P-A-N-D-E-M-O-N-I-U-M at the Spelling Bee

The cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Carroll University. Photo credit: Allison Calteux Photography.

A review of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

by Charlie Fetters, age 15

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a joyous, bittersweet, and hilarious story that follows a group of tweens who spell their way through their issues. Throughout the show, contestants reveal these problems (overachievement, parental pressure, puberty, and more) to the audience through song, which tends to lead to the contestants' elimination. This is a musical I already knew very well prior to walking into the Otteson Theatre, so I didn’t expect to feel any differently about it than I already did; I knew my favorite songs, moments, and characters. However, the Carroll Players did an incredible job at bringing a fresh, new interpretation of this story to life that I continue thinking about even now.

My favorite part of this production was seeing the chemistry between the cast and their characters, as well as the audience. A key part to this show is the audience participants. Four audience members got to be spellers along with the cast, and it created some of my favorite moments. Watching the cast play off of the mistakes and reactions of these members was so entertaining, and I loved seeing the choices they made. Even without these participants, I found little moments of the actors creating a relationship with each other. Notably, Logainne (Ella Grabnik) and Leaf (Joseph Lewis) had AWESOME engaging instants together, interactions after big moments with other characters that were really interesting to see. Seeing these actors play off of each other was really refreshing to see because it brought another level to the overall story, and I applaud them for doing so well.

Besides the excellent chemistry, I also really enjoyed getting immersed in the story and the choices everyone made. The story unfolded in a way in which it felt like I was a spectator at a spelling bee and not an audience member at a musical; it felt like watching a story happen in real time, rather than watching actors play it out.  A big aspect of this was that everyone BECAME their character when on stage–I noticed different “quirks” and mannerisms that each of them had that made their character distinct. The way they held themselves, how they changed their voice, and their reactions all created a uniqueness specific to their character. For instance, Ella Grabnik as Logainne and Jamison Shea as Barfée  did a fantastic job at creating character voices and maintaining them throughout the show. These actors had a clear understanding of their characters and how they would behave, and I loved to see it.

In regards to the musical aspect of the show, I was very impressed. The vocal ability of this cast was SO powerful, led by music director Julie Johnson. The stronger, more dynamic, personal songs had me feeling emotions that I don’t tend to feel from on-stage adaptations. More specifically, "Woe is Me," "I Speak Six Languages," "I’m Not That Smart," and ESPECIALLY "The I Love You Song" were the most emotion-provoking parts of the show for me. The messages they deliver are already upsetting, but when accompanied by the pit and cast, they become heart-breaking. "The I Love You Song" was the song that touched me the most. This song comes after the character Olive receives the word "chimerical" (meaning magical, unreal, or highly unrealistic). She connects this word to the disconnect she feels with her parents, expressing her desire to feel loved. This song, prior to seeing this production, was already my favorite, and watching it in-person really solidified my love for it. Lauren Rank as Olive did an absolutely phenomenal job at portraying the emotions of her character during this song and it enthralled me. 

Overall, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee was an outstanding performance by the Carroll Players. They maintained an outstanding balance between emotion and comedy, creating an immersive experience and captivating the audience. I am ecstatic to see what they do in the future!