Putnam Spelling Bee was not a real spelling bee, but a fabulous show

The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee musical production was put on by the Wilkes University theatre department the past two weekends under the direction of Joseph Dawson. Some members of the theatre department actually had to clarify to some students that it was not a real spelling bee. Despite the confusion and snowy weather, there was a very good turnout of people attending the musical this past Saturday night.

There were four participants pulled out of the audience to be fellow spellers where they were actually seated on stage with the actors. The audience members were treated as spectators of an actual spelling bee. This concept and contagious energy of the actors was very engaging and interactive.

The walls of the auditorium echoed with laughter as the actors sang, danced, and told their own individual stories. Rona Lisa Peretti, a former spelling bee champion, played by senior musical theatre major Casey Lynch, helped run the spelling bee with Vice Principal Douglas Panch, played by freshman musical theatre major Luke Brady.

Olive Ostrovsky, a spelling bee contestant played by senior musical theatre major Tara Contrera, was constantly looking for her parents in the crowd, who unfortunately never came. Her sadness was depicted in a heartfelt song she sang about her parents, called “The I Love You Song” with Lynch and Tim King, a senior musical theatre major who played Mitch Mahoney.

Not to mention, there is a whole song sung about an unfortunate erection by Chip Tolentino, played by Wilkes alumnus Daniel Pascoe, Class of 2009, who sings a song, “Chip’s Lament.” It expresses Chip’s loss in the spelling bee due to his fantasizing, which aroused him quite a bit.

Each word the spellers spelled had a hilarious definition or use in a sentence. The word usually poked fun at racial stereotypes that caused us all to widen our eyes in shock and laugh out loud. The spellers came from diverse backgrounds, especially Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, played by junior musical theatre major Alyssa Glueck. Schwartzandgrubenierre is the daughter of two fathers, and is president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Club in her elementary school. It was very entertaining to hear each speller's background and see each unique character's personality and funny quirks. William Barfee, played by junior musical theatre major Bill McGovern, had his own technique of spelling called his "Magic Foot," where he used his one foot to spell out the word on stage. It was, to say the least, my favorite part, especially in slow motion. 

I glanced at the program and became worried at all of the musical numbers in the show and wondered how we’d be sitting in this auditorium. However, each musical number was extremely entertaining—some very funny, some heartfelt and innocent—but it made the time fly by. The actors did a fantastic job and really seemed to enjoy themselves. There was even a point where I was crying because I was laughing so hard. This exuberant production definitely left the audience buzzing with positive energy and smiling faces.