By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer
Audiences will enjoy themselves I-M-M-E-N-S-E-L-Y at Porthouse Theatre’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a little musical with a huge heart that celebrates the varying degrees of nerdiness inside all of us.
That premise is a big part of what makes Spelling Bee so universally appealing. You needn’t have been a competitive speller to appreciate the genuine comedy of all the insecure adolescents and maladjusted adults onstage, or the wonderfully strong characterizations within director Terri Kent’s talented cast.
At the top of the class is fantastically funny Dane Castle as ultra-nerd William Barfee, whose hunched posture, crazily curly hair, huge glasses and lolling tongue elicit giggles from the start. Castle, who just finished his senior year at Kent State, creates an excellent balance between a brainiac adolescent who’s barely in control of his own body and his wacky character’s egotistical, competitive nature.
Barfee (that’s pronounced bar-FAY) says ”Yes, of course,” every time he’s given a seemingly impossible word, and then proceeds to spell out the word on the floor with his ”magic foot.”
It’s these great comic details that really make the musical, with a Tony-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by William Finn. (Spelling Bee debuted on Broadway in 2005, with Akron’s own Lisa Howard originating the role of the overly zealous MC Rona Peretti.)
The show’s melodies aren’t memorable but Finn’s lyrics are refreshing and witty: As each speller is eliminated, the cast sings ”Goodbye. You were good but not good enough.”
The dialogue is sprinkled with a teensy bit of off-color humor and some mild cursing, so it’s not a show for young kids.
The music itself isn’t Spelling Bee’s strong suit, but the vaudeville-style number Magic Foot, led by Castle’s Barfee, is a hoot. Maren Ritter also brings sweet tenderness to the bluesy solo The I Love You Song, which beautifully illustrates her character Olive’s loneliness.
New York actress Rumi Oyama’s overachieving Asian character Marcy Park (can we say stereotype?) is largely lost in the shuffle with the other more eccentric characters. She’s a militant speller who’s sick of being perfect but it’s often hard to understand Oyama’s accent, which is presumably an assumed one.
Also big in the laughs department is Danny Lindenberger as the backpack-toting, lovable space cadet Leaf Coneybear, who spells as if in a trance and glides around the stage in Heelys.
The adult characters are almost as fun to watch as the kids in this show. Jason Samuel’s slightly menacing attitude is amusing as comfort counselor Mitch, but his singing was pretty pitchy Tuesday.
Sandra Emerick assumes a Fargoesque accent as the ever-perky Rona, a former spelling champion-turned-top-Realtor. She plays it completely straight, as does the delightful Marc Moritz as Panch, the vice principal pronouncer who can be both petulant and passive-aggressive.
Moritz shines with his deadpan delivery as his character offers crazy examples of how to use each spelling word in a sentence. Consider this one for the word ”crapaud,” an edible bullfrog: ”Despite the absence of any actual frog meat, Mary’s lasagna tasted like crapaud.”
A big part of the fun at each Porthouse performance is the audience participation in the first act, when four audience members compete as spellers, dinged by the bell when they miss a word. Theatergoers can reserve their spelling spot or surprise a friend or family member by buying them a spot for a donation of $100 by calling 330-672-3884.
Fourteen-year old Anamika Veeramani of North Royalton, winner of the recent 2010 Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. has been confirmed to attend Porthouse Theatre’s production of the Broadway musical production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on Friday, June 18th.
Coincidentally, Veeramani, is donating her winning Dictionary to the nonprofit organization Safer Futures, who happen to have their annual fundraiser at Porthouse Theatre. Veeramani will meet with the Safer Futures organizers at the Theatre.
The dictionary will be used as a silent auction item. In addition, Artistic Director of Porthouse Theatre, Terri Kent has committed to making a $100 donation to Safer Futures in Veeramani’s name if she joins the cast as a “guest speller” during the first act of the show. She has agreed to do so. (The show features 3-4 “guest spellers” every night as part of the production).
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.