By Anna Trevathan, Managing Editor
From November 19 through the 23rd, East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU’s) Theatre Department put on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This musical, originally based on a smaller unscripted play made by a New York improv group, has wonderfully transformed, going from Broadway, to Off-Broadway, and now premiering at our local Tennessean college.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee follows a group of young spelling bee contestants representing their local elementary school. Each contestant brings their own level of dork with them, all having multiple fun quirks that help them to spell, and the musical dives into each contestant’s personal struggles while leaning into the hilarious perspective. Something incredible about the musical is the commitment to the improvisational roots, with audience volunteers being pulled onto the stage and being forced to participate alongside the spelling bee participants. Much like with a normal spelling bee, the audience also gets to enjoy seeing which character will eventually win the bee.
How ETSU Fared at the Bee
Before even getting into the immense talent that every actor carried at the bee, the stage design and overall elements of production blew me away.
If I had been dropped right in front of those bleachers I would fully believe I was in an elementary school’s gymnasium. Built in a black box theatre, ETSU transformed the box into an elementary school gym with hand-painted banners, bright blue gym mats, and worn wooden bleachers. For realistic purposes, we even see a scattered basketball under the bleachers, a cleaning rag left above the sign, and lipstick on the microphone.
This detailed set was a reminder that the production would not exist without the work of students and volunteers who bring it to life. The set design crew, the lighting and sound crew, and the student-led band worked together to provide the heart at the core of this musical.
Overall, I got the sense that students, faculty, and family alike put a lot of care and effort into this production. I got to meet a few students who shared excitement around the musical, named Amelia, Katie, Ella and Seamus (pictured above). These students were some of several involved in the behind-the-scenes work behind the production, working as the front of house ushers who greeted any theatre-goers at the door. Immediately walking in and seeing first hand how much students care about the production set such a wonderful tone.
Let’s Meet the Contestants
For the remainder of this review, I will be referencing the characters by their names and discussing situations they are dealing with. Here is a brief character map so we can all be in the know over which contestants are fighting for the trophy:
Olive Ostrovsky – A sweet, but lonely girl who is at the bee without her parents; her dictionary is her only friend. [Played by: Molly Blackburn]
William Barfée – A very nasally speller, who is very socially awkward and has a “magic foot” that is his not-so-secret weapon. [Played by: Jacob Jackson]
Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre – America’s future first-female president, raised by two perfectionist, politically active fathers. [Played by: Killeen Boito]
Leaf Coneybear – The most oddball to ever oddball, from a massive family that always calls him dumb, yet he can somehow spell in a trance. [Played by: Kas Reeves]
Marcy Park – A perfectionist straight-A student who speaks six-languages. [Played by: Rhyann James]
Chip Tolentino – The school’s previous spelling bee champion expecting to come and regain his title, who is unfortunately experiencing puberty… and we’ve all been there. [Played by: Sal Faccadio]
Rona Lisa Peretti – A former spelling bee champion, who is now the slightly unhinged and over involved host [Played by: Elsa Kummer]
Vice Principal Douglas Panch – Our word pronouncer, who is dry and the source of several snappy “example” sentences. [Played by: Carter Boogaard]
Mitch Mahoney – An ex-con gone therapist, Mitch is doing his mandatory community service by being a comfort counselor for losers of the bee . [Played by: Jack Stapleton]
The casting of this musical, with due snaps to the show’s director (Bobby Funk), made the show almost impossible to break up in parts that I enjoyed over anything else. I truly loved each performance so much that I would have paid for a recording. Though I hesitate to call out specific actors or songs above others, these are the ones on my mind days after:
“Magic Foot” (Jacob Jackson, William Barfée)
The magic foot, in a stroke of genius, is used by Barfée’s character to help him spell a word. The choreography alone was so hilarious, with Barfée dragging his foot across the stage and using it to spell miscellaneous letters in each word. His physical comedy was so strong, the audience erupted in laughter each time he approached the mic for his turn to spell. This foot being presented to the audience in a single stage light made it seem like his divine instrument. What struck me the most, beyond the physical comedy Jacob Jackson brought to this character, was the confidence he carried; his posture and nasally voice were equally as strong as the foot choreo.
“My Unfortunate Erection (Chip’s Lament)” (Sal Faccadio, Chip Tolentino)
This is one of those songs in a musical that walks that tightrope between ridiculous and vulnerable. Sal Faccadio nailed every second of it, starting right after the intermission as he experienced a meltdown over being eliminated from the competition after having to spell “tittup”. The audience really embraced their middle school selves laughing at this poor speller trying to maintain his composure. Marigold Coneybear, the inspiration behind the unfortunate erection, was an assigned audience member who happened to wear glasses and a sweater. Chip threw pieces of candy towards the audience (and not to brag, but I got a Hubba Bubba), and stormed all over the tight theatre. Though this song is ridiculous, Sal Faccadio’s vocal range and physical acting skills made it into a memorable highlight of the night for me, and the audience erupted into applause following the performance.
“The I Love You Song” (Molly Blackburn, Olive Ostrovsky)
The best song of the night, which is saying something given that I truly enjoyed every song performed by this crew, was “The I Love You Song.” In a stage setting like this one, it’s hard to imagine feeling any more up-close and personal until this song comes on. Olive Ostrovsky is asked to spell the word “chimerical,” a word that means unrealistic and fanciful.
Then, we see a shift in Olive into her inner self. She’s pondering the thought of competing in the Washington bee alone, and how she’ll not have a chaperone for it. Then, in the blink of an eye, we get her mother singing to her. Her mother sings lyrics like “We always knew you were a winner / You were the perfect child / I love you /I love everything about you dear.” In the general context of the play as a whole, this song is heart breaking enough – then to see Blackburn’s performance of it, with how strong and heartbreaking her voice was made it even stronger. The way she was looking at her mother in this moment, holding onto every word was a reminder that her most fanciful, chimerical fantasies involve her mother just telling her she loves her.
The audience, typically a rambunctious group, seemed as quiet and solemn as I was in this moment. Molly Blackburn took charge of the audience and somehow got every theatre goer to feel what hope and devastation Olive was feeling in this song. On a personal level, as a grown woman, I know what it is to feel like your mother seeing you and loving you is a fantasy. I was crying in the front row of this theatre, then again on the way home. This was a phenomenal knock-out of a number that I would give anything to experience again.
Curtains on the Bee
Leaving the theatre, I kept thinking about how this show is a looking glass to growing up, including all of the messy, hopeful, and painful parts. ETSU’s theatre department embraced the ugly truth wholeheartedly, as these performers go beyond entertaining the audience; they transport them. If theatre’s goal is connecting the audience to each other, this went beyond that – ETSU’s 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee connected us to our childhoods.
As for any Pellissippi State Community College students, those who are looking for a theatre department that will let them grow and bloom where they are planted after their time here is up, I could not recommend this department more. What I witnessed on that stage was a community that cared and invested into their theatre department and their performers. ETSU is building something incredible in that little black box theatre, and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
