Excitement, nervousness, tension and disappointment are all reigning emotions at a spelling bee, but there is one feeling that permeates every moment; pathos–the indescribable empathy that causes audience members to want each contestant to succeed. Workhouse Theater’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee hits every one of those notes, by virtue of a strong cast and amazing pacing, and brings out every feeling in the spelling bee tradition.

Joseph Wallen’s production plays directly to the hearts of audience members, by emphasizing stereotypes. Each characters’ needs are so great that their personality has to be that much louder to compensate. Amid the frenzy of songs and spelling, each character tells their story and has their moment to shine–and, boy, does this cast shine. Every one of the actors in this show demonstrated versatility and a range that fleshed out the semi-one note characters into real people with quirks they had to overcome.

Harrison G. Lee as Chip Tolentino, the champion from last year’s bee, shows us that the title means nothing to Chip if he fails this year. His paradigm contrasts with Leaf Coneybear (played by Eben Kuhns), the hopeful homeschooled kid whose family is all much smarter than him. Leaf is so confused to be at the bee that he begins to act out by producing finger puppets and deflecting attention in order to hide his lack of confidence and his desire to be a better, smarter Leaf. Chip comes in wearing his perfectly pressed, highly decorated Boy Scout uniform, while Leaf enters wearing a too short superman cape he made himself.

The overachievers Olive and Logainne (Amie Cazel and Shannon Kingett respectively) tell stories of parents who are too much involved or not involved enough. Logainne’s two fathers want her so much to succeed that they subvert her personality for their own goals and make her failures even greater. Meanwhile Olive’s absentee father won’t take off work to watch her compete because Olive’s mother is in India dealing with depression.

Meanwhile, two know-it-alls with very different needs duke it out at the microphone. Introvert Marcy Park (Anna Jackson) speaks six languages, participates in multiple sports, dance and karate, and in the pursuit of perfection sleeps only three hours a night. William Barfée (Ben Gibson) is the kid with peanut allergies and the infuriating habit of saying “I know” every time his answer is pronounced correct. His abiding passions are the correct pronunciation of his name (“It’s ‘Barfay.'”), and his system of spelling words out on the floor with his “magic foot” (which, in his mind, is absolutely superior to all other methods).

The three adults in the story are just as quirky. The announcer of the bee is a self promoting former spelling bee star Mona Lisa Perretti (Mary Payne). She accompanied by sarcastically unstable Vice Principal Panch (Jeffrey Davis). The voice of reason maintaining order in chaos is Mitch Mahoney (Anthony Williams) serving out his parole by comforting losing kids.

The small cast size calls for some double-casting. Both Kuhns and Williams make a spectacular break out of their main characters to become the quarrelling dads of Logainne. Harrison Lee drops the Boy Scout to inhabit a guest appearance as Jesus in the second act imagination of Marcy. The dramatic shift from character to character showcases each actor’s ability to shift characters completely.

Vocally, the actors seemed comfortable and prepared. The majority of the story is played out in a frenetic and disjointed musical score. Together, the band and cast consistently maintained solid control of the music. The songs only faltered when the audio balance was bad and the instruments were far too loud.

The stage at first appeared too simple and sparse with a table for registration and bleachers for the spellers to sit in. Very quickly, the stage was filled with the boisterous performances of the actors. Four empty spaces in the bleachers were filled with audience members who had been asked to participate before the show. None of the volunteers seemed to realize what they had signed up for, as the musical traditionally keeps each of the volunteers onstage to participate through musical numbers until they misspell a word!

Be careful in the audience! Hilarity ensued when a volunteer speller received audible help from a family member. The Vice Principal called them out for it, demonstrating a superior command of comedic timing and improvisation. He compelled the family member onstage to join the cast in spelling as well!

Overall, the play gave a stunning portrayal of each individual story. Even as the show came to an end, the two finalists showed just how much winning meant to them, and how their characters would be affected if they lost. As the play drew to a close, the characters left the feeling that the bee was merely an intense microcosm of the reality of growing up.

Photo Gallery

Mary Payne, Harrison G. Lee	Harrison G. Lee, Anna Jackson,
Eben Kuhns	Mary Paybe, Jeffrey Davis

Photos by Vinh Nguyen

Cast

• Chip Tolentino: Harrison G. Lee
• Marcy Park: Anna Jackson
• William Barfée: Ben Gibson
• Olive Ostrovsky: Amie Cazel
• Leaf Coneybear: Eben Kuhns
• Logainne Schwartzandgrubinerre: Shannon Kingett
• Mitch Mahoney: Anthony Williams
• Rona Lisa Perretti: Mary Payne
• Vice Principal Douglas Panch: Jeffrey Davis

Technical Staff

• Director: Joseph Wallen
• Music Director: Merissa Driscoll
• Scenic Designer: Caren Hearne
• Costume Designer: Kristen Jepperson
• Stage Manager: Kevin Laughon

Disclaimer: Workhouse Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Yasmina Reza’s Art is the inaugural production of the Workhouse Theatre, a part of the Lorton Arts Foundation. Art raises questions about art and friendship through three long-time friends, Serge, Marc and Yvan. Serge buys a large, expensive and completely white painting. Marc is horrified, and their relationship suffers considerably as a result of their differing opinions about what makes up “art.” Yvan’s opinions don’t really matter, as he is pushed and pulled in all directions by his “friends.”

I was unable to attend the official press performance, scheduled for this Friday evening. The performance I attended was still quite rough, with all three actors struggling with their lines and moving slowly into their cued positions for their time in the spotlight as they presented asides directly to the audience. Hopefully the cast and director have spent time this week working their lines and cues.

The large white painting that Serge (Ron Curameng) buys causes much anger and frustration, especially in Marc (David A. Schmidt). Yvan (Carl Bowman) appears almost as an afterthought. Late in the play the three friends are arguing and insulting each other’s taste in art, women and literature. This scene worked well with nice sharp jabs of verbal barbs, although by that point the relationship between the men simply felt strained, like three guys stuck in an elevator together, and not a long-standing friendship built over time that was falling apart.

We were never really able to see a reason for these three friends to be together. They were all older, so possibly they met in college? the military? Ever how they met, there wasn’t a connection between them any longer. Were they getting together simply out of routine? Friends drift apart, and apparently this trio never learned that.

Kristin Jepperson’s costumes were well-planned. Serge and Marc were both well-to-do, with color-coordinated suits, while Yvan’s dark pants and sweater don’t look out-of-place for a guy who drifts from job to job, settling for a position with his fiance’s uncle’s stationery store. The set was coordinated by Joseph Wallen and Caren Hearne, and was shared with the cast of the Studio 3 Theatre for Young Audience’s Miss Electricity.

It also seemed that each character would find a spot on the stage to sit or stand, and remain parked there for most of a scene. When Curameng moved around the stage to hang his new piece of art, the motion was a welcome change. I have to think that many of the flaws in this production come from the director, Joseph Wallen. Weak characterizations and motives of each character, and a lackluster presentation combined to make Workhouse Theatre’s début production a disappointment.

Photo Gallery

Carl Bowman, Ron Curameng, David A. Schmidt	Carl Bowman
Ron Curameng

Photos provided by the Workhouse Theatre

Cast

• Marc: David A. Schmidt
• Serge: Ron Curameng
• Yvan: Carl Bowman

Technical Staff

• Director: Joseph Wallen
• Stage Manager: Calvin Register
• Technical Crew: Kevin Laughon
• Costume Designer: Kristen Jepperson
• Scenic Design: Joseph Wallen & Caren Hearne

Disclaimer: Workhouse Theatre provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.