second so did a quick bolt and just made it ;)

I'll definitely be going again. Laughed till I cried - so now that's three shows in recent months that have made me do that.

Also decided never, ever to even think about wanting to be a speller, considering I knew two of the 'hard' words.

Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Jan 27, 2006, 1:15pm


Quote:
One last thing. Spot the glaring spelling mistake in the programme ;)


I give up. Way too many words in the program. It even took me about five minutes to work out what was wrong with "Potatoe." :-/

Jamez
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Feb 7, 2006, 10:17pm

354.5 to 1.

Unless I've completely forgotten four years as a statistics major, that's the odds that Sally and I, having both been to Spelling Bee twice, would without collaboration, both have seen the same performances.

So I'm tossing up the possibilities:

A. I'm stalking her. I was worried maybe this one was true, but Sally assures me I didn't know she was going to be there.

B. She's stalking me..... Stop laughing! I don't think its particularly likely. She claims not to have noticed my post about going tonight, and even though she replied to it, :P after tonight (story to follow) I'm inclined to believe her.

C. Coincidence. One thing I do know from stats is that coincidence is always the most likely scenario at any odds. But it does take the fun out of option D.

D. Sally's lying about only going twice and has actually been every night. ;D

Anyway, all you need to enjoy Spelling Bee a second time is to go with someone who hasn't seen it.

Some further observations:

I started to see a bit of what Julia meant about understanding them.

I was forced to disagree with the comfort councellors prayer that "you're the best looking chick we've had all day", but I couldn't flaw Chip's choice of member of the audience to play Marigold Coneybear, the cause of his unfortunate umm.... ;)

Did it occur to anybody that this production fulfils Christen O'Leary's plea to the MTC in Urinetown to "do a happy musical next time." I wonder if STC will follow suit.

Now Sally, you tell the story...

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by tamsinann on Feb 8, 2006, 6:05pm

how
Quote:
She claims not to have noticed my post about going tonight, and even though she replied to it, :P


*headdesk* I skimmed your post and didn't absorb every detail, and replied in a hurry, that's how I was clueless. Trust me, it happens ;)

And I've completely been scared out of wanting to see the show again - unless I'm right up the back ;D
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Feb 8, 2006, 10:30pm


Quote:
And I've completely been scared out of wanting to see the show again - unless I'm right up the back ;D


You say that almost as if I dobbed you in and everybody knew what you were talking about. Oh well, I guess I'll have to tell them now... ;D

I was siiting at the front of the circle, and thought my eyes were decieving me when I spotted Sally in the audience. I was doing that squinty thing to try to focus on her, but to no avail.

Anyway, for those who dont know, David Campbell actually selects a member of the audience to represent Marigold Coneybear, and later stands her up in the middle of his song, as if to say, Here everybody, this is the cause of my unfortunate "protuberance." :o

He picked someone out, and it was the girl I had thought was Sally. The look of shock on her face basically made me think it wasn't, after all, she's seen the show before. I'm sure of it. I was there.

As it happened it was Sally, she had just completely failed to notice this part last time she saw the show. Well, I found her upstairs afterwards, and watched as her face started to go slightly less red, I then talked her into hanging around so that David Campell could sign her program (if I remember correctly) "To Sally, my Marigold"

So Sally, the username, or at the very least the signature?

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by admin on Feb 12, 2006, 7:27pm

http://www.bnews.net.au/content3/bnews/132/19.pdf

A review, complete with picture.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Mar 10, 2006, 3:59pm

Well, I had to say goodbye, so I went one last time Wednesday night. I got a day ticket, so I was close enough to see Logainne (Christen O'Leary) spittle when she sang, and close enough to see Marina's face, searching for what to call David Campbell. (She settled on "Mr Coneybear". Wrong!)

Overall it was a lousy place to watch the show from, but at least a different perspective than I had had.

The last speller from the audience was a riot. He spelled his second last word so badly, that the entire cast cracked up when they had to say it was right. He put in an entirely inappropriate W. Then, as he was being sung off, I think, based on the response, he touched Bert Labonte in a totally inappropriate place, which I'm only glad I was on a bad angle to see.

I got an understudy Olive. I tried really hard to remember her name, but it got mixed up in my head with Marina's character name. She did well but I would have liked to see Natalie one last time. It was a name I recognized, so I asked one of the ushers after, who didn't know, and asked me if I was in Rent!?!?!?!?! :o

Does anyone know who's been covering, cos aparantly she's been sick before?

So my farewell to Spelling Bee, stolen, from Spelling Bee:

"My friend, you will be missed
But now go with dignity
This ends, but first on our list
You can go with pride."

James

P.S. I almost forgot. I was so stunned at the misspelling of Mexicans by an audience member, that I can't actually remember how she managed it.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by admin on Mar 10, 2006, 9:27pm

The understudy's first name is Jackie (Or a variation thereof), but I haven't been able to find out her surname. Natalie has missed a few shows, but for good reason.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by rosefyre on Mar 11, 2006, 3:06am

I saw this in NYC on Wednesday night, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was obvious when they wanted to get the last audience member out - after she spelled canterjunes correctly, they gave her one of those impossible to spell words even though she'd just gone.

There weren't any majorly famous actors in the show, which was probably a good thing - I wouldn't want to see someone who wasn't right for the part in it just due to fame. Rona Lisa Peretti and Douglas Panch are the only characters who could maybe manage that, because the kids have to be kids.

Quite a fun show, though, nd I'd definitely go again...if I was in New York any longer instead of returning to school and if the tickets weren't so obscenely expensive.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by gossipcom on Mar 11, 2006, 10:09am

I'll ask a dumb question - which Natalie missed - Natalie M or Natalie O? :)

I missed seeing this production *kicks ground* it was sold out the last time I was in Melbourne and it ends this weekend so I miss it by a week. Oh well, here's hoping STC picks it up next year.
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Mar 11, 2006, 2:31pm

It was Natalie O'Donnell (as Olive "It's a Fruit" Ostrovsky). Natalie Mendoza played Marcy Park, schooled at Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows. ;D

It's a shame you missed it. It's lots of fun.

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Mar 11, 2006, 2:43pm

Thanks Julia, her name is Jackie Rae Lythgo. I found her in my Annie Get Your Gun and South Pacific programs. :)

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by admin on Mar 12, 2006, 12:30am

Thanks for that, James :) I was just about to post that, since I managed to see her for myself this afternoon, but in a different role. Marina was off for a change, and Jackie was a very different Rona, a lot cuter than Marina, but definitely worked in the role. And somehow having her on really worked for a final day of performances. Brilliant performance today, though. Everyone was having so much fun up there!

And the final speller got xerophthalmiology right! And I think most people have gotten it wrong from the first letter, because Tyler accidentally pressed the bell, expecting him to start with "z" ;D
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by jackjackjack on Jul 5, 2007, 1:24pm

Ah, the pleasure of visiting an old friend.

Some how I ended up with a ticket in the front row, despite having been asigned row F on the web site. I did however score one of the word definition cards Tyler Coppin threw into the audience. I might put it on eBay for 50c.

I just thought I'd quickly review the new cast members:

Jamie McGregor as Chip Tolentino had more trouble than anyone I've seen at coming across as a child. His vocal performance was fine but he has such a mature face and the costume didn't take me far enough away from that.

Lisa McCune as Olive Ostrovsky was good, but I can't fairly judge her having fallen in love with Natalie O'Donnell's Olive.

The new Marcy played the role in a very similar way to Natalie Mendoza. Although that character is so strongly defined that I can't imagine it being played too differently.

James
Re: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Post by mara on Jul 5, 2007, 6:21pm

I saw it in Sydney yesterday.
I actually had the most trouble believing Tim Wright as Leaf Coneybear was a child, but I thought Jamie was great.