“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” opened last night at Tech’s Backdoor Playhouse and will run through Nov. 12.
Artistic Director and Theatre Professor Mark Creter said he chose the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” because this is an opportunity to see actors in their early twenties portray middle school misfits.
“This is a musical that is catchy, simple and fun for the actors as well as the audience,” Creter said. “You will walk out thinking the songs through your head.”
“The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee” takes place in the Putnam Valley Middle School where six competitive spellers find themselves by competing in the rigorous yet humorous spelling bee. These competitors find what they are passionate about at a young age, which is spelling.
“Even if you are in an uncomfortable situation, just go out and do it,” junior Josh Rapp who plays (William Barfee) said about the underlining message of the musical. “Even though you might not get what you are trying to gain, you still walk away with something.”
The script is witty and keeps the audience laughing throughout. The songs were catchy and the “Magic Foot” song almost brought on a tear. The thing that really made “Spelling Bee” perfect was the plot. It’s not all about laughing and silly adolescent spellers, but it has soul. The lives of the children touched me and made me proud to have my own enthusiasm. The children portrayed in the story all have a story of their own to tell, the seemingly perfect child, the one with the parental problems, and the over-worked child. Each of these stories touched the audience which had them applauding. This musical is not to be missed.
Eight more performances remain in the run of Tech’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”. Tech students get in free with Tech I.D.
Auditions for two upcoming shows are, “Oedipus Rex” and “Love’s Labor’s Lost”. “Oedipus Rex” auditions will be Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. “Love’s Labor’s Lost” will be Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. Both auditions will take place at the TTU Backdoor Playhouse
For more ticket and show time information visit http://www.tntech.edu/bdph/.
