25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE Comes to Connie Link Ampitheatre Tomorrow

The bright and charming musical about the successes and failures of kids competing at a spelling bee -- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee -- is back in Normal this week, as the summer musical for Normal Parks and Rec.

This version of the Bee opens tomorrow, outside at the Connie Link Ampitheatre off Linden Street in Normal, with performances through June 22. Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for students from kindergarten to high school age, with free admission for those under 5 or over 65.

Bloomington High School's Susan Cortesi directs a cast that includes Amelia Dirks, Brendan Donnelly, Anna Genrich, Will Koski, Leah Overmier and Hayden Wood as spellers and Kira Haney, Elizabeth King and Ethan Schlenker as the folks running the competition.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has been performed locally -- I recall an ISU production a few years ago as well as one at Community Players more recently -- but this is the first time it's being done outside by students who are closer in age to the kids in the play. These high schoolers (with one junior high student among them) are still older than the youngsters we see on stage, but it's closer...

No word on whether this production will continue the tradition of pulling guest participants from the audience, but I don't know why they wouldn't. One thing is definitely different from previous Bees -- director Cortesi has gone with a larger cast rather than using a small ensemble in multiple roles. This time, the Bee will have a cast of about 28.

Tomorrow night's performance is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm, but you are wise to get there early to stake out a good spot on the lawn. For more information, click here to see the event's Facebook page.

Better Get to the SPELLING BEE While You Still Can!

Everybody was in a spelling bee at some time, right? We had to spell in our 5th and 6th grade classes at Woodrow Wilson School in Peoria to try to win a spot in the school-wide Bee and then the big Peoria Journal Star Spelling Bee. My sister got all the way to the big one and spelled on TV! I, sadly, did not. I'm afraid I left the C out of ACQUAINTANCE and got buzzed out back at Woodrow Wilson.

The children in the charming and wonderful The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (seen above as they appear in the Community Players production) would understand exactly the pain of leaving out that C. They are misfits, sort of, from strange William Barfée (yes, that accent is for real), who spells with his foot and suffers terrible allergies, to hapless homeschooler Leaf Coneybear, who has a decided lack of confidence; pretty Olive Ostrovsky, whose mother abandoned her for an ashram; Marcy Park, who is good at everything except acting like a live human being; Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre, trying to keep up with her overachiever dads (she has two, hence the compound last name); and last year's champ, Chip Tolentino, who finds himself suddenly smacked around by puberty.

Spelling Bee has a bright, tuneful score written by Michael Finn and a sweet book by Rachel Sheinkin. It doesn't take itself too seriously, although it has its touching moments, mostly in the neighborhood of parent/child interactions (or lack thereof). It also offers audience members a chance to spell, if they're game. I'm sure I've told everyone I know about the time I went to see The Bee in Chicago on my birthday, got chosen as one of four volunteer spellers, and lasted almost to the end, putting my ACQUAINTANCE ignominy to bed once and for all. (I went out on lysergic acid diethylamide, which you will notice is really three words, not one, but, hey, I wanted to be done so I could go back to the audience and watch the show, so I didn't complain. I still have the juice box I got as a parting gift. Just sayin'.)

The main thing to take away here is that The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a perfectly adorable show. And you need to see it. And you have four chances left while it's still playing at Community Players. F-O-U-R.

Director Brett Cottone's cast includes Brian Artman, Kallie Bundy, Aimee Kerber, Megan Masterman, Joe McDonald, Joel Shoemaker, Kelly Slater, Chris Stanford and Austin Travis. They will be appearing (and spelling) tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30 pm, with a matinee Sunday at 2:30 pm to finish off their run. You can order tickets here or check out Bee info at the Community Players website here.

Can you spell M-U-S-T  S-E-E?

Community Players Is S-E-T for the S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

Community Players and director Brett Cottone have the cast in place for their May production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The musical comedy (book by Rachel Sheinkin, music and lyrics by William Finn), about kids vying to win the local spelling bee -- with words like capybara and vug on the agenda -- will feature Joe McDonald and Aimee Kerber as the adults (Vice Principal Douglas Patch and former Putnam County Spelling Bee champ Rona Lisa Peretti) running the show, Chris Stanford as "comfort counselor" Mitch Mahoney, and Brian Artman, Kallie Bundy, Megan Masterman, Joel Shoemaker, Kelly Slater and Austin Travis as the over-invested child spellers.

Bundy will play Olive Ostrovsky, the girl whose mother is off in an ashram somewhere, while Artman will take on the magic foot of William Barfée (note the accent -- he is particular that his name is pronounced BarFAY, not BARFy), who can only spell if he can sketch the words out with his shoe, Masterman will be over-achiever-in-every-way Marcy Park, Slater will play (and perhaps spell the name of ) Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, a socially-aware little girl with two gay dads, Travis will personify sweet, not-that-smart Leaf Coneybear, who keeps getting asked to spell the names of rodents, and Joel Shoemaker will bring boy-scout-with-growing-up-issues Chip Tolentino to life.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is an adorable show with characters you can't help but root for. And if you have a hankering to be part of the action, most productions pull volunteer spellers from the audience to compete along with Barfée, Chip, Leaf, Logainne, Marcy and Olive. In New York, Julie Andrews was a guest speller and had to do supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, while I got picked in Chicago on my birthday, and I got asked for lysergic acid diethylamide. The other volunteer speller there got cow, so you just never now.

Performance of this Spelling Bee begin May 9 at Community Players Theatre on Robinhood Lane.

Can You Spell A-U-D-I-T-I-O-N?

Community Players and directed Brett Cottone have announced auditions for their upcoming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the musical comedy about kids trying to spell well enough to win a trophy with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was a huge hit in New York and it's been popping up all over on tour and in regional theaters. It's an adorable show with a little bite, as we see sweet kids and Bee personnel -- all with some eccentricities -- who are maybe a little too wrapped up in winning for all the wrong reasons. Parental interaction (and lack thereof) plays a big part in The Bee's plotlines, as does audience interaction, when lucky volunteer spellers get to share the stage to compete against the cast (in character, of course).

So here's the scoop on Community Players' production and how you can audition to be a part of it, courtesy director Brett Cottone:

THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

William Finn–Composer/Lyricist

Rachael Sheinkin–Book

Auditions: March 17-19, 2013

Preview: May 9, 2013

Performances: May 10-12, 16-19, 23-26, 2013.

Director: Brett Cottone
Producer: Chris Strupek
Music Director: Dennis Gotkowski
Choreographer: Wendy Baugh
Assistant Director: Tony Smith
Lighting: Dan Virtue
Sound: Rich Plotkin
Set Design: Jeremy Stiller
Costumes: Opal Virtue and Sherry Bradshaw
Props: Dorothy Mundy and Carol Plotkin
Stage Manager: Hannah Kerns

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious tale of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show's Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

For Mature Audiences - Casting limited to 18 and older.

Please prepare 16 - 32 bars of music to be played by piano accompaniment. No pre-recorded accompaniment allowed. Please dress appropriately for a dance audition. You will also be asked to read selected passages from the script.

Spelling Bee Character Breakdown

CHIP TOLENTINO - A boy scout and champion of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, he returns to defend his title, but he finds puberty hitting at an inopportune moment. C3 - B4 Tenor

DOUGLAS PANCH - The Vice Principal. After five years' absence from the Bee, Panch returns as judge. There was an "incident" at the Twentieth Annual Bee, but he claims to be in "a better place" now, thanks to a high-fiber diet and Jungian analysis. He is infatuated with Rona Lisa Peretti, but she does not return his affections. (non-singing)

LEAF CONEYBEAR - The second runner-up in his district, Leaf gets into the competition on a lark: the winner and first runner-up had to go to the winner’s Bat Mitzvah. Leaf comes from a large family of former hippies and makes his own clothes. He spells words correctly while in a trance. In his song, "I'm Not That Smart", he sings that his family thinks he is "not that smart," but he insinuates that he is merely easily distracted. Most of the words that he is assigned are South American rodents with amusing names. A2 - G4 Baritone or Tenor

LOGAINNE SCHWARZANDGRUBENIERE (SCHWARTZY) - Logainne is the youngest and most politically-aware speller, often making comments about current political figures, with two overbearing homosexual fathers. She is somewhat of a neat freak, speaks with a lisp, and will be back next year. C4 - D5 Soprano

MARCY PARK - A recent transfer from Virginia, Marcy placed ninth in last year’s nationals. She speaks six languages, is a member of all-American hockey, a championship rugby player, plays Chopin and Mozart on multiple instruments, sleeps only three hours a night, hides in the bathroom cabinet, and is getting very tired of always winning. She is the poster child for the Over-Achieving Asian, and attends a Catholic school called "Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows." She is also not allowed to cry. B3 - E5 Soprano/Mezzo-Soprano

MITCH MAHONEY - The Official Comfort Counselor. An ex-convict, Mitch is performing his community service with the bee, and hands out juice boxes to losing students. E3 - A4 (B4) Tenor

OLIVE OSTROVSKY - A young newcomer to competitive spelling. Her mother is in an ashram in India, and her father is working late, as usual, but he is trying to come sometime during the bee. She made friends with her dictionary at a very young age, helping her to make it to the competition. B3 - F#5 Soprano

RONA LISA PERETTI - The number-one realtor in Putnam County, a former Putnam County Spelling Bee Champion herself, and returning moderator. She is a sweet woman who loves children, but she can be very stern when it comes to dealing with Vice Principal Panch, who has feelings for her that she most likely does not return. Her favorite moment of the Bee is in the minutes before it starts, when all the children are filled with the joy of competition, before they begin to resent each other. Ms. Peretti herself won the Third Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by spelling "syzygy," which she recounts at the very beginning of the opening number. C#4 - Ab5 Soprano

WILLIAM BARFEE - A Putnam County Spelling Bee finalist last year, he was eliminated because of an allergic reaction to peanuts. His famous “Magic Foot” method of spelling has boosted him to spelling glory, even though he only has one working nostril and a touchy personality. He has an often-mispronounced last name: it is Bar-FAY, not BARF-ee ("there's an accent aigu," he explains with some hostility). He develops a crush on Olive. Eb3 - Bb4 Tenor

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Please note that Leaf Coneybear is my personal favorite character and I don't like Monsieur Barfee at all. Him and his fancy foot spelling technique! Harumph! But your mileage will certainly vary, and you can pick your own favorite to root for at The Bee when Players puts it on in May. Until then, if you have a hankering to spell (and sing) words like hankering, you'll want to show up to audition for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

For more information, you can visit the Community Players website or email brett.cottone@gmail.com