25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Zachary DeCosta
Professor Scott
THE 2000 BW61- Theatre Survey
29 July 2014
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The concept of the spelling bee arose in the 1700s among the Puritans and they called these contests “Spelling Schools.” Theatre has been around for a very long time. It first started out where only men were allowed to preform, now, today anyone can perform no matter their skin, race, or ethnicity. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is what modern theatre is today. Actors singing, dancing and engaging with the audience. My overall experience at this play was excellent, I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole production. Winner of the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee was created in 2005 by Rebecca Feldman and the music and lyrics were done by William Finn. This play compares to a lot of plays of this time, it is fast paced, full of energy and extremely humorous. The show is centered on a spelling bee in Putnam Valley Middle School, where six goofy teenagers compete against each other. The spelling bee is hosted by three quirky adults who also take part in the sining and dancing, they even do some spelling themselves. The main characters include Rona Lisa Peretti who is a former champion herself who moderates the spelling bee, Vice Principal Douglas Panch who is a judge who returns to the spelling bee after a former incident. There’s also Mitch Mahoney who is the comfort counselor who is also an ex-convict, Olive Ostrovsky is a new to the Putnam Bee and she 's known for not paying the twenty five dollar entrance fee. William Barfée a returning finalist who spells the words out with his feet before speaking them, Logainne "Schwarzy" SchwarzandGrubenierre is known for having two gay fathers and speaks with a lisp. Marcy Park is known as the overachiever who speaks six languages, Leaf Coneybear only gets to the competition because the person who beat him in the district bee had to be somewhere
Professor Scott
THE 2000 BW61- Theatre Survey
29 July 2014
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The concept of the spelling bee arose in the 1700s among the Puritans and they called these contests “Spelling Schools.” Theatre has been around for a very long time. It first started out where only men were allowed to preform, now, today anyone can perform no matter their skin, race, or ethnicity. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is what modern theatre is today. Actors singing, dancing and engaging with the audience. My overall experience at this play was excellent, I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole production. Winner of the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee was created in 2005 by Rebecca Feldman and the music and lyrics were done by William Finn. This play compares to a lot of plays of this time, it is fast paced, full of energy and extremely humorous. The show is centered on a spelling bee in Putnam Valley Middle School, where six goofy teenagers compete against each other. The spelling bee is hosted by three quirky adults who also take part in the sining and dancing, they even do some spelling themselves. The main characters include Rona Lisa Peretti who is a former champion herself who moderates the spelling bee, Vice Principal Douglas Panch who is a judge who returns to the spelling bee after a former incident. There’s also Mitch Mahoney who is the comfort counselor who is also an ex-convict, Olive Ostrovsky is a new to the Putnam Bee and she 's known for not paying the twenty five dollar entrance fee. William Barfée a returning finalist who spells the words out with his feet before speaking them, Logainne "Schwarzy" SchwarzandGrubenierre is known for having two gay fathers and speaks with a lisp. Marcy Park is known as the overachiever who speaks six languages, Leaf Coneybear only gets to the competition because the person who beat him in the district bee had to be somewhere
Cited: Felner, Mira. Felner 2013. 2013 ed. N.p.: Pearson, n.d. Print. Music Theatre International. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2014. <http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000336>. UCF Theatre. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Orlando: UCF School of Performing Arts, 2014. Print.