Free to Bee You and Me

Last night I took my niece along as my wing woman for my regular Theatre 3 tickets. It was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Which got a lot of attention when it opened in New York. For my taste I think it’s a good show that can be made great by a cracker jack cast, or could be a complete cluster by a middling cast. Luckily, our cast was en fuego.

The story is about elementary school kids in a spelling bee (truth in advertising), and the kids are played by adults. There’s a real borderline that could be easily crossed when adults play kids. Go too cutesy and it gets irritating bordering on creepy. But the actors did a really good job of playing the kid who is inside the adult-to-be. Because really, by the time you’re spelling bee age, many of the elements that will make you the adult you will be are already there. You’re just learning to cope with them. And I’d read a few reviews that noted that some of the actors were off key. For me, it actually worked. Enough to think that it may have been a really canny acting choice that added a verite element to the show. If you’ve ever actually sat through an elementary school music production, you know you’re in for a night of kids missing the tune by thismuch.

The actors also did a nice job of engaging the audience in-character. From audience members who became spellers in the bee and found themselves in the middle of dance routines (better them than me), to one woman in the front row who was the object of the funniest pre-pubescent mack-daddy routine I’ve ever seen. But they never crossed the Tony & Tina’s Wedding line into that “Oh, for chrissakes, I paid for you to act, not me, lemme alone” zone. And I thought that the one character throwing candy into the audience was a nice touch. Though when you have a noted candy freak in the audience and stiff her (hee hee, that’s a much funnier line if you’ve seen the show) on the sweet stuff, that’s just rude. Hook a sister up.

I think the only bad moment I had was when I realized I’d been remiss in doing my due diligence and found myself sitting next to a kid who’s being exposed to boner jokes. But then she laughed. And really, at 17, if she’s not getting the woody humor, I really haven’t done my job as an aunt.

I'd say that if you see this show playing in your area, being done by a theater you trust, give it a try. I haven't seen an audience having that good a time in years.