Playwright: Music and Lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman. At: Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, 10 Marriott, Lincolnshire . Phone: 847-634-0200; $45. Runs through: July 19. Photo courtesy of Peter Coombs at The Marriott Theatre
Never mind the lackluster title. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is one of the most joy-inducing musicals around. To enter this irrationally high-stakes world of middle-school brainiacs and misfits is to be immediately infected with a giddy sense of irrational exuberance.
Directed by Rachel Rockwell, this is a production that's touching without being saccharine or precious. It's also as irreverently, scarifyingly berserk as only adolescence can be. And, finally, it manages to be both good-natured and bizarrely, hilariously twisted as it sends up Stepford-smiling real-estate queens, juicebox-toting ex-cons and vice principals thisclose to unleashing their inner psychopaths. In all, it's a hoot. We've now seen Spelling Bee ( when it ran for months at the Drury Lane, Water Tower Place ) at least four times, and darn if the show doesn't still make us smile.
Lord knows one can fashion a musical around just about anything plot-wise, but even so, a spelling bee might seem like a stretch. But from the moment William Barfee ( Eric Roediger ) makes a square with his "magic foot" and belligerently claims his space by declaring, "I've marked this area with invisible tape," Spelling Bee pulls you in with its irresistible charms.
Barfee is one of 10 contestants in the bee ( which includes four audience members, a set-up that allows for some of the funniest ad-libs this side of Second City ) , each one under the watchful gaze of long-ago champ Rona Lisa Peretti ( Roberta Duchak, sporting a Crest-perfect smile that almost conceals something ever so crazed lurking just beneath the polished veneers ) Vice Principal Douglas Panch ( Michael Weber, gradually unraveling to reveal a mild-mannered man who could be Norman Bates long-lost, heavily medicated brother ) .
In addition to Barfee ( "All my life I have been able to breathe through only one nostril. Today is no exception." ) , the contestants include shy, lonely Olive Ostrovsky ( Heidi Kettenring, in fine voice but not the best choice to portray a 12ish-year-old ) , stressed out Marcy ( Kate Boren, nicely skewering all the stereotypes that surrounding overachieving Asian youngsters who master Mozart and speak six languages and make it to high school before hitting puberty ) , less than Mensa-material Leaf Coneybear ( Derrick Trumbly, a perfect spaz and utterly endearing as a kid whose family believes he's a total dumbbell ) and the "stiffy"-impaired Eagle Scout Chip Barrington ( Michael Maher, making the most of the money notes in "My Unfortunate Erection" ) . Finally, there's little Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre ( Brandy McClendon ) , the "half-Jewish biracial daughter of two gay dads" who finds herself overwhelmed each year because Father's Day and Gay Pride Week fall within mere days of each other. ( Listen for her oh-so perceptive take on Tom Cruise's alleged heterosexuality. It's a truthful hoot. )
The cast is charismatic even when the characters get weird ( which is often ) , pulling the audience in at A keeping them wholly engaged to Z. And while William Finn's score isn't a masterpiece, it's charming, funny, and—in the deliriously perceptive "Pandemonium"—smart as a whip.
As Bee "Comfort Counselor" and recent parolee Mitch Mahoney ( Kevin Smith Kirkwood ) ushers the disqualified contestants from the Bee with a hug and a juice box, it's clear that everyone involved with this production is ultimately a winner.
