Dec 8-13, 2016
Central Memorial
This musical comedy centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally quirky grown-ups.
An unusual aspect of the show is that four real audience members are invited on stage to compete in the spelling bee alongside the six young characters. Another amusing aspect of the show is that the official pronouncer provides ridiculous usage-in-a-sentence examples when asked to use words in a sentence. For instance, for the word “palaestra”, he says, “Euripides said, ‘What happens at the palaestra stays at the palaestra’.
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss.
Directed by: Michelle Crimmins
Set and Lighting Design: Len Simon
Costume Design: Victoria Krawchuk