BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//artsmemphis.org//NONSGML iCalcreator 2.6// VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:Calendar of artsmemphis.org X-WR-CALDESC:In this calendar you will find information about events that y ou did save X-WR-TIMEZONE:US/Pacific BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20120211T031707CET-5787IZ8LVv@artsmemphis.org DTSTAMP:20120211T021707Z CATEGORIES:Personal CLASS:EVENT DESCRIPTION:Event Name: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee\nEvent U rl: http://www.artsmemphis.org/event/detail/31597/The_25th_Annual_Putnam_C ounty_Spelling_Bee\nEvent Date Begin: 2009-08-07\nEvent Date End: 2009-09- 06\n\nThis hilarious tale of overachiever's angst chronicles the experienc e of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lif etime. Overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themse lves\, these spellers learn that winning isn't everything and that losing doesn't necessarily make you a loser. Nominated for 6 Tony Awards\, includ ing Best Musical\, this charming show is an ingenious blend of simplicity and sophistication. Wall Street Journal.\nArtsMemphis Rants & Ravers Revie w \nThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is Fresh\, Fun Musical Come dy by Linda Ostrow Schlesinger\n&ldquo\;How do you make a musical out of a spelling bee?&rdquo\; my 10-year-old daughter and theatre companion asked me before show time. &ldquo\;I was as curious as she was but it didn't ta ke us long to find out.\nEvidently\, you take a successful non-musical pla y about a spelling bee\, C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E\, conceived by Rebecca Feldma n\; add to it a brilliant albeit bizarre composer and lyricist\, William F inn (Falsettos)\, and a witty book writer\, Rachel Sheinkin (a former stud ent of Finn's at NYU)\; stir in an incredible cast of nine quirky characte rs\, mix well and serve it up fresh each performance with four different v olunteer audience participant spellers. The result is hysterical. When I w asn't outright laughing\, I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face during most of the performance.\nThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee first appeared on Broadway in 2005 and was nominated for six Tony Awards\, incl uding Best Musical. It is the story of a group of eccentric adolescents tr ying to fit in\, figure themselves out and please their parents all at the same time. They are all bright\; some are overachievers\; and some are ju st plain nerds. You wouldn't think these weirdoes could sing\, but you're in for a pleasant surprise.\nOlive Ostrovsky (Nicole René\;e Hale) r ead an oversized dictionary on the toilet as a child and she spells her wo rds into her hand. Other than that she seems to be the most normally behav ed and dressed one of the bunch. Her mother is on a &ldquo\;spiritual ques t&rdquo\; in India and her father is a no show at the Bee.\nWilliam Barf&e acute\;e (Pete Montgomery) has a rare mucous membrane disorder and he dram atically writes his words out with his foot. He has nerd written all over him\, from his greasy messy hair and his half un-tucked white shirt and ti e to his Bermuda shorts\, knee-high socks and dress shoes. He is not only pathetically misunderstood but frustratingly mispronounced. Don't tell any one\, but he has a crush on Olive.\nChip Tolentino (Stephen Andrew Parker) \, winner of the 24th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee\, proudly wears hi s Boy Scout uniform adorned with many badges but he wasn't quite as prepar ed as a boy scout should be for the surprises of puberty.\nLeaf Coneybear (David Ryan)\, second runner up in his district spelling bee\, only made i t to the Putnam County Bee because the winner and the first runner up were at the first runner up's bat mitzvah. He makes his own clothes and looks like a superhero wannabe.\nLogainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Laura Stracko) is being raised by two fathers. She is very politically astute\, dresses rather masculinely (except for the braided pigtails)\, speaks with a heavy lisp and writes her words out on her arm. One of her fathers tries to hel p her win by tripping up Barfé\;e.\nMarcy Park (Lili Thomas) is the stereotypical overachiever. She is of Asian descent\, wears a red plaid pa rochial school uniform\, speaks six languages\, is a talented musician\, s leeps three hours a night\, hides in the bathroom cabinet\, is not allowed to cry and is tired of being too smart.\nThe entire story takes place in a junior high school gymnasium. The barebones set consists of a welcome ba nner and several wall posters touting the Putnam County Possums\, metal bl eachers\, the winner's trophy and a desk and two chairs for the peculiar y et charming educators running the Bee&mdash\;Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Michael Gravois) and teacher and one time spelling bee champion Rona Lisa Peretti (Jenny Odle Madden)\, who relives her proudest moment in the open ing scene.\nOne other chair on the set is occupied by the spellers' &ldquo \;comforter\,&rdquo\; Mitch Mahoney (Thomas &ldquo\;TeKay King)\, a burly black man who is doing community service at the school as part of his paro le. He lovingly sends each loser off with a bear hug and a juice pack. Equ ally as comforting as his hug is his voice\, which he gets to show off in his number\, &ldquo\;Prayer of the Comfort Counselor.&rdquo\;\nSome of the funniest lines in the show are delivered impeccably by Panch (Gravois) wh o announces the words\, their definitions and uses them in outlandish sent ences. For example\, Panch uses this sentence to illustrate the word Fanda ngo: &ldquo\;I see a little silhouetto of a man\, Scaramouche\, Scaramouch e will you do the Fandango?&rdquo\; (lyrics from &ldquo\;Bohemian Rhapsody &rdquo\; by Queen).\nDirector and co-choreographer Dave Landis has added e ven more spice and amusement to Playhouse's production of the already hila rious script by inserting some local humor. For example\, at one point Mis s Parks states\, &ldquo\;This spelling bee is more useless than the Pyrami d Arena.&rdquo\; In another one of his sentence usages Panch says\, &ldquo \;Put down that phylactery\, we go to Bellevue.&rdquo\;\nThe 25th Annual P utnam County Spelling Bee is a much needed breath of fresh musical comedy to lift your spirits in these harsh economic times. If I had to sum it up in one word\, I'd say d-e-l-e-c-t-a-b-l-e!\nOne word of caution to parents : Although grade-school aged children will be amused by this play\, there are several sexual innuendos. Most of them flew right over my daughter's h ead\, but if you think you might feel squeamish with your children at your side during the obviously sexual number &ldquo\;My Unfortunate Erection\, &rdquo\; then leave them at home for this Spelling Bee.\n \n\nStart time: Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 pm\, Sunday at 2:00 pm DTSTART:20090807T000000 DTEND:20090906T000000 LOCATION: SUMMARY:The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee TRANSP:TRANSPARENT END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR