Nov. 20, 2008
Audience members were flashed back to the memories of competitive spelling as "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" aimed for perfection at Laxson Auditorium Wednesday night.
Mixing music with definitions and sentence usages, the play follows six young adolescents competing for the title of spelling champion. Each one is facing his or her own challenges in life, whether finding out it's hard to hide an erection at a young age, having two fathers who only want you to win and never lose or understanding that your father may say he's on his way with your entrance fee to the competition when he actually isn't.
Four random volunteers from the audience were called to the stage to compete as well.
As the competition grew, each contestant found that some of the other competitors got the easiest words in the world, such as cow, while he or she was stuck having to spell words such as lugubrious.
One of the volunteer contestants was given the word fandango. When she asked for it to be used in a sentence, Vice Principal Douglas Panch recited part of the lyrics from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the sentence.
Some of the characters had their own ways of trying to figure out how to spell the words. William Barfee, the stuck up nerd, spelled his words on the floor with his foot before spelling it out into the microphone.
Every time Vice Principal Panch said, "That is correct," Barfee would reply, "I know."
However, Barfee had trouble with Panch pronouncing his name correctly.
"It's Barfay," he yelled every time it was mispronounced.
Chico resident Quentin Colgan loved the play and said Barfee was his favorite character.
"He was awesome," he said. "The entire play was adorable."
When a contestant misspelled a word, he or she was escorted off the stage and given a Juicy Juice for his or her attempt at competing. The remaining contestants would sing goodbye to the person removed.
The winner was chosen and the result of the play spelled success as audience members cheered and gave a standing ovation.
Paradise resident Zeta Taylor said she loved the play and it brought back memories of her spelling bees.
"It was very funny and really cute," she said.
Taylor had no problem admitting she was one of the nerds at her spelling bee.
Her daughter, Chico resident and alumna Katrina Taylor, said she also loved it and admitted she never competed in the spelling bee.
"It was hilarious," she said.
The play is now on a nationwide tour. Its next stop is in Lancaster, CA tonight at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center and in Cerritos, CA for the weekend.
David Wangberg can be reached at dwangberg@theorion.com
Be the first to comment on this article!