Like any customary competition, The Spelling Bee, has it’s rules and rituals. Could you please use the word in a sentence? Could you pronounce it? The finalists (Leaf, Olive, Logainne, Barfee’, Chip) ask Vice Principle Panch, perhaps stalling. Miss Peretti (organizer and host of “The Bee”) completes the group.
The kids are awash in peccadillos, foibles, and their path to success, strange or daunting. Leaf channels some demon who coincidentally, is a master speller. Olive must deal with stage fright and feuding dads, Barfee’ uses a kind of foot calligraphy and Chip is subjected to an unfortunate erection. First they’re mocked, then they’re lionized.
A pastiche of chaos, dejection and absurd, irreverent humor: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee takes earnestness and invites us to laugh with, not at. Why does anybody care about a spelling bee? How can this work for a musical comedy? Relegated to the (non-athletic) land of the marginalized and ridiculous, the characters must take themselves seriously. And by the closing song, we understand why.
It’s easy to mistake clownishness for disparagement, but humanity comes through. We are (despite endless digression and flashbacks) actually touched by their bad luck and predicaments. The same things that tickle us. We wonder if it’s critique, or keen reflection of any enterprise. Choosing to make the best of what might be amazing. On this hangs the key irony.
Kudos to Director Eddy Herring for his deft orchestration of this versatile, intrepid cast. This loony, dizzy script. They never miss a cue, or fail to take advantage of any opportunity to trigger helpless laughter. The best kind. They find the tenuous line between pathos and pity. They turn on a dime. The band weaves musical numbers seamlessly. Laura Alley’s whimsical costumes are a perfect fit for the playfful mood.
Allen Contemporary Theatre ran 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee from December 5th-21st, 2025. 1210 E Main Street, #300, Allen, TX, United States, Texas. (844) 822-8849. allencontemporarytheatre.net