By Jessie Karn
The play that will have you laughing every single minute and wishing you were on stage.
A play about six misfits who are trying to take the title of Putnam County spelling bee champion. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a comedic musical that features over 20 songs. The cast brought the characters to life and at some points of the play, it felt as though it was an actual spelling bee.
The spellers consisted of Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Leaf Coneybear, William Barfée, Marcy Park, Olive Ostrovsky, and Chip Tolentino. The judges for the spelling bee are Rona Lisa Peretti and Vice Principal Panch. Mitch Mahoney was the intimidating but kind security guard who had to send the spellers off after they missed a word.
Logainne is played by Kayla Holiday, who capsulated the perfect image of a girl who really wants to win the spelling bee title to impress her dads. Ethan Cox plays Leaf, he embodied the unique boy who was always seen as not too smart by others, many doubt Leaf considering he was second runner-up in the qualifying bee.
Charlie Massey plays a boy who believes he has a magic foot which gives him all the answers for the bee; his character is known as William Barfée. Marcy is the girl whom all the spellers fear due to her rapid spelling skills, Marcy is played by Sedona Taloma, who portrays the character perfectly.
Emily Boyer plays the part of Olive, a girl who feels lost due to her parents not being able to come to see her compete in the spelling bee. Chip is played by Carson, Carson’s character was last years winner, who does not make it too far in the spelling bee due to some “becoming a young man” issues.
The host of the spelling bee, Rona, is played by Sarah Smith, who captures Rona in an incredible manner. Rona wishes to go back to her glory days when she won the spelling bee. Vice Principal Panch is a judge for the bee who has a past history of aggressive outburst when the contestants are distracted, Liam Shannon encaptures the character flawlessly. Mitch Mahoney, the volunteer security guard, is played by Adnan Maksoud and he nailed the part by showing tough guys can have big hearts. The rest of the cast also crushed it overall through the extra energy they brought to the stage.
At the beginning of Act 1, audience members were called up to the stage to participate in the spelling bee. The audience participation created a fun environment and caused even more laughs. Every time the spellers from the audience went up, a fun fact about the speller was stated before they were given the word they had to spell. The on the spot facts they came up with caused a lot of chuckles from the crowd.
The drama program put together an incredible play, from the costumes to the choreography. Every component was executed remarkably, Jacob Beaver put together choreography that perfectly fit the play and created a sense of cohesiveness to every scene. Brigit Colwell, Emy Francisco, and Mia Hanson created costumes that helped with telling the stories of the characters, bringing even more personality to the show. Every part of the production staff created a marvelous show that made you wish you could have been a part of the show.
MVHS Drama never fails to disappoint, so if you did not see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, make sure to see their upcoming plays. Their upcoming plays are The Adventures of Pinnochio, IB One-Act Plays, Mayhem Dinner Theatre, and High School Musical. Tickets for the upcoming plays can be purchased at mvhsdrama.com or at the door.
