The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee @ The Beach

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious musical originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine. It was conceived by Rebecca Feldman. The music and lyrics by William Finn, the book was by Rachel Sheinkin. 

The musical has a lot of adult comedy in it. The songs in this musical tell the background stories of it's main cast. Most of the cast has a similar way of telling their story. I felt that almost everyone was ensemble in this playful musical. 

This one act musical is a hilarious spelling bee, it opens up giving the audience a obvious feeling that this spelling bee, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is very grand and prestige. 

One thing that made this musical really special is that it is interactive. It is interactive because before the show starts they ask some viewers to join the spelling bee. It really made the musical more organic.

The audience's being apart of the show definitely made this show different. Although sometimes it was a bit distracting, but the other time when an audience member answered correctly a word that was seemingly impossible to spell made up for their distraction. 

"I thought Putnam County was a really funny and exciting musical to watch. The acting was very enjoyable and I thought it was clever that they used audience interaction." explained Natalee Coloman, Journalism freshman.

Many of the musical numbers were not that memorable, but Maddie Larson who played Olive Ostrovsky definitely was. She had a beautiful voice and had something special about her. Olive Ostrovsky came in second in the spelling bee, she is a really independent character who just wants to be loved. Her parents don't really acknowledge her. But she is sweet and caring none the less.

Chip Tolentine, played by Michael Barnum, was a boy scout who was the first of the cast to spell a word wrong. He spelled it wrong because he had an "erection", and yes you guessed it, they made it a whole musical number. It made you feel a bit uncomfortable, embarrassed for Chip, but a bit relatable and it made you feel that this was a coming of age musical.

Loganinne Schwartzandbrubennierre, played by Emily Fontanesi, is the youngest of all the contestants. She does not win, and is afraid of not being loved by her two dads. She wins the spelling bee many years later.

Leaf Coneybear is played by David Dumond. He really was a great actor and was hilarious. He made everyone laugh. Coneybear has a huge family and fears being "stupid". Although he does not win, he knows he is not stupid. 

Marcy Park, played by Alex Rae Agustin, is the overachiever of the spellers. She made it seem like she wanted to lose because it was expected of her to win. She ends with saying its okay to not live up to expectations. 

William Barfee is the winner of the spelling bee. He is played by Benji Kaufman he would have won the previous year but he had an unfortunate allergic reaction. He has a magical foot and only can breathe from one nostril. He was really funny and now has a new friend Olive.

The musical is narrated by Rona Lisa Perretti, played by Jeannette Deutsch. She was also a winner when she was a student. She had a beautiful voice and kept the audience laughing.

The Vice Principal Douglas Panch, played by Tyler Bremer , kept the audience laughing when he read the words to spell. He gave ridiculous  ways you can use the words in sentences.

I would recommend this show for the young adult. It is not a complex show, but it is a uplifting one.

It opened Friday, November 1, and ran for 11 performances, closing on Sunday, November 10. This production was shown at the Studio Theatre on the CSULB South Campus.