William Finn

IRT does A-OK with the B-E-E

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

Funny how so much of your life seems to hinge on what happens in your middle-school years. Funny enough, in fact, that it’s good to laugh – with, not at – the struggles of the kids caught up in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at Indiana Repertory Theatre.

Being the IRT, you can expect and experience a highly professional production, including the nicely constructed Gym setting (in a fictional “Putnam County, USA,” though the program notes there is such a county in Indiana, to the west of Indy) with a lively scoreboard that lights up to cleverly illustrate and comment on the goings-on below. A sharp cast of local and visiting actors give us characters we can all relate with or knew in our school days.

We meet Rona Lisa Peretti (Michelle Lauto), our upbeat emcee and past champion; assistant principal Doug Panch (Ryan Artzberger), who calls out the words and promises to behave this time; and Mitch Mahoney (R.J. Griffith), who is “comfort counselor” as part of his court-ordered community service.

The contestants are: Chip Tolentino (Matheus Barbee), noble Boy Scout and last year’s winner; Logaine Schwartzandgrubenniere (Devin Mathias), a budding activist with two very involved dads; Leaf Coneybear (Dominique Lawson), a homeschooled free spirit unsure of his own worth; William Barfeè (Brett Mutter), armed with confident bluster and his “magic foot;” Marcy Park (Ayana Strutz) an overachiever (six languages!) who was spelling champ at her previous school; Olive Ostrovsky (Ariana D. Burks), a shy girl with distant parents, her best friend is the Dictionary; and some spellers chosen from the audience (don’t worry, you have to apply to be selected).

This musical, by Rebecca Feldman with Rachel Sheinkin (book) and William Finn (music and lyrics), directed and choreographed for IRT by Patdro Harris, is lively, funny, and heartfelt. We get both the present challenge for these youths, the stress of the bee expressed in the song “Pandemonium,” as well as a look into their inner lives, as each gets at least a song of their own. Castmates step in to portray family members as needed. The humor comes from their situations, as well as great one-liners such as an interesting “fact” given about each contestant – including the selected audience members – and the replies to “please use the word in a sentence.”

The elements of improv keep the show fresh and unpredictable (these actors are up to the challenge), and even yielded some of the biggest laughs on opening night. If you are familiar with the show, you know who wins the contest – but the finalists’ performance lends sufficient tension to make the ending work. It is also uplifting to see most who don’t hoist the trophy each find victory in their own way.

It’s hard singling out individual performances, as this was such a great ensemble. Artzberger is such an IRT mainstay that it’s easy to overlook just how naturally he puts on every character he’s called on to play. Lauto isn’t local, but as Peretti has a natural chemistry as though she truly was this county’s top realtor and past spelling champ. Griffith gives the right balance of “street” and sweet called for in Mitch’s situation.

Mathias is familiar to local audiences, though not necessarily her earnest lisping inner child as Logaine. Lawson demonstrates wonderful versatility by leaving behind his turn as Seymour from “Little Shop” a few months ago to give us the charmingly naïve, yet brave, Leaf – reflecting many of us in the audience when blurting “is that even a word?” when given something obscure to spell – as well as an important moment as one of Logaine’s dads. Barbee also has some great moments (including one Chip would rather forget) and a good pitching arm with the snack tray. When done right, you just want to give Olive a big reassuring hug – and I think Burks had us all that smitten. Barfee is so many things – obnoxious, aggrieved, confident to a fault, needing to succeed to feel worthy, wanting to be appreciated, and on the edge of unsure – Mutter nails them all. As Marcy, Strutz was perfectly cast as she is not only wonderful in the role, but also capable of the dance and gymnastics that make her solo number really pop.

Kudos also to scenic design (mentioned above) by Britton Mauk, and music director Joshua Burniece. In the lobby balcony, there is a display that includes how costume designer Linda Pisano reflected the characters’ personalities in their outfits.

This show is at the IRT for just a short spell, through Oct. 13, at 140 W. Washington St. in the heart of Downtown Indianapolis. See irtlive.com for information and tickets.

CrazyLake casts entertaining ‘Spell’

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

Lest there be any confusion, the current production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is in Greenfield.

In an odd coincidence, there is a Putnam County in Indiana (west of Indy) but the title was intended as an all-American sounding location while the musical was developed by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin in New York and Massachusetts prior to its 2005 Off-Broadway, then Tony-winning Broadway, run. So, please head just east of Indianapolis, into Hancock County, to see this CrazyLake Acting Company production, directed by Amy Studabaker and Christine Schaefer.

Studabaker is also music director, choreographer with Kaydence Forsyth, and stars as Marcy, one of the middle-school contestants at the Bee, a qualifier for the national contest in Washington, D.C.

The cast is famously an interesting assembly of adolescent eccentrics: Marcy is a high-achiever who speaks not five, but six languages; defending champ Chip (Luke Agee) is a noble Boy Scout; Leaf Coneybear (Corey Yeaman) is an imaginative but unsteady lad who spells words in trance-like outbursts; shy Olive (Taylor Shelton), who reads the dictionary like a favorite novel, speaks the word into her hand; politically-active Logainne (Alex Gawrys-Strand) traces the word on her arm; while William Barfeè (Matt Little) famously uses his “magic” foot. There are also adults of varying maturity: Mitch (Ethan Stearns), performing as “comfort counselor” as part of his court-ordered community service; Vice Principal Panch (Trever Brown), who promises he will behave much better this time; and our host Rona Lisa Peretti (Noelle Russell), the county’s leading realtor and past winner at the 3rd Annual Bee.

Zane Roberts, Alex Ross, Petra Russell, Ross McMichael, Jeff Pipkin, and Ashley Pipkin play various parents and siblings, as well as a vision of Jesus. Stage Manager Blair Connelly can be seen occasionally as the gym’s custodian.

In addition, as has been customary with this improv-inspired show from its beginning, there are three contestants drawn from the audience.

It’s interesting to see the adult actors embrace their inner children to capture the whimsy and apprehension of the “tween” transition from child to teenager. Yeaman keeps Leaf’s silliness grounded in his discovery of true potential. Studabaker and Gawrys-Strand each portray their girls feeling the pressure of high expectations, sensing they are growing up too soon. Agee plays the alpha discovering to his dismay that some things just can’t be controlled. Shelton fits the most endearing part, Olive (which she notes, anagrams to “I love”), nicely. Little’s “Bar-fay” manages to balance his know-it-all nature with enough odd charm and shielded humility to keep him likable, even one to root for.

Loaded with L-A-U-G-H-S, this Bee is buzz-worthy. The musical opens Friday, July 12, running through July 21, at H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts, 122 W. Main St. (U.S. 40) in downtown Greenfield. Discount tickets are available at Hometown Comics and Games. For information and tickets online go to crazylakeacting.com.

Footlite put a ‘Spell’ on us

PWJW_Indy Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

The Broadway hit “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is one of those musicals we find simply F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C, and Footlite Musicals is treating us to the latest production to hit an Indy stage.

Created by Rebecca Feldman and her theatre collective The Farm (book by Rachel Sheinkin, songs by William Finn, additional material by Jay Reiss), and inspired by America’s fascination with the Scripps National Spelling Bee (launching smart kids to instant momentary fame), this Tony-winner presents a local contest that qualifies the winner for the big Bee in Washington, D.C., with two past Nationals attendees in the mix.

Anyone who reads the dictionary for fun (yes, there’s a song about it) can come across as a little odd – or a lot – so director Kathleen Clarke Horrigan (who often works with actual youth) gives some young adult actors a chance to creatively engage their inner child. There’s:

  • Leaf Coneybear (Josh Vander Missen), raised by hippies and generally clueless, but a spelling savant who gets possessed by the words.  
  • Logainne SwartzandGrubenierre (Jonna Kaufmann), pride of her two dads and likely the world’s youngest firebrand liberal, who writes out the word invisibly on her arm.
  • Marcy Park (Adrian Daeger), epitome of the Asian overachiever stereotype – six languages! — and it’s starting to get to her.
  • Returning champ Chip Tolentino (Jim Melton), the Boy Scout who gets surprised by the one thing he wasn’t prepared for.
  • Olive Ostrovsky (Kelsey McDaniel), who really hopes one of her super-successful parents shows up to see her make her mark; her secret weapons are the hand she recites the word into, and her beloved bestie Websters.
  • William Morris Barfee, pronounced ending in -AY, with one functioning nostril, catty attitude, and the “magic foot” that makes him a potential favorite to win it all. Brendon McCray wore those fancy shoes during opening weekend; upcoming shows have Adam Gardner as Barfee.

And last, but not least, there are three to four lucky spellers plucked from the audience! Don’t worry, you have to apply to get drawn for the gig. If selected, you’ll get at least a moment on the stage and a juice box, provided by Comfort Counselor Mitch Mahoney (Antony Winfrey), a parolee escorting eliminated contestants off the stage as his community service.

We also meet host, and past champion, Rona Lisa Peretti (Sarah Marone-Sowers); vice-principal Panch (Bryan D. Padgett), returning as word pronouncer, promising there won’t be an incident this time; and a brief cameo by Jesus Christ himself (Ed Trout). Trout and Andrew Exner also appear as paternal characters, while Hannah Janowicz plays Moms, and Leaf’s hot sister, Marigold.

This production is full of the energy and fun that has made this musical a hit nationwide, with trophy-worthy performances all around. Like Rona, you’ll be hard-pressed to select your “favorite part of the Bee.”

You also have a shot at seeing what was a nearly sold-out run. This was to be Footlite’s traditional January show that places the audience on-stage for a more intimate cabaret feel. However, with present health concerns, the stage will only hold cast (and audience spellers), which works fine for this particular musical, and ticket-holders take the regular seats – still general admission — allowing for bigger audiences than initially planned. Performances run through Sunday, Jan. 23. Get information and tickets at footlite.org.