Tom's Life Bits

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===== RLT spells a good time =====

Published Wed, Aug 11, 2010 02:00 AM
Modified Wed, Aug 11, 2010 05:56 AM

Can a musical be worth seeing for everything but its music? Yes, if it's "The 
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," especially the snappy, funny production 
at Raleigh Little Theatre.

The setting is a high school gymnasium where six student competitors are the 
focus, including painfully shy Olive, overweight know-it-all William and budding 
activist Logainne, her pronounced lisp and overprotective gay dads equally 
problematic. There's also overachiever Marcy, son-of-hippies Leaf and puberty-
challenged Boy Scout Chip.

Rachel Sheinkin won a Tony for her witty script, which keeps the audience 
rocking, especially with the hilarious examples given when contestants ask for 
their words to be used in sentences. There's also smart satirizing of 
adolescents dealing with their hormones and astute commentary on winning and 
losing.

A musical's foundation should be its songs, but William Finn supplies uninspired 
numbers with repetitive lyrics. They're meant to mimic children's ditties but 
end up thin and empty, often slowing the momentum while rarely revealing 
anything new about the characters.

None of this daunts the RLT creative team. Director Rod Rich keeps the action 
moving, knowingly balancing the show's silliness and sentiment. Nancy Rich's 
choreography slyly parodies show-biz and pop culture moves, while Vicki Olson's 
costumes add amusing character. Coty Cockrell's four-piece pit band contributes 
lively accompaniment, although at Friday's opening, the band often overpowered 
the singers and various stage microphones turned uncooperative.

The talented cast makes the show work. Jeffrey Vizcaino gives William's smart-
aleck manner a charming awkwardness, Mary Reilly finds warm sincerity for Olive 
and Adrienne Morton gets across Logainne's fierce competitiveness, although her 
intense lisping often obscures essential dialogue. Jon Todd's Leaf is comically 
free-spirited, Jon Karnofsky's Chip is hilariously enthralled by testosterone 
and Aurelia Belfield's Marcy is endearing in her battle to be best in all 
things.

David Adams displays vocal prowess as Mitch, the ex-con doing community service 
as comfort counselor to the losers; Carly Prentis Jones makes a perkily 
efficient Rona, former bee winner and now moderator; and Jason Matthews draws 
consistent guffaws as vice principal Douglas, serving as judge and word reader, 
his irritation at the contestants' little quirks funneled into bitingly 
sarcastic readings.

Its innocent-sounding title notwithstanding, the show contains frank sexual 
references, four-letter words and some gentle spoofing of religion, a 
consideration for those with young children or those easily offended. Otherwise, 
the musical makes an entertaining 90 minutes - despite the music.

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