Spelling out a hit show
REVIEW: Spelling competitions can be cut-throat affairs in the United States, but The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee offers a humorous slant as it pokes fun at the competition and society.
Many people have fond memories of the Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2006 acclaimed production with an all-star cast, which marked the first time that show had been staged outside of Broadway, and now it was JYM theatre company’s turn at the Phoenix Theatre, Elwood in a season that finished last week.
Featuring a smaller cast than JYM’s 2010 production of The Witches of Eastwick, there were still plenty of familiar faces in the cast, including Daniel Aronov, Josh Gurgiel and Mikey Gurgiel.
The Broadway play is based on the book by Rachel Sheinkin and has catchy music and clever lyrics by Tony-award winning writer William Finn (March of the Falsettos), which have been slightly tweaked for JYM’s production to include local Jewish references.
The action is set around a school spelling bee competition as the six nerdy spelling champions battle to win a shot at the national spelling titles. As the show progresses, these dysfunctional teenagers grow on the audience.
Emma Newman stars as Olive, an awkward girl who rises to give one of the show’s highlights with her powerful singing.
Yakira Abraham stars as the pigtailed Logainne, who manages to overcome her lisp by the end of the show and win the affection of a portly fellow contestant with a sinus problem.
Hyperactive Leaf (played by Kyle Richardson) endears himself to the audience with his brightly coloured outfits and naive outlook on life.
Rebecca Lemish gives a fine performance as the over-achieving Marcy (transformed from an Asian girl in the original show to a Mount Scopus Memorial College student), who is favourite to win the spelling bee until she decides that perfection is not so desirable and deliberately gets an answer wrong.
Another strong performance coupled with superb singing comes from Anne Gasko as Rona, a former spelling bee champion who is now running the event, aided by the spellmaster (Josh Gurgiel), who brings plenty of humour to the role.
Daniel Aronov milks his role of Mitch, the official comforter who escorts the eliminated contestants off the stage.
Full marks to the orchestra, which shared the stage with the cast and blended in seamlessly, under the direction of Philip Setton.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has plenty of audience participation – for each performance four members of the audience are invited on stage to join the contestants.
They are coached to ask two questions about the word’s definition and its use in a sentence, and none survive past intermission. At the Sunday performance, AJAX footballer Stuart Fayman showed off his spelling skills.
Director Jem Splitter extracted the best from the cast to ensure a high-quality production that appeals to all ages.
Reviewed by Danny Gocs
Photo: From left: Rebecca Lemish, Yakira Abraham and Emma Newman in JYM’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
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