PC’s Spelling Bee Speaks to Awkward Adolescents Everywhere

Most musicals cover lofty themes central to the human experience – the likes of revolution, forbidden love, revenge, defying societal expectations and fantasy worlds. Then there are shows like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which is about, well, a spelling bee. Unless you’re really into competitive spelling, it probably doesn’t sound like a good premise for a musical; spelling bees don’t (usually) involve many dead bodies, and it’s not exactly the stuff of Shakespeare. At the very least, it seems like a musical that should have a lighter tone to match its lighter subject matter.

But Spelling Bee is much more than it seems on the surface. Past its eccentric young characters played by adults and hilarious spelling bee antics, it’s a musical with heart. Anyone who was ever a misfit adolescent will be touched by Providence College’s season-opening production.

Central to Spelling Bee is its cast of quirky middle schoolers, all hoping to emerge victorious from this linguistic battle, whether to appease their parents’ high expectations, prove the naysayers wrong or show everyone who the top nerd is. First, we meet Chip Tolentino (Daniel Jameson), last year’s champion whose high-and-mighty attitude fails to preserve his title when puberty strikes at the most inopportune time. Jameson’s best moments come at his downfall, when he notices a competitor’s attractive sister in the audience (a random, mortified audience member is identified as the object of his affections with a spotlight). His attempt to cover up his “unfortunate erection” and his reactions to the titillating word he fails to spell, “tittup,” have the audience in stitches. As the first speller eliminated, his agony is further compounded by being forced to hand out candy during a break from the spelling. To make matters worse, in this particular production, he must do so while dressed in the school’s mascot costume, all the while running up and down the aisles of the audience, lamenting his defeat in the song “My Unfortunate Erection” (if you thought this was a kid-friendly show, think again).

Last year’s runner up, William Barfee (constantly mispronounced as “barfy”) (Bryan Sabbag) hopes to claim the title this year with his “magic foot” technique of visualizing words. Though arrogant and embracing an “I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win” mentality in the beginning, he gradually softens at a competitor’s kindness, a transition that mostly takes place in the penultimate number, “Second.” This is a role that gets pretty physical, from spelling with the foot to rolling around on the floor, clutching his throat and asking if there were peanuts in the brownies, and Sabbag really commits to these moments.

Marcy Park (Caprial Harris), who recently transferred to the district after making the top 10 of nationals last year, is a chronic overachiever sick of always being the best. For most of her stage time, she maintains this Wednesday Addams-esque cold stare, depicting her as “all business” right until Mrs. Peretti announces that Marcy speaks five languages, to which Marcy responds with “I Speak Six Languages,” a number that features her many talents, from athletics to playing two pianos at once.

Leaf Coneybear (Teddy Kiritsy), who has only made it to this round of the bee due to a poorly timed Bat Mitzvah, is a gentle, aloof soul in an aggressive family who can only spell words in a trance-like state. With his heelys and wacky clothing, he’s a goofy character, which Kiritsy commits to, but still sympathetic; his family brushes him off as a “dumb kid,” and he has clearly come to believe them, but throughout the bee, he begins to believe more in himself, and goes from singing “I’m not that smart” to “I think… I know I’m smart.”

The youngest competitor is budding-activist and pantsuit-and-Ruth-Bader-Ginsberg-t-shirt-wearing Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Emily Clark), from whom her dads expect nothing less than victory. She brings in most of the topical, political humor, from kneeling during the pledge of allegiance to a rant about Trump. When it comes to facial expressions, apart from Leaf’s cross-eyed trances, her face while attempting to do yoga probably takes the cake.

Last but not least is sweet, soft-spoken Olive Ostrovsky (Aisling Sheahan) who struggles with inattentive parents. Though described as “a lovely little girl with a lovely little voice,” there is nothing little about her voice. Sheahan really plays up Olive’s adorable girlishness, which makes her backstory all the more heartbreaking, especially in “The I Love You Song,” in which she imagines in a “chimerical” moment her parents being present and telling her they love her in these hauntingly beautiful harmonies.

To round out the competition, it is traditional to bring in guest spellers who are thrown into the midst of choreography and other shenanigans to be both roasted and, for one lucky guest, serenaded. For this production, they have opted to invite “celebrity spellers,” which are mostly well-known figures at the college. This allows them to personalize the show for their community, which leads to some inside jokes that outsiders might not get, but also some digs at their piety that are more accessible: College president Father Brian Shanley was asked to spell the word “atheist,” for example.

To keep these kids in line are three equally quirky adults. Hosting the bee is Rona Lisa Peretti (Jennifer Dorn), a former spelling champion herself, there mostly to relive her glory days. Dorn’s is among the stronger voices in the cast, which comes out in her regrettably rushed recurring “Favorite Moments.” Frustrated and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Vice Principal Douglas Panch (William Oser), who is clearly smitten with Rona, announces the words and provides some of the biggest laughs of the night whenever someone asks for their word to be defined or used in a sentence. There to comfort eliminated spellers with a hug and a juice box is Mitch Mahoney (Steven Sawan), there to fulfill his court-mandated community service. Though at first, he’s stand-offish and clearly does not want to be there, he gradually embraces his role as the much-needed comfort, and though he seems like the kind of character in a musical who wouldn’t sing, when he does, he has the kind of voice befitting a classic musical’s male lead, which is quite a surprise coming from such a thuggish character. While not performing his duties, he can be seen in the background coloring in a “Chill the F*ck Out” coloring book or reading “Aromatherapy for Dumbies,” which is a funny little detail that adds to the character.

Because this show is so character-driven, everyone gets their chance to shine in a solo number. There aren’t really any roles that can be called “minor,” and even roles that face early eliminations allow the actor to double as another character later on, whether as a parent or as Jesus – yes, Jesus.

The set is a replication of any school cafeteria, adorned with banners marking the school’s victories in debate tournaments and basketball championships and a small stage where the characters perform their backstory-revealing flashbacks.

Though the characters are distinguished with their own unique and specific quirks, their struggles as adolescents are universal. Anyone can relate to Olive’s loneliness, or the pressure placed upon Marcy and Logainne to succeed, or Leaf’s feelings of inadequacy, or Barfee’s and Chip’s need to prove their worth. Theirs are tales of growing up, cleverly told through the frame of a spelling bee, the hotspot for those nerdy kids who struggle to fit in with their peers and are under unbelievable amounts of pressure. Yes, Spelling Bee is absolutely worth its weight in comedy, but it’s also a reflection on the struggles many of us faced growing up and, in some ways, the struggles we still face.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee runs through Oct. 29 at Providence College. For tickets, visit providence.edu/theatre or call 401-865-2218.