Words matter. Words are critical in life at every age. Without words, how could we ever communicate? The fact that you are reading this article means that you appreciate words, too.
Words sometimes are also fun, and that’s just one reason audiences across the country continue to enjoy productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Lucky for local readers, this delightfully peculiar and wacky musical will be performed weekends July 11-August 3 at Sea Glass Stage at Coligny.
“There’s something so lovable about The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” said Alex Clark, who directs this production. “It has quirky humor and eccentric characters, but the root of it is about growing up, finding connection, and learning to laugh at life’s awkward moments.”
Audiences are sure to laugh as well, because the cast is chock full of talented people who happen to be funny.
Appearing as the middle school spellers are Sadie Beaumont as Marcy, Mark Erickson as Chip, Dan Franke as Barfee, Chloe Fry as Olive, Natalie Miller as Schwartzy, and Alyssa Vogt as Leaf. Drake Carney plays Mitch, the spelling bee moderator and also former champion; Ellie Friedman is Rona Lisa, another former winner, who is now a tough but kind-hearted counselor; and Kyle Price portrays the vice principal who is also the word pronouncer.
Beaumont, Fry, Vogt, Friedman, and Carney are appearing on the Sea Glass Stage for the first time.
Friedman is especially happy to be joining this cast. “Theatre is my home,” she said. “I’ve been involved in local community theatre for 30 years now, and I know I will never tire of the process of new and old friends coming together to create ephemeral, mortal art to share with our audience.”
Price was excited to be cast in his second show with Sea Glass, following on the heels of The 39 Steps in May. “Theatre is the only place I can be a 37-ish-year-old swinging bachelor one month and a disgruntled vice principal at a spelling bee the next,” he said.
Clark said she was drawn to this show because it’s “heartfelt and outright hilarious. It allows actors to be silly one moment and vulnerable the next. That’s something I think every audience member, regardless of age, can relate to.”
The spellers are competitors of varied talent, including a former champion, a politically aware young student, a goofy homeschooler, a know-it-all, a perfectionist, and the quiet kid. (A couple of the students might appear to be a bit tall for middle schoolers, but pay that no mind. Grown men are sometimes thought to be “just like 12-year-old boys,” aren’t they?)
You will want to cheer for these spellers as they navigate the pressures of competition, puberty, and personal growth – all while spelling some of the most impossible words imaginable.
Additional spellers are four real – not planted! – audience members at each performance who are invited to volunteer to come onstage to compete alongside the six spellers.
If you’ve ever participated in a real spelling bee, you might recall there are questions you can ask after the proctor gives you a word. You can ask the language of origin, the definition, and ask that the word be used in a sentence. If you happen to be chosen from the audience, keep these options in mind and use them all to your best advantage!
Involving the audience directly is one of the fun and unusual aspects of this show. While some might be horrified to be called onstage, others will delight in being invited to join in. It’s another fun feature that Clark finds endearing.
“I also love how this show invites community and spontaneity. With elements of improv and audience participation, no two performances are ever exactly the same,” she said. “I hope you laugh, I hope you cheer, and most of all, I hope you see a little bit of yourself in these lovable overachievers.”
The play was written by William Finn, first performed in New York City in 2004, and appeared on Broadway in 2005. The show has won numerous awards, including a Tony for Best Book of a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.
Choreography is by Jessica Walck, who directed The 39 Steps in May. Music direction is by Bob Adams, who is enjoying his second show with Sea Glass Stage Company.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, July 11 through August 3 at Sea Glass Stage at Coligny, 1 North Forest Beach Drive, Unit I-5, on Hilton Head Island. Tickets are $35 adults, $20 students, and are available at sgstage.org and, if any remain, at the door just prior to each performance. 
To assist the potential chosen few audience spellers, following are some words, their definitions, and a sample sentence to study.
Muntjac (MUN-jack)
A type of deer from Southeast Asia, with tiny antlers, large tusks, and a loud barking sound when it cries.
Sentence: The other reindeer used to laugh at Rudolph, but that all ended when the muntjac came to town.
Alkekengi (AL-ka-KEN-gee)
An ornamental arboreal plant consisting of a whirl of bracts that is exterior to the inflated calyx or results from the union of the sepal appendages. Also called Chinese lantern plant.
Sentence: Look at that beautiful alkekengi.
Concinnity (con-SIN-ity)
Neatness and elegance especially in style.
Sentence: Barbara Jean thought that her mama’s new trailer lacked the concinnity of their former double-wide.
