'25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' comes to St. Charles

Are you a great speller? Come to Steel Beam's Theatre's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and you may find yourself on stage with the actors showing off your skill.

Four audience members are chosen to participate during every performance.

Or, if you'd rather, you can sit back and enjoy the Tony and Drama Desk award-winning musical without testing your spelling ability at all.

"It's very interactive, and I've seen several productions of it and it's always entertaining and fun," said Marge Uhlarik-Boller, who directs the show along with musical director Matt Gruel and choreographer Tony Calzaretta.

The show, which has music and lyrics by William Finn and was written by Rebecca Sheinkin with additional material by Jay Reiss, takes place at the fictional Putnam Valley Middle School where a spelling bee brings together six students and two adult moderators.

Adults play the children, which can be a challenge to cast, according to Uhlarik-Boller.

"You want to be able to have people who can bring the correct energy to the show in order to play someone who is younger," she said.

"It takes you back," said Crystal Skipworth, who plays Logainne "Schwartzy," the youngest member of the spellers. "You're just on the cusp of puberty. She has lines like, she 'can't wait to grow up and burst like a comet and get out of her training bra.' Boys are icky and you have to sit next to them. All these different feelings that are really important when you're that age.

"She has two overbearing fathers and they come on stage and take pictures and she's constantly trying to please them and she's frustrated by them so she's constantly having panic attacks," Skipworth continued. "They even say, 'God hates losers and you're a winner so go get them honey.'"

The size of the Steel Beam's stage can be a challenge for some shows, as it is intimate space, but, according to Uhlarik-Boller, the smaller space is perfect for this production.

"This show lends itself to a small stage," she said. "Steel Beam Theatre is not a theater you would see 'South Pacific' in, for the number of cast members that requires."

"The stage is perfect for this show. It's set on a stage in a school. There's red, white and blue bunting, making it look very 'school assembly,'" said Amy Steele, who plays Rona, the moderator with a cool and collected exterior and an anxious interior.

"The show is very flexible in other ways and the fact that it's interactive is ideal for our space because it's very easy to call some of our audience members on stage," said Uhlarik-Boller.

"There's a lot of improv, which is fun," added Steele. "There's a lot of notes in the script about how to improv and how to pick people from the audience. They suggest a man, a woman, someone older and someone younger. Something about an unusual outfit or a blonde or bald, something interesting looking."

"It's a challenging part of rehearsal because we're still doing what we're doing and we have to work with people who really don't know what they're doing and guide and help them integrate around them," Steele said.

Although there is a good deal of improv, the show is scripted, except for the audience members and unscripted asides allotted in the context of the play, such as a passage which calls for an impromptu political rant by the character, Schwarzy.

"It's obviously a Tony award-winning scripted show but the performance is so different because of the four contestants in the audience, and they dance right along with us and spell right along with us," said Skipworth.

"You literally don't know how the show's going to go and we sing this little goodbye song when someone's eliminated, when they're going out," added Skipworth. "And we're always prepared as a cast to interact with the audience and with the audience spellers."

The show, which opens Friday, April 1, and runs through Sunday, April 24, features performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $22-$28, and performances are at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. Visit www.SteelBeamTheatre.com or call (630) 587-8521.

If you go

What: "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

Where: Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, April 1-24

Tickets: $28 for adults, $25 for seniors, $23 for students, $22 for groups

Details: <a href="http://www.SteeleBeamTheatre.com">www.SteeleBeamTheatre.com</a> or (630) 587-8521