Theatre Performance Class

When Director of Fine Arts Morgan McLeod had to select a show as a group project for his nine-student Theatre Performance Class, he thought it would be challenging to find a perfect fit.

However, after initially saying no to the demands of a musical during what is traditionally a busy time of year at the School, his research turned up the musical comedy The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. With nine characters to cast, a perfect division of male and female roles, and one main musical number per character, the show seemed like an ideal choice for his group of students.

The hilarious musical, which started out as an off-Broadway show before having its own Broadway run, centres on a fictional spelling bee set in Putnam Valley Middle School and foregrounds the personal stories of the six quirky student competitors. Each speller reveals his/her hopes, struggles and passions through catchy songs as they make their way through the competition. In an unusual twist, the show also incorporates audience participation, as several willing volunteers are recruited during each performance to play the part of other spelling bee participants.

“The show is a lot of fun,” Mr. McLeod explains. “I like that the audience may come with few expectations about the story and that there are aspects of audience participation. The script is well-crafted and well-written; it’s been refined and thought-through and gives you lots of options as a director in terms of how to use your audience volunteers.”

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee runs from Thursday, June 7 through to Saturday, June 9 in the Hugh Wilkinson Theatre.